FREE WHITEWATER

Science/Nature

Friday Catblogging: They Have Their Reasons

Embed from Getty Images In Scientific American, Jack Tamisiea writes that Cats Kill a Staggering Number of Species across the World (‘Domestic cats are cherished human companions, but a new study shows the enormous breadth of species the felines prey on when they are left to roam freely’): Despite their small stature and memeable mugs,…

Friday Catblogging: Nearly 300 Different Facial Expressions

See Think cats are aloof? They make nearly 300 facial expressions, study says: Brittany Florkiewicz has always been a dog person, but she was surprised by what she discovered when reviewing more than 100 hours of cat videos. Florkiewicz, a psychology professor at an Arkansas college, spent her childhood running around her yard with her…

Friday Catblogging: Strolling with Shelter Cats

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…

Friday Catblogging: How Do Cats Cool Themselves Off?

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…

Friday Catblogging: Cat Noses

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…

Friday Catblogging: The Corsican ‘Cat-Fox’

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…

Friday Catblogging: The Slow Blink

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. ….…