Londoners are crazy for canines. Last year, a local restaurant launched a three-course pop-up brunch for dogs. One luxury hotel now has a special “Doggy Afternoon Tea,” and boasts a “pet concierge.” Keeping with the trend, Time Out London reports that England’s capital city will soon be home to the world’s first bus tour for pups, for four days only next week.
Pet insurers MORE TH>N DOGGYSSENTI>LS created the 90-minute tour, which runs three times a day from Monday, January 16 to Thursday, January 19. It takes dog owners and their furry friends to London’s best parks and urban dog walking spots, including Hyde Park, Kensington Palace Gardens, and Green Park. Four-legged passengers can hop off the bus for a quick stroll, if their human companions are so inclined.
When they’re not exploring the city’s dog parks, guests will visit canine-inspired cultural attractions, including Victoria Tower Garden (site of the Annual Parliament Dog Show), The Kennel Club of Great Britain (home to the Europe’s largest collection of dog paintings), and Buckingham Palace (the Queen’s corgis; need we say more?). When the tour’s all finished, a convenient map will help dog owners locate canine-friendly restaurants and watering holes.
Most of the doggy bus tours are already sold out, but you can check to see if tickets are still available online, or contact organizers about additional dates.
UK-based artist Kate Kato makes tiny, life-sized sculptures of insects, plants, and fungi from old books and other recycled materials. She works mostly with paper and textiles, adding color or detail using paints, embroidery, and metal wire. Then, she displays the delicate models in small collections or dioramas.
Kato says her work is inspired by a lifelong love of nature. She grew up in Bristol, England, and now lives in the Welsh countryside. “As a child I spent a lot of time collecting bits and pieces in tins or boxes, which I would take with me on walks through parks or countryside,” she explains in an artist’s statement. “This has had a huge influence on my work, along with my love of botanical illustrations, the natural sciences and the nostalgia of museum visits where, as a child, I would be mesmerized by the variety of exhibits and the way they were displayed. I tend to view my work as a 3D record of my knowledge and experiences of the natural world.”
Kato’s work has been exhibited both domestically and abroad; last fall, her work was showcased at the Confluence Gallery & Art Center in Twisp, Washington. (You can also find her on Etsy.) View some of her sculptures and check out a video of her creative process below.
The data collected by wearable devices may be able to tell you much more than how many steps you’ve taken or hours you’ve slept. A new long-term study from researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine suggests that fitness monitors, smart watches, and other wearable biosensors may be able to detect initial signs of illness before the wearer has noted any symptoms, according to a New Scientist report.
The results were published on January 12 in PLOS Biology. More than 40 individuals participated in the study and used wearable devices for up to two years. Researchers used the gadgets to track subjects’ pulse rates, skin temperature, and other measurements, and monitored when they deviated from normal baseline measurements. Sure enough, the researchers noticed that subjects exhibited an elevated heart rate up to three days before exhibiting signs of a cold or infection. Their skin temperature was sometimes higher, too.
“We think that if your heart rate and skin temperature are elevated for about two hours, there’s a strong chance you’re getting sick,” the study’s lead author, Michael Snyder, told New Scientist. (Snyder experienced the phenomenon first-hand when he received an early warning from a wearable that he had contracted Lyme disease during an excursion to rural New England.) Researchers also noticed that variations in heart rate patterns could distinguish between participants with insulin resistance (a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes) and healthy subjects, CBS News reports.
The research at this stage is still experimental, but Snyder and his colleagues are hoping to use what they’ve learned to build algorithms that let smart devices notify their wearers when they may be falling ill. Though the inevitable is still likely to occur, that way smart device owners will have been given fair warning—which means they can rest up and take care of themselves.
In 2005, the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe—which had been sent into space with its mothership, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, to learn more about Saturn and its moons—became the first spacecraft to land on an object in the outer solar system. That object was Titan, a hazy, planet-like moon of Saturn. Now, 12 years after the historic voyage, Mashable reports that NASA has released a video of Huygens’s descent.
Huygens took samples of Titan’s atmosphere and captured hundreds of photos of the moon. These images revealed a new, alien world with rugged mountains, dramatic gorges, and dark drainage channels that were suggestive of liquid methane rivers.
“The Huygens images were everything our images from orbit were not,” planetary scientist Carolyn Porco, who worked as the Cassini imaging team lead at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, said in a NASA press release. “Instead of hazy, sinuous features that we could only guess were streams and drainage channels, here was incontrovertible evidence that at some point in Titan’s history—perhaps even now—there were flowing liquid hydrocarbons on the surface. Huygens’s images became a Rosetta Stone for helping us interpret our subsequent findings on Titan.”
The Huygens probe only transmitted data during its descent; after it landed on Titan, it went silent. The Cassini spacecraft has continued to explore Titan from above, capturing images of sand dunes and lakes of liquid methane and ethane. Cassini is currently in its final year of exploration; its mission is slated to end in September 2017.
In the video below, you can relive the Huygens probe’s historic descent, from atmospheric entry to touchdown.
One of Scotland’s most renowned exports is a luxury textile called Harris Tweed. The nubby cloth is made from pure new wool and is blended, dyed, spun, and hand-woven by residents of the Outer Hebrides, an island chain off the country’s west coast. Scotland is so proud of the fabric that in 1993, officials even passed an Act of Parliament to protect its quality and production.
In the short documentary above, The Big Cloth—which was filmed for the Harris Tweed Authority, a.k.a. the folks who monitor how the fabric gets made—you can learn more about a fascinating industry, and admire some pretty scenery, to boot.
Flu season is in full swing, and public health experts say it’s going to be a doozy in 2017. As Self reports, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “noted a slow but steady increase” in reported flu cases in November and early December, and things are only expected to get worse in coming weeks, CDC officials announced.
The U.S. Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network (ILINet)—which is made up of more than 2800 outpatient healthcare providers across America—tracks the percentage of patients seeking care for influenza-like illnesses and reports them to the CDC each week. Recently, more patients have exhibited flu-like symptoms than normal, officials say. The CDC also noted that the percentage of respiratory specimens in clinical laboratories testing positive for influenza is on the rise.
Not only are more people getting sick with the flu, they’re being infected with influenza A viruses, also known as H3N2. In past flu seasons, H3N2 has been linked with more hospitalizations and deaths than other strains, so it’s considered more serious than other flu types—particularly for kids and seniors. “While it’s not possible to predict which influenza viruses will predominate for the entire 2016-2017 influenza season, if H3N2 viruses continue to circulate widely, older adults and young children may be more severely impacted,” the CDC said.
Want a flu-free winter? Wash your hands frequently, avoid sick friends and co-workers, get prompt treatment with antiviral drugs if you do fall ill—and get a flu shot. The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months and older get their annual flu shot. It’s not too late, as the flu season peaks between December and March. However, the vaccine does takes about two weeks to be fully effective, so sooner is better than later.
If you’re wary of getting a flu shot, we’ll dispel a few misconceptions that might be preventing you from taking the plunge: No, a flu shot doesn’t give you the flu. No, it’s not dangerous for pregnant women. And yes, you can still get a flu shot if you’re allergic to eggs (but be sure to speak up if that’s the case, because the medical professional may need to take extra precautions).
Unfortunately, the flu shot you received last flu season will not protect you in the coming months. There are many types of flu, and each year, certain strains are more prevalent than others. That’s why scientists and public health officials formulate new vaccines.
So go forth, get vaccinated, and stay healthy—but if the worst-case scenario occurs and you do catch the flu, make sure to protect your colleagues from your illness by taking sick days as needed.
Some people collect stamps or build models, but Clint Buffington has a more unusual hobby: He travels the world, hunting for messages in bottles, and then blogs about his discoveries. Over the years, Buffington has found 83 notes—among them, a letter from a couple named Ed and Carol Meyers. They tossed the missive into the ocean in 1999, while celebrating their first wedding anniversary at a resort in North Carolina’s Outer Banks islands. Eight years later, Buffington stumbled across their corked correspondence while exploring a beach in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
In the video above, Vox.com’s Zachary Crockett and Phil Edwards explain how the bottle made its way from the Outer Banks to the Caribbean, and how the random find forged a relationship among a group of virtual strangers.
A 7-year-old boy in Orange County, California has quite literally turned trash into treasure: Ryan Hickman launched his own recycling business, and is saving his earnings for college, Distractify reports.
The young entrepreneur’s inspiration for “Ryan’s Recycling” was fueled by a visit he and his father paid to a local recycling center when Ryan was 3 years old.
“He likes to sort pretty much anything, and he liked putting the bottles in the machine,” his father, Damion Hickman, told local newspaper The Capistrano Dispatch. “He probably got two or three bucks, and he was so excited about it. And of course then he got to sort his change, so that meant more sorting.”
When the toddler returned home, he and his mother distributed plastic bags among his neighbors so Ryan could collect and dispose of their cans and bottles, his website states. Friends, family members, and their co-workers soon joined in and, lo and behold, an entrepreneur was born.
Ryan devotes a portion of his week to sorting and cleaning the bottles and cans he collects, and every few weeks, he takes them to the recycling plant. (Ryan’s family lends a helping hand—and even more importantly, a car.) Over the years, his family thinks he’s recycled around 200,000 cans and bottles. He’s also saved approximately $10,000 for college—although if Ryan had it his way, he says he would use the money to purchase his own garbage truck.
All photos courtesy ofDamion Hickman
For Ryan, recycling is a win-win situation: It helps the environment, plus you can earn some extra cash, he says. It’s hard to argue with that kind of logic.
Ryan is “very passionate” about recycling, “and he likes to get everybody else passionate about it as well,” Ryan’s mother, Andrea, told the Dispatch. “I think he’s rubbed off on all of us now. You find yourself walking past a can on the ground and needing to pick it up instead of walking away and leaving it there.”
Want to support Ryan’s Recycling? If you live in Orange County, you can schedule a pick-up online. If you don’t, Ryan’s Recycling T-shirts are available for purchase. They cost $13, and all proceeds are donated to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, California, where Ryan serves as a youth ambassador.
Get to know Ryan by watching the video below, filmed by his father.
Far across the world, an elusive—and adorable—wildcat called Pallas’s cat (also known as the manul) roams the grasslands and steppes of Central Asia and Eurasia. Get to know the flat-faced, furry kitty, which has been featured in memes and viral videos and recently received its own wildlife preserve in Asia’s Altai Mountains.
1. IT’S NAMED AFTER THE NATURALIST PETER PALLAS.
The German naturalist Peter Pallas first described the furry wildcat in 1776. He named the kitty Felis manul, and theorized that it was an ancestor of the Persian cat, thanks to its round face, luxurious coat, and stocky body. (He was wrong.)
2. ITS SCIENTIFIC NAME MEANS “UGLY-EARED” …
Later on, the cat’s scientific name was changed from Felis manul to Otocolobus manul—not exactly the most flattering moniker, since Otocolobusis Greek for “ugly-eared.”
3. … BUT ITS UNUSUAL EARS COME IN HANDY.
Some may consider the Pallas’s cat’s ears to be ugly, while others might think they’re adorable. Arguments aside, the cat’s round ears—which sit flat on the sides of its head—are one of its most distinguishing features. As Crystal DiMiceli, a wild animal keeper at the Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn, New York, explains in the above video, having low-positioned ears helps the cat conceal itself—they don’t poke up to reveal the animal’s position while it’s hiding or hunting.
4. IT HAS A DENSE, PLUSH COAT.
The coat of the Pallas’s cat is its true crowning glory. It’s longer and denser than any other coat belonging to a member of the Felid species (growing in even heavier in the winter), and the undercoat on its belly is twice as long as the fur covering the rest of its body. The shade ranges from silvery grey during the winter to a darker, red-toned hue during warmer months. (Some cats are also red, particularly in Central Asia.) Its broad head is streaked and speckled with dark markings, and its bushy tail is banded with stripes and a dark tip. These markings tend to appear darker during the summer.
5. ITS FUR BLENDS IN WITH ITS HABITAT, WHICH CONCEALS IT FROM PREDATORS.
Pallas’s cats live in areas ranging from Pakistan and northern India to central China, Mongolia, and southern Russia. According to Wild Cats of the World, by Luke Hunter, its body isn’t adapted for snow, so it sticks to cold, arid habitats—particularly grassy or rocky areas, which help conceal it from predators—at elevations of around 1500 to nearly 17,000 feet. The stocky cat isn’t a fast runner, so when it senses danger, it freezes and crouches flat and motionless on the ground, and its fur helps it blend in with its dry surroundings.
These felines typically weigh less than 12 pounds, and they’re usually only 2 feet or less in body length—meaning they’re not that much larger than an ordinary house cat.
7. THEIR PUPILS ARE ROUND INSTEAD OF VERTICAL.
Pallas’s cats do share one feature in common with larger wildcats, like lions and tigers: their eyes. Their pupils are round, whereas a house cat’s pupils are vertical and slit-shaped. Wondering why some cats have round pupils while others have vertical ones? A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley found that animals’ pupil shapes might indicate their role in the predator/prey food chain. They analyzed 214 species of land animals (including cats), and noted that species with vertical pupils tended to be ambush predators that were active during both day and night. In contrast, species with vertical pupils were often “active foragers,” meaning they chase their prey. Also, predators that are closer to the ground, like house cats, were prone to vertical pupils, whereas larger wildcats had round ones. Pallas’s cats are small, and they are primarily ambush hunters, so the jury’s still out on whether the study’s findings hold true for all creatures.
8. THEY SUBSIST MOSTLY ON PIKA.
Pallas’s cats are ambush hunters and spend much of their time hunting pika, a small mammal, and other critters like gerbils, voles, hares, ground squirrels, birds, and young marmots. Pika typically make up more than 50 percent of the cat’s diet.
9. THEY MAY BE DISTANTLY RELATED TO THE LEOPARD CAT.
Peter Pallas thought the animal was related to the Persian cat. (We think it looks like a Maine Coon and a Scottish Fold had a baby and weaned it on steroid milk.) However, experts have uncovered evidence that the wildcat’s nearest—yet still pretty distant—relative might be the leopard cat.
10. THEY’RE NOT SOCIAL ANIMALS …
The Pallas’s cat is notoriously elusive and spends much of its time hiding in caves, crevices, or abandoned burrows.
11. … AND THEY DON’T SEEM TO LIKE EACH OTHER MUCH.
Pallas’s cats may be adorably fluffy, but they aren’t the world’s sweetest, most cuddly creatures. In fact, they’re very aggressive. Case in point: In The Wild Cat Book, authors Fiona and Mel Sunquist recount an anecdote provided by Bill Swanson, the Cincinnati Zoo’s director of animal research. Zookeepers thought that a litter of newborn Pallas’s cats were having difficulty breathing, but “when they listened closely, they realized that the noise they were hearing was the kittens growling and hissing at each other—before they had even opened their eyes!”
12. THEIR MATING PERIOD IS BRIEF.
Pallas’s cats mate between December and March; the females typically give birth between the end of March and May, after a gestation period of 66 to 75 days. Pallas’s cats usually give birth to three or four kittens, but litters can sometimes have as many as eight kittens. Kittens become independent by four to five months, and when they reach nine to ten months, they’re mature enough to reproduce.
It’s estimated that Pallas’s cats can live up to six years in the wild, but thanks to predators and other dangers, their lifespan is likely to be half this length. In captivity, they’ve been known to survive for nearly 12 years.
In 2002, the International Union for Conservation of Nature classified the Pallas’s cat as “near threatened.” Many factors contribute to their low numbers, including farming, agricultural activities, mining, and poisoning campaigns aimed at reducing pika and marmot populations. They’re also killed in traps meant for wolves and foxes, or by domestic dogs. And despite international trading bans and legal protections in some countries, they’re often hunted for their fur. (The cat’s fat and organs are also used to make traditional medicines.)
Scientists don’t have enough data to estimate the Pallas’s cat’s population size, but due to their scarcity and the myriad threats they face, experts believe that their numbers have dropped by 10 to 15 percent over the past decade or so. To better understand—and protect—the animal, an international team of conservationists recently secured a 12-mile swath of land in Sailyugemsky Nature Park, which lies in the Altai Mountains between Kazakhstan and Mongolia, as a sanctuary for the rare cat. There, they hope to monitor its population, study its habitat, and build a database of information detailing encounters with it.
When it comes to speed and efficiency, planes can’t be beat—but a long train ride lets travelers slow down and enjoy the journey, resulting in an extra-memorable voyage. From the Trans-Siberian Railway to the Eastern and Oriental Express, travel company Pettitts has an infographic of 12 of the world’s most storied (and scenic) railways.
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