Daily Archives: 10 Mar 07

Don’t mention polar bears, Bush tells US scientists

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“The Bush Administration has been accused once again of gagging US government scientists by getting them to agree not to talk about polar bears, sea ice and climate change during official overseas trips.

A leaked memorandum issued by a regional director of the US Department of the Interior states that officials within the US Fish and Wildlife Service will limit their discussions when travelling in countries bordering the Arctic region because of sensitivities about climate change.” (Independent.UK)

Feline Reactions to Bearded Men

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I have assiduously resisted the weblogging trend of posting cute cat photos, even on Fridays (yes, my family keeps cats as well as dogs), but I could not resist this research paper by Catherine Maloney, Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut; Sarah J. Lichtblau, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois; Nadya Karpook, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida; Carolyn Chou, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Anthony Arena-DeRosa, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts:

“Abstract

Cats were exposed to photographs of bearded men. The beards were of various sizes, shapes, and styles. The cats’ responses were recorded and analyzed.” (Scientist, Interrupted )

Scroll down the paper for the study’s findings. (And, yes, some of us in my family have beards…)