The Distract me from 2020s P&CE Thread Part Deux

Damn. Life must be pretty easy after surviving that. I read 60% were killed.

 

I remember reading that cheery little poem as a junior in high school.

 

From an Air Force study, the ball turret gunner was actually the least likely position in a B-17 to be killed or wounded.

 

Yeah, but “Death of a Bombardier” would screw up the meter of the Randall Jarrell poem.

 

Yes, my junior-level English teacher in high school read it to us as well. I actually knew about the survivability rates of US WWII bomber crews back then so I was all "Actually..." and he got very annoyed with me.

 

The liddle fish that could

The Devils Hole Pupfish Is Locked In A Battle Against All Odds

The habitat housing the Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis) is as aptly named as it gets. Death Valley National Park, where the Devils Hole is located, is the hottest and driest national park in the United States.

In the waters of Devils Hole, the temperature remains a warm 92 °F through the year. The oxygen levels, however, remain incredibly low. Yet, the pupfish has evolved an extraordinary survival mechanism—it stops breathing. And it can keep this going for up to two hours at a time.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottt...efies-death-in-the-worlds-deadliest-fishbowl/

 

Say hello to papi:



A groundbreaking study reveals ctenophores, not sponges, as the earliest branch of the animal tree of life, transforming our view of evolution.

https://www.thebrighterside.news/po...t-living-creature-from-700-million-years-ago/

 

Cats are godless killing machines

One Of The World’s Most Invasive Species Is Also Your Most Cherished Pet

In Australia alone, feral cats kill over 2 billion native animals annually, a toll that has decimated populations of small marsupials, reptiles and ground-nesting birds.

In the United States, domestic and feral cats are responsible for the deaths of approximately 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion small mammals every year.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottt...sive-species-is-also-your-most-cherished-pet/

 

I recently watched a video on the feral cats in Australia. Apparently that population goes back several hundred years to early European explorers and has already evolved to suit the environment, becoming much larger than ordinary housecats. It’s no wonder they’re effective at taking out the local wildlife.

Meanwhile my tubby cat likes to sit in our backyard and watch gophers but won’t touch them. She recently even came and alerted my wife to a bird that had hit the glass on our back door and was stunned. No killer instinct in this one.

 

A single cat caused the extinction of a type of wren (if I remember correctly) on an offshore island in southern New Zealand. The cat belonged to the lighthouse keeper.

 

I had to go to Wiki and it's says its an old wives tale. It wasn't just his cat but a bunch of cats gone feral that were brought over on ships.

 

I meant to add that this is common in the history of New Zealand. A lot of it's Birds went extinct because it was an island, and so the birds came up flightless as they did really have natural predators. The Maori drove the Moa extinct and then the colonists with their cats wiped out a few birds. I remember one birds self defense was to stand absolutely still which was much if a self defense but when you had never had predators, it makes sense

 

My Springer could win an Academy Award

 

Matilda was her name. She was special and yes...she was well fed.

 

What Roby's yoot was like

Crazy Things from the Past ~ A Thread 🧵

1. Seats of an airplane, 1930 pic.twitter.com/D6Ibp4okCw

— Raghu (@IndiaTales7) December 1, 2024

 

I still remember my 1st flight on a DC-3 in 1950. Seats in hard cracked leather covering 1/4" of luxurious foam! Bradley Field to LaGuardia [125 mi] non-stop. Got some great photos with my Brownie.

 

How was her waltzing?

 

I bet she loved herself a billabong!

 

You'd be dancing to another tune if you messed with me when she was about!

 

Wow.
Le Havre has issued a stadium ban for a 6 year old (YES, A SIX YEAR OLD).

 

What did the kid do?

 

Why not just ban all children? The hotels I prefer do

 

Ipiwa Trail
​

10-mile hike today at the top of the Santa Cruz Mountains.