Squid Communicate With a Secret, Skin-Powered Alphabet | WIRED

Striped Pyjama Squid. Credit Tom Kleindinst

Squid and their cephalopod brethren have been the inspiration for many a science fiction creature. Their ,, and inking abilities can be downright shudder-inducing. (See: Arrival.) But you should probably be more concerned by the cephalopod’s huge brain—which not only helps it solve tricky puzzles, but also lets it converse in its own sign language.

Right now, you’re probably imagining twisted tentacles spelling out creepy cephalopod communiqués. But it’s not that: Certain kinds of squid send messages by manipulating the color of their skin. “Their body patterning is fantastic, fabulous,” says , a neuroscientist at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. They can display bands, or stripes, or turn completely dark or light. And Chiao is trying to crack their code. 

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Note: C.C. Chiao spends part of each summer at the ϲappcollaborating with cephalopod scientist Roger Hanlon.