Science-related links [science]

I really need to clear out some browser tabs. So, have some science-related links!

Via the NYT: Four Ecologically-Crucial Things to do in your Garden. In sum, add more native plants, reduce nonnative ones. Apparently it's good to aim for a garden that is around 70% native plants, to support beneficial animals. Note that there's a bunch of language about "invasive" species in this article, but that's outdated language. Reduce the size of your lawn. And, identify keystone species for the area where you live and incorporate them in your garden in particular.

There was also a recent fun NYT article about the physics of the perfect pour-over. I'm slightly less interested in that article, and more interested in learning about a publication that resulted from "kitchen science" carried out during the pandemic. I'm not well-versed in fluid dynamics, but here's the publication based on a range of flow studies carried out in kitchens: https://pubs.aip.org/collection/1541/Kitchen-Flows

An ant biologist that I greatly respect has been writing and sharing stories on substack; here's what he had to say about the world's greatest shovel. I just...I know a lot of the people who dig up ant colonies. It's backbreaking work. It is so helpful to learn more about the tools that work best for this type of work. Especially when the writer is so talented.

Last but not least, I really enjoyed this article about a caterpillar species that disguises itself with dead insect body parts, learned about via ysabetwordsmith. I love insects, most especially the weird and interesting ones!

Visitor [cats]

Last night, I heard a real ruckus coming from the basement. George and Martha will periodically play-wrestle, but when they do, they're mostly silent unless one or the other crosses a boundary, and then there might be a low growl or hiss. This sounded more like a full-on cat fight.

When I went down to investigate, I quickly discovered why: there was some other cat right outside one of the cats' favorite basement windows! The other cat retreated a ways when it noticed me.

George and Martha both like to jump up into the space between the foundation and the floor, as evidenced here:




They were both clearly Not Happy about the visitor, who I think I'll nickname Tiger Boy. Martha seemed to be mostly keeping her distance and keeping to herself, so I think it was George who got really worked up.

After watching us through the basement window while I calmed down George and Martha, Tiger Boy headed off, but not before pausing on the rear walkway for a backward glance.



For a while it seemed like there weren't any outdoor cats in our neighborhood, at all. But in addition to Tiger Boy, not too long ago I spotted a small black fluffy cat fighting with a big orange cat, about halfway up the block. So I suppose traffic has picked up.

We've been considering building a Catio off of this basement window. But if there are cats right outside, I'm not sure of how to do this in a way that will be good for all of the cats involved. It might be better to figure out something higher off the ground.

I should probably also figure out a way to give Tiger Boy a treat or two. He seems very much domesticated.