Nope. Nope. Nope. This compilation video of electrical workers in China is not for anyone who gets vertigo from a video. The young men have safety cords, but I wouldn't trust them with my life. Knowing they are being recorded, they get a little rowdy at times. -via Boing Boing

If your pet cat roams outside, he is probably killing a lot more animals than you think. Scientists studied the movements of 925 cats in the US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand by outfitting them with GPS trackers. They found the cats almost all stayed within a kilometer or so of home, meaning their territories are small compared to wildlife species.  

Most of the cats spent their time in human-altered habitats, though 11 percent roamed mostly in natural habitats. Owners estimated that their cats brought home 42 prey items per year, while estimates show that cats kill one to three times as many prey than they bring home. This suggests that each cat was killing around 50 to 138 animals per year, according to estimates. The researchers didn’t find evidence to support the hypothesis that the presence or absence of other large predators, like coyotes, impacted the cats’ movement.

These kill estimates are comparable to, if not lower than, the kill rate of a typical similarly sized (around 10-pound) wild carnivore. However, wild carnivores spread those kills out over a range 10 to 1,250 times larger than the pet cats. This means that wild carnivores kill fewer animals per concentrated region, compared to cats.

Notably, the study did not reveal what kind of prey the cats were killing. After all, we domesticated them in the first place to exterminate rats and mice. One shocking fact was that only ten of the 925 pet cats were spayed or neutered. Read more about this study at Gizmodo.

(Image credit: Roland Kays)  

Here's an old German folk tale that's too terrifying for Disney, but not for the Brothers Grimm. Their  version is different, and even that was toned down for publication. You just know the story has something to do with the plague. In this animated version, the godfather is Death, and he's serious about his business. Read more about this story in a TED-Ed lesson from Iseult Gillespie.

Queen Mary I became the ruler of England in 1553 when her younger brother died after a six-year reign, although taking the throne was not easy. She, the deceased Edward VI, and her younger sister Elizabeth were all children of the infamous Henry VIII.

During her five-year reign, Mary navigated the manifold challenges associated with her status as the first English queen to wear the crown in her own right, rather than as the wife of a king. She prioritized religion above all else, implementing reforms and restrictions aimed at restoring the Catholic Church’s ascendancy in England. Most controversially, she ordered 280 Protestants burned at the stake as heretics—a fact that would later cement her reputation as “Bloody Mary.”

The queen also set precedents and laid the groundwork for initiatives—among others, financial reform, exploration and naval expansion—that would be built upon by her much-lauded successor, Elizabeth I. Mary failed, however, to fulfill arguably the most important duty of any monarch: producing an heir. When she died at age 42 in 1558 of an ailment identified alternatively as uterine cancer, ovarian cysts or influenza, Elizabeth claimed the throne.

Those 280 Protestants are the reason that she is known as Bloody Mary in the history books. Or was it? Her father, Henry VIII, had tens of thousands of people executed, including two of his wives. Edward VI only had two Protestants burned at the stake, but his actions resulted in the deaths of thousands of Catholics. Elizabeth I, who followed her sister on the throne, had hundreds of Catholics executed. So why was Mary the one who got the "Bloody" name? Read about the trends in history, religion, and misogyny that recast Mary I as bloody at Smithsonian.

(Image credit: Master John)

It's been a while since we featured the Unipiper! Brian Kidd, the master of multitasking, has been busy with TV and personal appearances, but recently he is more concerned with the coronavirus. In order to keep Portland weird, he's donned hazmat gear to spray disinfectant all around, while still riding a unicycle and playing his flaming bagpipes. It's a visual reminder to take precautions about spreading viruses. -via reddit

Browsing the internet for eye candy is a growing pastime, and many of us love to look at real estate just to dream. But if you are serious about wanting to live in an old house with a history behind it, and you have the time and skills for repairs, AND you are flexible about location, have I got a great website for you! Old Houses Under 50K is exactly what it says on the tin. The real estate listings are real, and the houses range from completely falling apart to "I could live with that." Most, however, would require an investment of time and work. You can sort the listings by state, style, or amenities, and there's even a category for haunted house stories. The 1910 house shown above has four bedrooms and three bathrooms, and if you want to live in Rockford, Illinois, you can get it for only $50K. Look inside for lots of fireplaces. There are others in almost every state. -via a comment at Metafilter. If you have more money (or are just dreaming), you can check out their other links.

While the title sounds like an April Fool's Day prank, this optical trick is real. If you put polished glass in an oil bath, it become completely invisible. So a marble run built of glass with a glass marble, submerged in oil, with some visible elements, gives us an eerie experience. The video is in Japanese, but you can turn on English subtitles. -via Geeks Are Sexy

We think of dinosaurs as big and birds as small. The connection between the two types of animals is displayed in a very small piece of amber with a 99-million-year-old skull inside. The skull is only 7 millimeters long and belongs to the newly-named species Oculudentavis khaungraae, a bird-like dinosaur discovered in Myanmar.

Using high-resolution synchrotron CT scanning, the researchers were able to study the fossil in exquisite detail, without having to crack it open. The skull measures just 7.1 millimeters in length, which is comparable in size to the skull of a bee hummingbird, the smallest modern bird living today.

“The discovery suggests that miniature body sizes in birds evolved earlier than previously recognized, and might provide insights into the evolutionary process of miniaturization,” wrote Roger Benson, a paleobiologist from the University of Oxford who wasn’t involved with the research, in a Nature News & Views article. “In this case, weighing perhaps 2 grams, Oculudentavis is about one-sixth of the size of the smallest known early fossil bird. This indicates that, only shortly after their origins late in the Jurassic period (which lasted from about 201 million to 145 million years ago), birds had already attained their minimum body sizes.”

This is one strange creature. It had plenty of teeth, and eyes that were like a lizard in some ways, like an owl in other way. Read about this discovery and what it tells us about the history of dinosaurs and birds at Gizmodo.

(Image credit: Lida Xing)

Nataliya Koshivaya received a small cat figurine as a gift 15 years ago, and began collecting tiny cats in all forms. The collection grew to over a thousand pieces of cat kitsch from all over the world! When the war got too close to their home in Ukraine, the couple fled to Krakow, Poland, bringing their cat collection with them. In June of last year, they opened The Cat Museum to share their many cats with the public. The 15-square-meter museum is stacked tight with cats, and has proven to be quite popular.

Of these assorted curios, many serve ulterior purposes to act as teapots, pepper shakers, soap dispensers, snow globes, paperweights or saucers – still more, however, are for decorative use only and it is these that are arguably the most kitsch of all.

Complimented by a range of other feline related items like the cheerful blue cats painted by Belarussian artist Rina Zeniuk, as well as a motherlode of other pussy paraphernalia such as cat-embossed cushions and bags, it’s a feast for the eyes that asks many questions: is it tacky or eccentric? The truth, perhaps, lies somewhere in between.

Guarded by a very real, trick-performing, four-legged princess by the name of Geisha (“the real owner,” laughs Nataliya), the cat count could well be extended in the near future should the couple realise their ambition to open another chamber to house living creatures.

-via Mental Floss

Roger Dickey is an avid geography fan and intrepid traveler. He is a member of Atlas Obscura who tracks down earth's anomalies and visits them. He came by his interests honestly, from his mother, Ellie Talburtt. Together they went to explore Michigan’s Isle Royale, which has the title of the US's least-visited national park.   

What had brought them there, and into this rather dicey situation, was something called Moose Boulder, a kind of geological matryoshka. Here’s what makes Moose Boulder special, from the outside in: Lake Superior is the world’s largest freshwater lake, and its largest island is Isle Royale, whose largest lake is called Siskiwit, whose largest island is called Ryan. According to Wikipedia, at least, Ryan Island is home to a seasonal pond called Moose Flats that, when flooded, contains its own island—Moose Boulder. This makes it “the largest island in the largest lake on the largest island in the largest lake on the largest island in the largest lake in the world.” Pity it’s not in Greenland, it could have gone all the way.

Dickey did his research before going to Ryan Island. He looked up every mention of Moose Boulder on the internet, and while he found plenty of mentions, he never found anyone who had actually been there. Every path he explored turned out to be dead links, people who couldn't be found, and circular citations. He became convinced that Moose Boulder was a nonexistent hoax, but that didn't stop him from looking. Dickey and Talburtt's trip to Isle Royale held more adventure than they were expecting. Read about the trip and the research into Moose Boulder at (where else?) Atlas Obscura.

(Image credit: Roger Dickey)

As of now, it is illegal to buy kidneys from living donors in the United States. At the same time, most people on a waiting list for a transplant die before they get to the head of the line. The cost of keeping people on dialysis while they wait is tremendous, both in money and in the patient's diminished life and health. Some are proposing various incentives for living donation.

On the other hand, paying living donors for kidneys, as in some Third World countries, means that the people who donate are the ones who are desperate for money. In the precarious US health care system, you can see a situation in which people sell kidneys to pay off already-onerous medical debt. The poor should not become organ farms.

There have been several different schemes proposed for compensating living donors, from tax breaks to covering a wide range of expenses to paying cash. The studies show that even paying large sums of money to donors saves money in the long run compared to keeping patients on dialysis. Read about several of these proposals at Metafilter, and let us know your thoughts.  

(Image credit: Scientific Animations)

Traffic signs come in all sizes, shapes, and colors, but there is some standardization, which has to do with how important the message is. The STOP sign is the only one that has a octagonal shape, which was standardized in the United States 1923. They are also red, which was standardized only in the 1950s. Now all stop signs are red, except for some in Hawaii. And there are reasons for the unique octagonal shape of the stop sign, which you can read about at Now I Know. -via Digg

YOU GUYS. I just saw the most wild thing! A man started walking toward the Girl Scouts cookie stand in front of the grocery store and he yelled “my bitches are BACK” and this Girl Scout just yelled “no. Walk away.” AND HE DID.

— Eli McCann (@EliMcCann) March 7, 2020

Eli McCann's Tweet has gone viral, approaching half a million hearts and 50K reTweets. It had sparked a lot of conversations on various forums, in which some wondered what the fuss was about, since it was a short and simple interaction between a young girl and a rude guy. While experiences vary, the scene was remarkable for different reasons, such as:

1. A girl who is about 12 or so knew exactly what to say to assert her right not to be called names, and did it without hesitation, unlike generations of women who were raised to take whatever a man says as a compliment.

2. The guy actually walked away instead of reacting angrily. The expected deferential behavior from a woman (or girl) is often due to fear of an angry or even violent reaction.  

3. Many people pointed out that if she were a store employee instead of a Girl Scout, she would have been fired for not putting up with a customer's rudeness.

McCann wrote a blog post about the experience that goes into more detail, including the girl's priceless comment afterward. -via Metafilter

(Image credit: carol)

Are you familiar with Vin Diesel's xXx movies? There are three of them, plus a short film, and another feature film in development now. It really doesn't matter if you know them or not, because the Honest Trailer is probably as entertaining as all three movies together.

We've often posted about medieval art and imagery, particularly illuminations and marginalia that scribes used to decorate manuscripts. We laugh at the ridiculous use of snails and rabbits, but there are oh, so many cats. And they all look goofy, as if they were cartoon drawings plopped down in the middle of careful portraits of people and dogs (and rabbits).

“In the Medieval period, animals were understood to be the mirror of human society,” historian Damien Kempf, who is writing a book on Medieval depictions of animals, told me. “Even though animals were believed to be irrational beings, they were given human traits and characteristics.” Dogs, for example, were lauded for being loyal companions, created to guard the house and assist in the hunt.

Cats? Not so much.

“Sources emphasize the rather unruly nature of cats,” Kempf said. “Unlike dogs, cats cannot be trained to be loyal and obedient. As one author complains, they will go to whoever gives them food.” So that’s one reason cats probably got such an unflattering edit.

But it's not the only reason. Altogether, medieval artists may have something in common with modern meme makers- as funny as cats are, we love to make them funnier. Read more on this subject at Medium, and you'll see some funny cats. -via Digg