[newbie] unexpected behaviour for x^x

[Jean Dubois]

I was surprised to found out that when I calculated x^x with octave,
using floats which
approach zero I get two different results depending on the direction
in which zero is approached, this is what I mean:
octave:1> 0.001^0.001
ans =  0.99312

octave:2> -0.001^-0.001
ans = -1.0069

For real numbers calculating this limit algebraically gives 1
(independent of the direction). What's the cause of this?

thanks
jean