Newly-Discovered Octopuses Use Venom to Kill at Sub-Zero Temperatures

Is your home octopus-proof? Maybe you should check. And trying to freeze them out won't help because some octopuses discovered in Antarctica are the first known to have venom that works in freezing temperatures:

Antarctic octopuses eat a wide variety of animals, from clams to fish. They catch their prey with their tentacles and use their venom to kill them, much like snakes.

The venoms are being studied as potential sources of pain-killers, Fry said, because they work on the nervous system. So far, analysis of the venom has revealed two toxins that are new to science.

The scientists still don’t know what biochemical tricks the octopuses use to keep their venom working at freezing temperatures

Link via Geekologie | Photo: Samuel Inglesias