The Daily Drift

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More going to the Dogs ..! 

 

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Today in History

1454		At a grand feast, Philip the Good of Burgundy takes the “vow of the pheasant,” by which he swears to fight the Turks.
1598		Boris Godunov, the boyar of Tarar origin, is elected czar in succession to his brother-in-law Fydor.
1720		Spain signs the Treaty of the Hague with the Quadruple Alliance ending a war that was begun in 1718.
1801		The House of Representatives breaks an electoral college tie and chooses Thomas Jefferson over Aaron Burr.
1864		The Confederate submarine Hunley sinks the USS Housatonic in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.
1865		The South Carolina capital city, Columbia, is destroyed by fire as Major General William Tecumseh Sherman marches through.
1909		Apache chief Geronimo dies of pneumonia at age 80, while still in captivity at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
1919		Germany signs an armistice giving up territory in Poland.
1925		The first issue of Harold Ross’ magazine, The New Yorker, hits the stands, selling for 15 cents a copy.
1933		The League of Nations censures Japan in a worldwide broadcast.
1935		Thirty-one prisoners escape an Oklahoma prison after murdering a guard.
1938		The first color television is demonstrated at the Dominion Theatre in London.
1944		U.S forces land on Eniwetok atoll in the South Pacific.
1945		Gen. MacArthur’s troops land on Corregidor in the Philippines.
1951		Packard introduces its “250” Chassis Convertible.
1955		Britain announces its ability to make hydrogen bombs.
1959		The United States launches its first weather station in space, Vanguard II.
1960		Martin Luther King Jr. is arrested in the Alabama bus boycott.
1963		Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev visits the Berlin Wall.
1969		Russia and Peru sign their first trade accord.
1973		Nixon names Patrick Gray director of the FBI.
1975		Art by Cezanne, Gauguin, Renoir, and van Gough, valued at $5 million, is stolen from the Municipal Museum in Milan.
1979		China begins a “pedagogical” war against Vietnam. It will last until March.
1985		Murray Haydon becomes the third person to receive an artificial heart.

Non Sequitur

A Kayaking Trip through Tham Khoon Xe

A Kayaking Trip through Tham Khoon Xe, One of the Largest River Caves on Earth

Tham Khoun Xe, a cave on the border of Laos and Vietnam, contains a 4-mile long river. Imagine the experience of paddling down its full length!
Ryan Deboodt, a nature photographer, doesn’t have to imagine. He lived that experience when he and his companions spent 2 days kayaking through the cave. He took many photos of the natural wonders of this enormous cave complex. In an interview with Smithsonian, Deboodt described the expedition:

Describe your journey to the cave.
It’s a pretty big journey. We started in Vietnam and crossed the boarder to Laos. Once we got to Laos, the road condition was quite poor. Dirt roads, and the bridges were damaged from floods from the previous years. It took a day of driving to get to the cave. When we got to the cave, we set up camp by the downstream entrance. From there, we spent two days kayaking inside the cave. We started at the downstream entrance and then went to the upstream entrance. Through the caves there are about seven to eight small waterfalls where we had to get out and carry our kayaks.

You can see more of Deboodt’s photos of the cave at Colossal.

Slovenian Town Plans to Build Europe’s First Beer Fountain

Zalec, a town in Slovenia, is known for its large hops plantations, which ensure the flow of beer through Europe. In fact, the town crest includes an image of a budding hops plant.
To promote itself and its contributions to civilized life, the town plans to build a public beer fountain. Visitors will be able to view the flow of life’s most precious liquid and drink from it for a small fee. The fountain will cost about $400,000 USD to build. Sadly, the Daily Telegraph reports, not all residents are keen to the project:

Half of the funds are to be contributed by the local council, with the rest provided by commercial partners and public donations.
The plans are not universally popular; at an extraordinary council session last week a third of delegates voted against the fountain, with opponents voicing objections to its proposed site, and the fact that the required funds could be better used elsewhere - such as in improving the state of water supply to local villages.
However, two thirds of Councillors voted in favor, and the project is set to go ahead, although it does not yet have a completion date.

Do You Spit Pink After You Brush Your Teeth?

Do You Spit Pink After You Brush Your Teeth? Read This Now

If your gums bleed every time you brush, it could signal a serious dental problem

Is Your Tap Water Safe?

Is Your Tap Water Safe?

Is Flint the only city that needs to worry about lead?

Anti-Gay Texas Attorney General Faces Disbarment For Telling Clerks To Defy Supreme Court

Anti-Gay Texas Attorney General Faces Disbarment For Telling Clerks To Defy Supreme Court

The Texas Bar Association is stepping up to the plate to nail Ken Paxton for violating legal ethics. After the Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage legal...

Vatican training tells bishops they don’t have to report clerical sexual abuse to authorities

Vatican training tells bishops they don’t have to report clerical sexual abuse to authorities

“Don’t help people who molest kids” seems like a simple enough proposition, right?

Women in combat are ‘masochistic’ sexual deviants acting out ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

And now from the Dark Side

Pat Robertson: Women in combat are ‘masochistic’ sexual deviants acting out ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

Mississippi wingnut wants to let creationist and climate skeptic 'teachers' push their delusions in class

Mississippi wingnut wants to let creationist and climate skeptic 'teachers' push their delusions in class

Formby (R) said a constituent approached him with concerns about a teacher that was questioned for bringing up the lies of creationism.

Neanderthal Genes Make Us Depressed, Smoke

Neanderthal Genes Make Us Depressed, Smoke

A new survey links depression, nicotine addiction and other traits to Neanderthal genetic lineage.

New Heart-Shaped Hawaiian Fruits Discovered

New Heart-Shaped Hawaiian Fruits Discovered

The fruits, which look like chubby red Valentines when fully ripe, were recently discovered on the island of Maui.

Decade of rising seas slowed by land soaking up extra water

Decade of rising seas slowed by land soaking up extra water

New measurements from a NASA satellite have allowed researchers to identify and quantify, for the first time, how climate-driven increases of liquid water storage on land have affected the rate of sea level rise. A new study by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion...

Gravitational waves are the physics discovery of the century

Gravitational waves are the physics discovery of the century — here’s how it happened and what it means

One hundred years ago Albert Einstein in his general theory of relativity predicted the existence of a dark side to the cosmos.

A star’s moment in the spotlight

A star’s moment in the spotlight

The glowing region in this new image from the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope is a reflection nebula known as IC 2631. These objects are clouds of cosmic dust that reflect light from a nearby star into space, creating a stunning light show like the one captured here. IC...

Socialized Sparring

Ants Are Good Boxers, Video Shows

Ants not only box, but some can deliver over 40 blows per second, new slow motion video shows.

Ants Were Socializing – and Sparring – Nearly 100 Million Years Ago

Like people, ants have often fought over food and territory. But ants began fighting long before humans: at least 99 million years ago, according to Phillip Barden, a fossil insect expert who works in the Insect and Evolution Lab of Jessica L. Ware, an assistant...

Fish Can Sense Touch with Their Fins

Fish Can Sense Touch with Their Fins

A bottom-dwelling fish species demonstrates touch-sensitivity to both pressure and motion.

Speed Dating for Rabbits

Wild rabbits live in communities. They’re naturally social animals. Domesticated rabbits are no different—they want to live with other creatures, preferably other rabbits.
But not all rabbit pairs are good matches. That’s why Amy Odum of the Animal Care Centers of New York City arranges for housed rabbits to find good companions among the shelter rabbits that she cares for. The shelter on East 110th Street has a room set aside for dating encounters. Rabbit owners can bring their bunnies in to meet that special somebunny to complete their family. Odum watches the rabbits together to gauge their behavior. The New York Times describes the first date that rabbits Tonya and Moo had:

Tonya sat in a litter box chewing a stalk of hay. Moo stretched, twitching a little, and sniffed her face. Tonya was motionless. Moo jumped back.
“They’re both a little tense,” Ms. Odum said.
The goal, Ms. Odum had said, is not any sort of magical chemistry.
“What I’m looking for is peaceful coexistence,” she said. “We want acceptance of the other bunny in their space without any drama.”
After a while, Tonya hopped over to Moo and gave him a little kiss. He jumped over her like the cow over the moon. They broke into a playful chase, stopped, sniffed each other’s faces. Then Moo approached Tonya and lowered his head.
“That can be a submissive move,” Ms. Odum said. “On the other hand, it can be a demand by a superior to be groomed by a subordinate.”
Moo kept his head low, then pushed it into Tonya’s side. “She’s making him beg — it’s pretty pitiful,” Ms. Odum said.

Animal Pictures