Talking to cats, responses to unicycling, and loads of ants

Hello, friends!

Did you see it? Did you see it? Some friends and I went to watch the sunset to mark the solstice on Saturday, which felt like a bit of a caper after being in a dark room all week (I can’t cope with this heat).

We weren’t the only ones – one gentleman, who was capturing it all on a timelapse – suggested we look for the “green flash” that happens right after a sunset. No green flash seen, sadly, the sun just sunk beneath a non-descript bit of London’s skyline, but it did add a frisson.

(Obligatory note here not to look directly at the sun without proper eye protection.)

Coming up:

🐜 how long it took one entomologist to count 8,239 ants in one anthill

🚗 the cost per mile of getting to Pluto

♂️ how testosterone may affect responses to male unicyclists.

Let’s go!

read all about it

Could AI translate your cat’s meows into words? “Felis catus is a chatty species that, over thousands of years of domestication, has pivoted its voice toward the peculiar primate that opens the fridge.” (Scientific American)

Tomorrow’s astronauts will face all-new challenges. They’ll need to be explorers. Retired US naval officer and biomedical engineering professor Joe Dituri, speaking from his underwater lab: “When people go, ‘Are you scared?’ I’m like, ‘What’s there to be scared of?… Water’s my jam.’” (The Atlantic – gift link)

📷 See the first *incredible* images from the new, hugely powerful Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which houses the biggest digital camera ever built. (New Scientist)

🍿 Watch Honda launch and land its experimental reusable rocket “within 37cm” of its target. (The Verge)

that time when…

…an entomologist counted 8,239 ants in an anthill (29 June 1929).

According to a report in Science News-Letter, Professor A.E. Andrews of Johns Hopkins University found an ant mound near Baltimore, and waited “until autumnal chill had stupefied the insects” before counting each one in an effort that took until the following spring.

Having said that, we know that the populations of ant habitats can vary, and counting living things is big ol’ challenge – a recent study suggests that we’ve underestimated the number of people living on Earth.

what’s happening this week?

Your agenda for Monday 23 June – Sunday 29 June.

All times are BST, and all sky views are from London.

look around you

🔭 in a sky near you: Look out for noctilucent clouds, weird wispy clouds that only show up at night in the months around the summer solstice. They form high in the atmosphere, from icy particles left over from micrometeorites, volcanic eruptions and rocket launches, and according to the Guardian, there are no recorded sightings of them from before 1885.

We see them because they catch the last rays of the sun before it sets, when it’s already dark on the ground. Look to the west about an hour after sunset for the best chance of seeing them.

👀 closer to Earth: Maybe I’ve been in the heat for too long and my brain is now a soft-boiled egg, but this week, I’m suggesting looking at some grass.

There’s plenty to go round – grassland covers 40% of the UK – and there’s plenty going on in the tall stuff – the richest grasslands can have as many as 30 species of wildflowers in a mere quarter of a square metre, according to the Woodland Trust. With this in mind, next chance I get I’ll be counting the different wildflowers I see in a patch.

online talks and events

🍎 The future of health, with Professor Chris Whitty, hybrid lecture by Gresham College, Monday 23 June, 19.00, free

🕳️ The science of black holes, with Professor Amelie Saintonge, hybrid event by Seed Talks, Tuesday 24 June, 19.00, from £10

🔬 How molecules and computers hold the key to our sustainable future, with Professor Grazia De Angelis, hybrid lecture by the University of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering, Thursday 26 June, 17.30, free

we finally know…

…how males’ responses to unicycling change with age.

Selected responses to neutral unicycling:

• 5-12s, boys and girls: “Was it hard to learn?”

• Aggressive boys: (When kicking a football) “Got a good target.”

• Young to middle-aged men: “Where’s the other bits, then?”

• Elderly men: “I’m glad I don’t have to do that.”

Source: Sex, aggression, and humour: responses to unicycling (BMJ, 2007)

we need answers

Last week I asked:

The answer is… Pluto. The vehicle was the New Horizons space probe, sent by NASA in 2006 to fly by Pluto and send back detailed photos of its surface for the first time. (And lordy, were they gorgeous.)

The calculation is courtesy of Grand High Nerd Randall Munroe (of xkcd), who in his book What If? 2 divided the mission’s $850m budget by the 5 billion miles it had travelled to get 17¢ per mile, noting it’s “pretty similar to the cost of gas and snacks on a road trip”.

until next week…

Here’s another from the archive:

One of these things does not belong. Which is it?

• One of St. Nicholas’ reindeer, called after Cupid and before Blitzen

• Dinosaur species found to be – after all – distinct from Apatosaurus in a 2015 paper

• Norse god, an imagining of whom is played by Chris Hemsworth

• Pastry memorably defined by Chambers Dictionary as “a cake, long in shape but short in duration”

Answer comes next week. See you then! x