Good morning. Friday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 82. Sunrise is 6:20 AM and sunset 7:28 PM for 13h 08m 37s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 96.3% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1939, J. Robert Oppenheimer and his student Hartland Snyder publish the…
Science/Nature
Cats, Science/Nature
Friday Catblogging: Strolling with Shelter Cats
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
At Virginia Tech, there’s a study on the benefits of taking shelter cats for a stroll now and again. Marjorielee Christianson writes that Over 3 million cats enter shelters in the United States each year, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Julianna Scardina, a member of the Virginia-Maryland College of…
Adventure, Daily Bread, Science/Nature, Wisconsin
Daily Bread for 7.31.23: Newport State Park: An International Dark Sky Park
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Cats, Science/Nature
Friday Catblogging: How Do Cats Cool Themselves Off?
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Embed from Getty Images Hannah Keyser writes How Do Cats Cool Themselves Off? (‘Here’s a hint: It’s not by sweating through their paws’): Conduction allows cats to cool themselves off or warm themselves up via contact with objects of a different temperature. This is why you can often find your cat seeking out cool kitchen…
Cats, Science/Nature
Friday Catblogging: Cat Noses
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Tanya Lewis writes Cat Noses Contain Twisted Labyrinths That Help Them Separate Smells (‘Scientists hypothesize that coiled channels inside a cat’s nose may function like a gas chromatograph’): Researchers created a computational model of a cat’s nose based on computed tomography scans and tissue slices from a deceased house cat whose body was donated for…
Cats, Daily Bread, History, Science/Nature
Daily Bread for 5.13.23: When Domestic Cats Had Their Own Constellation
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning. Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 72. Sunrise is 5:33 AM and sunset 8:09 PM for 14h 35m 47s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 38.9% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1862, the USS Planter, a steamer and gunship, steals through Confederate lines…
Cats, Science/Nature
Friday Catblogging: The Best Way of Getting a Cat’s Attention
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Embed from Getty Images Rachael Funnell writes This Is The Best Way to Get A Cat’s Attention According to Science: With the help of 18 domestic cats (8 females, 10 males) with a job history of at least three years in a cat café, experimenters tried four different approaches to getting a cat’s attention:…
Cats, Faraway Places, Science/Nature
Friday Catblogging: The Corsican ‘Cat-Fox’
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
For years, scientists have wondered if striped cats on Corsica were a distinct species: Turns out, they are: The elusive striped “cat-fox” familiar mostly to Corsican shepherds and as a source of intrigue to scientists, is indeed its own species specific to the French Mediterranean island, the French office for Biodiversity (OFB) announced Thursday. New…
Animals, Daily Bread, Science/Nature
Daily Bread for 11.19.22: About Those 18,000 Marine Bones in a Smithsonian Warehouse
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning. Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 26. Sunrise is 6:52 AM and sunset 4:27 PM for 9h 35m 07s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 21.7% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1863, President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the dedication ceremony for the military cemetery…
Cats, Science/Nature
Friday Catblogging: The Slow Blink
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Embed from Getty Images Michelle Starr writes Scientists Confirm You Can Communicate With Your Cat by Blinking Very Slowly: In a study published in 2020, scientists observed cat-human interactions, and were able to confirm that this act of blinking slowly makes cats – both familiar and unfamiliar animals – approach and be receptive to humans. ….…
Animals, Birds, Daily Bread, Science/Nature
Daily Bread for 11.3.22: Crows (Yes, Crows)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning. Thursday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 71. Sunrise is 7:32 AM and sunset 5:44 PM for 10h 11m 24s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 73.8% of its visible disk illuminated. Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission meets at 6 PM. On this day in 1812, Napoleon’s armies are defeated…
Cats, Science/Nature
Friday Catblogging: Why Cats Land on Their Feet
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Cats, Science/Nature
Friday Catblogging: Using AI Facial Recognition to Conserve Pumas
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Ashleigh Papp, over at Scientific American, reports How AI Facial Recognition Is Helping Conserve Pumas: INTRO: This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Ashleigh Papp. Papp: Mountain lions are now posing for their close ups. Researchers based in the greater Yellowstone National Park area have figured out a new way to identify these cats by using…
Daily Bread, Language, Science/Nature
Daily Bread for 7.24.22: ‘Parentese’ as a True Lingua Franca
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning. Sunday in Whitewater will see morning showers with a high of 83. Sunrise is 5:39 AM and sunset 8:23 PM for 14h 44m 27s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 15% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1935, the Dust Bowl heat wave reaches its peak, sending temperatures…