Boing Boing » cats

Put a GPS on your cat

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 03:54:44 +0000

When one of Caroline Paul's cats disappeared for 5.5 weeks, it inspired her to find out what Tibula (the cat) was really up to when he left home. The process of this is pretty fascinating. The outcome is, well, kind of cat like. What was Tibula doing when he wasn't at home? Avoiding the house and staring at himself in windows, apparently.

A cat video about the science of cats

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 19:26:40 +0000

Two things I learned from this video:
1: I am my cat's Facebook page. That rubbing-up-against-you-and-leaving-scent thing? It's not just to mark you as "theirs". It's also a way of communicating information about themselves to other cats that you might encounter.
2: My cats poop in a box and bury it as a gesture of submissiveness to me. Good cats.

Proposal: cats could deliver mail

David Pescovitz — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:41:45 +0000

A variety of animals have been used to deliver mail over the years, from camels and dogs to horses and pigeons. But cats? According to a 19th century article in the New York Times, around 1877 the Belgian Society for the Elevation of the Domestic Cat tested 37 cats for the task by taking them far from the city of Liege where they "promptly proceeded to 'scat.'" Within 24 hours, they had all returned home.

This result has greatly encouraged the society, and it is proposed to establish at an early day a regular system of cat communication between Liege and the neighboring villages. Messages are to be fastened in water-proof bags around the necks of the animals, and it is believed that, unless the criminal class of dogs undertakes to waylay and rob the mail-cats, the messages will be delivered with rapidity and safety.

"Domestic Explosives and Other Six Column Fancies: (From the New York Times.)" - William Livingston Alden

Cats and optical illusions: Now with control experiments!

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:29:45 +0000

Last week, I posted about a YouTuber who thinks his he might have tricked his cat with an optical illusion that's based on very human psychology. He asked other people to test the illusion on their cats, just to get some more data points. Now, the psychologists who created the illusion have pitched in to help out, posting a modified version that doesn't elicit the sensation of motion. Show your cat both versions and see whether it's the paper she's trying to kill, or the "rotating" circles. (Thanks to Diana Issidorides!)

Are cats fooled by optical illusions?

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 23:50:07 +0000

The Rotating Snake Illusion is a fun image that makes your brain perceive motion where no motion actually exists. Psychologists understand the factors that make an illusion like this work (and work better) — for instance, breaking up and staggering the colored lines that radiate from the center of the circle creates a much stronger sensation of movement. But they don't know exactly why it works yet, according to Japanese psychologists Akiyoshi Kitaoka and Hiroshi Ashida.

And that brings us to this kitten video.

YouTube user Rasmus posted a video that he thinks might show his cat being tricked by the same sense of motion that catches the eyes of humans who look at The Rotating Snake Illusion. On the other hand, this just might be a cute video of a kitten attacking a piece of paper — which is known to happen.

So here's the challenge: Try it on your cat. You can print it off here. Then, report back here and/or post video responses to YouTube. Let's gather some data!

This is not exactly the soundest experimental methodology ever, but it sure would be interesting to see what happens.

Boing Boing reader's cat photos should probably become a meme

Xeni Jardin — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 23:57:37 +0000

We found this cat in the Boing Boing Flickr Pool. Bill Benson shot this photo, and the one below.

More in his Flickr stream. These cat photos have an awful lot of meme power within.

Bring in the cats.com

Dean Putney — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 23:51:36 +0000

Sometimes you just need a fountain of cats set to rap music. HEY GRIFF, BRING IN THE CATS.

Camera Bag Cat is watching you pack for your trip

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:20:07 +0000

From the Boing Boing Flickr pool, a wonderful photo by Kai Teoh, a Boing Boing reader and photographer based in Minnesota who is available for editorial and special occasions booking.

Caturday: headphones kitten

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 22:11:05 +0000

"little cat enjoying music," shot by Viktoria Vitkovska of Kiev, Ukraine, and shared in the Boing Boing Flickr Pool.

Cat nest, on forest floor

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 23:24:26 +0000

Reader Jon Siegel in Singapore shares this wonderful photo in the Boing Boing Flickr pool. "As far as I know, this one's the leader of a pack of these critters which hang out around my office," he says.

A cat encounters snow for the first time

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 18:51:38 +0000

Oh, my goodness this video is sweet. Uploader "jefcharles" explains,

After being sent home from work the first thing I did on getting home was to check outside the back door to see if there were any cat paw prints. There weren't, so I thought I'd introduce Fletcher to the snow and film the results..

(thanks, Joe Sabia!)

Here's a photo of an adorable kitten playing with paper

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 19:54:47 +0000

A photo of a kitten named Wheatley captured and shared by Boing Boing reader Beckitten in the Boing Boing Flickr Pool.

Kittie chaser, for a very, very bad news day

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 19:07:44 +0000

shironekoshiro.

Cat lady paints with poop

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:19:46 +0000

The New York Times Local East Village blog points us to Siobhan Meow, an artist and cat-hoarder who at one point kept 100 cats in her home.

"Since the mid-nineties, the artist has rescued felines and used them as muses for paintings, ceramics, and photography," writes Andrea Huspeni. "She even collaborated with one of them, Jupiter, by combining his organic material — fur, urine, and yes, poop — with her paints. After his passing this October, she is dedicating her current collection to him."

Her feces- and urine-enhanced cat paintings start at about $1,500. In this New York Times video, the artist talks about her beloved Jupiter and his talent for “thinking out of the litter box.”

You can view more of Siobhan's work on her Facebook page, and on Flickr.

Caturday: dig this 2013 Japanese cat meme calendar

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 20:20:51 +0000

I enjoy following Sakurako Shimizu, or "sakuracos," on instagram for daily cute-cat-photos from Japan. I was delighted to see that she has produced this attractively-designed "cat meme calendar," available on Etsy for $15.50 USD, with adorbzable photos of Fuku, Goma, and their furry friends.

Caturday: mushroom edition

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 13:11:48 +0000

Mario would be proud. From shironekoshiro.

Caturmonday: Caption this

Xeni Jardin — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:07:37 +0000

"Segundo," a photograph shared in the Boing Boing Flickr pool by Boing Boing reader Bill of Providence, Rhode Island. It begs for image-macro-fication.

Cats free-falling from space

Xeni Jardin — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:55:51 +0000

Created by combatcameraman on b3ta. Felix the cat! (Via: crackajack.de. Thanks, Tara McGinley)

Caturday: I am a Cat.

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 18:33:04 +0000

By Camels and Friends, starring Pancake. Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Two cats just hanging out in a frying pan (video)

Xeni Jardin — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:22:37 +0000

[Video Link] From Shironekoshiro.

Caturday: Here is a purring cat with daisies on its head (video)

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 15:49:54 +0000

[Video Link, via shironekoshiro].

Collective Soul cat (video)

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 21:42:43 +0000

[Video Link]

(Thanks, Tara McGinley!)

A Super Mario cat in a mushroom hat

Xeni Jardin — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 15:53:22 +0000

Wearing lavender sunglasses (well, for a little while). [Video Link]. From Shironekoshiro's YouTube channel, a daily source of cute comfort in my life.

Caturday: kitten is hogging the TV remote

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 15:42:06 +0000

Boing Boing reader Benjamin G. Levy, a Mac computing consultant based in Los Angeles, shot and shared this photo in the Boing Boing Flickr pool. Happy Caturday.

Hello, Aleister Crowley, Clockwork Orange, and Ganesha Kitty

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 16:12:42 +0000

Spotted on Dangerous Minds: Etsy seller TheAllSeeingCat's Hello Kitty mods. From L-R: Hello Ganesha Kitty, Hello A Clockwork Orange Alex Kitty, and Hello Aleister Crowley Kitty. $227USD apiece.

Cat-loving teen with cancer gets a "cat immersion" tent at hospital

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:01:38 +0000

I've been spending rather a lot of time in the cancer ward at a hospital lately, and I think this is a fabulous idea: a "cat immersion tent."

The teen girl in this video, Maga, is a cancer patient at Seattle Children's Hospital. She loves her cat—actually, she loves all cats— and has had to be isolated in the hospital with no cat contact, for health reasons. "During her stays what she misses most is her own cat Merry," the Seattle Children's Hospital folks say.

We asked our Facebook fans to share their favorite cat photos with us, and got an awesome response -- 3,000+ photos! We used these pictures to create this "cat immersion" for Maga -- an audio/visual experience to bring thousands of "virtual" cats to Maga's room.

More of the photos they received on this Facebook page. This is the same hospital that produced the viral "Stronger" video. Sounds like a really cool environment for pediatric cancer patients.

More at Laughing Squid.

And now, we pause for a Moment of Kitten (video)

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 17:45:48 +0000

[Video Link]. Him widdle names is Pancake. He is a foster kitten, snuggling up in this video with a doggie.

Patent on a method for exercising a cat

Maggie Koerth-Baker — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 13:43:30 +0000

When you pull out a laser pointer and get your cat to chase the dot of light around your house*, you are using a patented method of cat exercise. The rights are owned by Kevin Amiss and Martin Abbott (both of Virginia), who patented it in the early 1990s. In the abstract, they describe this method of cat exercise as:

A method for inducing cats to exercise consists of directing a beam of invisible light produced by a hand-held laser apparatus onto the floor or wall or other opaque surface in the vicinity of the cat, then moving the laser so as to cause the bright pattern of light to move in an irregular way fascinating to cats, and to any other animal with a chase instinct.

In other words, they own the rights on doing this with ferrets, as well.

This might also be a good time to note an NPR story from this week, which documents IBM and Halliburton attempting to patent the process of patent trolling.

Method of exercising a cat: United States Patent 5443036

*Fact: This game becomes more fun if you have a rug. Just run the light up to the edge of the rug and then turn it off. The cat will become convinced that the little red light has gone under said rug and you will get to amuse yourself watching your cat try to lift the corner of something heavy without the use of opposable thumbs.
Thanks, Sam Ley!

Image: Gotcha!, a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) image from drregor's photostream

OMGCATSINSPACE

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 05:20:53 +0000

A Tumblog of Greatness: OMGCATSINSPACE.

(thanks, @sbethm)

Caturday (photo)

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 15:54:08 +0000

Muaz Mohamed shot this lovely photo of a kitteh wishing you a happy Caturday, with a high-five paw. Shared in the Boing Boing Flickr pool.