Sideswipe: November 15 - Merry what?

A reader writes: "A friend purchased this roll of paper from Whitcoulls today... it sums up how we're all feeling at the moment!"

Is your cat a total creep?

Do you wonder how it is they always know where you are, and why they're looking at you like that? Well, IFLScience has the answer as to why your cat can always find you. "Researchers have discovered that cats can use the sound of their owner's voice to mentally map out where they are in the house. This discovery demonstrates that cats' cognition ticks off something called 'object permanence', meaning they've established that something can still exist even if they can't see it. While previous studies have demonstrated this cognitive talent in the humble house cat (Felis catus), this is a novel discovery in establishing how hearing can play a role in monitoring their environment and the moving objects within."

Did you know ...

1. The reason many Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters had collars and ties was to save money on animation. Separating the head and body allows the body to remain static while the head is animated. This made it so a seven-minute cartoon only required around 2000 drawings, as opposed to the usual 14,000.

2. How much does a blue whale eat every day? If you guessed "a lot", you'd be right: a new study revealed that a blue whale eats between 10 to 20 tons of food a day, or about 20 to 50 million calories. To put that into perspective, that's the equivalent of about 80,000 Big Macs. Every. Single. Day.

3. In the midst of Greenland's pristine landscape lies a US Air Force base which was abandoned in 1947 and everything was left behind; dilapidated vehicles, asbestos-laden structures, and 10,000 leaking fuel barrels. The Inuits who live in the region call the rusted remains "American Flowers".

Kid logic

Jeanette writes: "Recalling my son, who'd worn glasses from 18 months old. When he was 3, told me he'd lost his glasses, I said to him, 'Well, you'll have to look for them!' His reply? 'How can I look for them, woman, when I haven't got them on'!"

Beef slider?

In Brazil, a cow escaped from a cattle ranch, wandered next door to a resort, climbed the stairs of the water slide and then made its way down the flume. The cow had been destined for the slaughterhouse but after this the owner of the ranch has decided to spare the animal and make it a pet - naming it Toboga ... the Portuguese word for slide. The most amazing part? The slide was only rated for 200kg. The cow clocked in at just over 300kg. That's some good water slide integrity there ... Video proof here.