"章鱼妹"预测澳大利亚大选

世界杯期间“章鱼保罗”八猜八中的骄人成绩使得世界各地涌现了不少章鱼的粉丝，各国都涌现了用章鱼来预测重大事件的热潮。近日，澳大利亚女总理刚刚宣布要参加8月的大选，便有媒体推出了名为“卡珊德拉”的神奇“章鱼妹”来预测大选结果，称杰拉德将获胜。当地媒体报道说，“章鱼妹”很看好新近上台的工党美女领袖杰拉德，在预测时用她长长的手臂抱住了杰拉德的照片。吉拉德上月取代陆克文出任工党领袖和总理。她上台后致力修正陆克文的不受欢迎政策，令工党支持率回升。

An Australian newspaper has taken a leaf out of the football World Cup play book, unveiling its own "psychic" octopus that it says has predicted Prime Minister Julia Gillard will win next month's poll.

The Sydney Morning Herald showed off "Cassandra" just as Ms Gillard told the Australian people that they would go to national elections on August 21.

The paper hopes Cassandra will rival the predictive powers of "Paul", a German octopus that called a string of results including the World Cup winner.

"Cassandra's preference for Julia Gillard was clear," the newspaper said. "Despite being a solitary animal, she wrapped her long arms around the Prime Minister," it said next to a photo of the octopus wound around a picture of Gillard.

But the octopus's reaction to conservative Opposition leader Tony Abbott's photo was less enthusiastic - she turned a "defensive black colour", the paper said.

Marine science expert Professor Rob Harcourt however warned that as octopuses have "episodic personalities", Cassandra could change her eight-tentacled vote at any time.

"On any given day, an octopus may be bold in all situations and then shy and timid the next day," he told the paper.

Melbourne's Herald Sun beat the SMH by a week with the concept, however, taking the election question to the Melbourne Aquarium to let the giant octopuses there decide.