How did the octopus get its brilliant brain? The clue may be folded into its DNA

Octopuses solve puzzles and vanish in a blink, and now University of Vienna researchers think they know part of how such clever animals evolved. Studying how DNA is folded inside the cells of octopuses, squid and cuttlefish, the team found that ancient shuffles of their genetic material, hundreds of millions of years ago, brought distant stretches of DNA side by side. Those new neighbours changed how genes near the nervous system are switched on and off, opening fresh paths for complex brains to develop. It is one clue, not the whole story — but it shows evolution can innovate by rearranging the instruction book, not just rewriting it.