by Frederick B. Reitz, Ph.C.
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington Illustrations by Marian Parry

I report here the first evidence that domestic cats exhibit quantum tunneling.

Subatomic particles can make seemingly impossible, instantaneous "jumps" from one place to another. This has been known in theory for well over half a century. Numerous examples of it have been observed and meticulously documented. Known as "quantum tunneling," this strange phenomenon had previously been thought to occur only on very small scales.

In this paper I report instances of the spontaneous relocation of entire cats. Though cats are arguably quantal to the extent that they tend to exist as discrete entities, the appreciable magnitude of some of the cats in question constitutes a novel aspect of the tunneling phenomenon.

Quantum Tunneling

The physical literature contains many reports of electrons and similar particles spontaneously jumping or "tunneling" from one place to another via so-called "forbidden" routes. This phenomenon has enjoyed much attention since the advent of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). In all reports to date, the particles in question have ranged in size from extremely small to very, very small, with rare cases involving particles that are merely quite small.

Some horror films are pretty silly even while they scare us to death, and that is often reflected in the titles. In fact, author R.L. Stine was probably influenced by real movies in naming the Goosebumps series of children's books. If you are familiar with either, you'll probably do well on today's Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss. I scored 70% because I know a lot of the movies, although I've never read a Goosebumps book. Link

This slide show is subtitled "Pistols, canes, bowie knives, and fireplace tongs: a brief history of congressional violence." Read 14 accounts of our representatives in Washington acting in ways that we don't expect.

Upset with Massachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner's abolitionist rhetoric, South Carolina Rep. Preston Brooks approached him on the Senate floor and beat him unconscious with his cane in 1856. Brooks later told the House he "meant no disrespect" by the assault, and mused about his choice of weaponry in a floor speech: "[I] speculated somewhat as to whether I should employ a horsewhip or a cowhide; but knowing that the senator was my superior in strength, it occurred to me that he might wrest it from my hand."

Link -via Everlasting Blort

It might take a genius to find the way through this maze! Print out a full size copy at the link and give it your best shot. Link -via Nag on the Lake

This list of 15 strange items for sale contain gifts that you won't find on most gift guides this year -and be warned that some may be NSFW. Here's one I never knew existed:

This DIY Juice To Alcohol Kit is a great gift for those alcoholic science nerds out there and for really bad parents who can't think of a better way to get their kids interested in science. Just add juice and a packet of the magical alcohol powder and you will have your own homemade liquor in only 48 hours. The resulting booze will be up to 28 proof -it might not be moonshine, but it sure won't make you go blind.

Personally, I'd love to receive the magic wand that turns the TV off! Link

In Tromsø, Norway, the sun has gone down, and it won't come up again until January. It happens every year in this community in the Arctic Circle. Children mark the beginning of the period called ‘Mørketid’ by setting out candles in the town square. Link -via TYWKIWDBI

If you want to really bring a smile to the face of the geek in your family, select a Christmas gift from a list compiled by geeks for geeks. In this guide from Geeks Are Sexy, you'll find books that have passed the test -they stimulate the mind as well as entertain it! Link

It's time for another round of the Name That Weird Invention! contest. Steven M. Johnson comes up with all sorts of wacky inventions in his weekly Museum of Possibilities posts. Can you come up with a name for this one? The commenter suggesting the funniest and wittiest name win a free T-shirt from the NeatoShop.

Contest rules: one entry per comment, though you can enter as many as you'd like. Please make a selection of the T-shirt you want (may we suggest the Science T-shirt, Funny T-shirt, and Artist-designed T-shirt categories?) alongside your entry. If you don't select a shirt, then you forfeit the prize. Have fun with this one!

Update: Congratulations to first place winner ladybuggs who suggested Aquaphobmobile - a vehicle for the "sailor" who is afraid of the water, and to second place winner scarab, who called it a Minnow-Bago. Both win t-shirts from the NeatoShop!

Leslie Nielsen, the star of the movie Airplane! and the TV series Police Squad! has died from complications of pneumonia at a hospital in Florida. Originally from Regina, Saskatchewan, Nielsen appeared in over 200 movies and TV shows in a career spanning six decades.

After Airplane! became a hit, the film's directors -- Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker -- wanted to take the film's slapstyle style of comedy to TV. They asked Nielsen to play the lead role in their new series "Police Squad!"

In the show, Nielsen played Frank Drebin, a stereotypical police officer modeled after characters in earlier police TV series. The show lasted only six episodes but earned Nielsen an Emmy nom for lead actor in a comedy series.

Six years later, Nielsen reprised his role for a feature-length version of the show, Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad, as well as two sequels.

Other credits include 1956's Forbidden Planet, the 1960s TV series Peyton Place, Dr. Kildare and The Bold Ones: The Protectors.

Nielsen was 84. Link

The following is an article from Uncle John's Heavy Duty Bathroom Reader.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, remains one of the most infamous events in U.S. history. Yet the spy who played a key role in the sneak attack is a forgotten man, unknown even to many World War II buffs.




UNDER COVER

On March 27, 1941, a 27-year-old junior diplomat named Tadashi Morimura arrived in Honolulu to take his post as vice-consul at the Japanese consulate. But that was just a cover- "Morimura" was really Takeo Yoshikawa, a Japanese Imperial Navy Intelligence officer. His real mission: to collect information about the American military installations in and around Pearl Harbor.

Relations between the United States and Japan had been strained throughout the 1930s and were now deteriorating rapidly. In 1940, after years of Japanese aggression in China and Southeast Asia, Washington froze Japanese assets in the U.S., cut off exports of oil and war material, and moved the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Pacific fleet from southern California to Pearl Harbor, bringing it 2,400 miles closer to Japan.

The fleet was in Pearl Harbor to stay. But if Japan wanted its funds unfrozen and the crippling economic embargo lifted, the United States insisted that all Japanese troops had to leave China and Southeast Asia. This was a demand that Japan was unwilling to meet. Instead, it began preparing for war, and by early 1941, the eyes of Japan's military planners had turned to Pearl Harbor.

THE AMERICAN DESK

Yoshikawa had become a spy in a roundabout way. He'd been a promising naval academy graduate, but his career hopes were dashed in 1936 when, just two years after graduation, stomach problems (reportedly brought on by heavy drinking) forced him out of the Japanese Navy. The following year he landed a desk job with Naval Intelligence, where he was put to work learning all that he could about the U.S. Navy.

From 1937 until 1940, Yoshikawa pored over books, magazines, newspapers, brochures, reports filed by Japanese diplomats and intelligence officers from all over the world, and anything else he could find that would give him information about the U.S. Navy. "By 1940 I was the Naval General Staff's acknowledged American expert," he recounted in a 1960 article in the journal Naval Institute Proceedings. "I knew by then every U.S. man-of-war and aircraft by name, hull number, configuration, and technical characteristics. I knew, too, a great deal of information about the U.S. naval bases at Manila, Guam, and Pearl Harbor."

(YouTube link)

The film Iron Sky has been in development for years. It's a Finnish-German-Australian sci-fi parody involving Nazis -a premise that cannot fail!

Towards the end of World War II the Nazi scientists made a significant breakthrough in anti-gravity. From a secret base built in the Antarctic, the first Nazi spaceships were launched in late ‘45 to found the military base Schwarze Sonne (Black Sun) on the dark side of the Moon. This base was to build a powerful invasion fleet and return to take over the Earth once the time was right.

Now it’s 2018, and it’s the time for the first American Moon landing since the 70’s. Meanwhile the Nazi invasion, that has been over 70 years in the making, is on its way, and the world is goose-stepping towards its doom.

Filming is going on now in Germany and the process is documented for you to follow.

Link to website | Blog | Flickr stream -Thanks, Janos!

Look at these cute mice made up as a Star Wars characters! They're available from Etsy store TheHouseofMouse. You'll also see R2D2, Darth Vader, and Luke Skywalker mice, plus mice from the cast of The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and other stories. Link -via Geeks Are Sexy

(YouTube link)

A trailer for the movie Blue's Clues, if it were directed by Christopher Nolan. It makes sense, as the first generation that grew up watching Steve and Blue solve puzzles in three clues are now watching crime dramas. -via The High Definite

Ischigualasto, meaning "the place where you put the moon" is a remote valley in Argentina. It is studded with geological formations left by wind erosion, amazing standing stones and boulders that are so rounded they look like enormous marbles. The valley's once-fertile ground is now arid and contains so many plant and animal fossils that paleontologists come from all over the world to study them. Link

(Image credit: Flickr user Aylwin Lo)

(YouTube link)

Terry Hope was presented with a challenge. He was working aboard an 88-foot sailboat and the captain would not let him bring a standard electric scooter on board. The only way he could have one is if it were to fit into a suitcase, and it had to be rechargeable off the grid. So he developed the Hybrid Electric Kinetic Photovoltaic Vehicle you see here! The battery is recharged with both solar and kinetic power -and it folds up. Get the specs at his website. Link -Thanks, Terry!