Arboreal goats

goats1
Originally uploaded by tamaranth.

No, really. Goats in trees. You don't see much of that in Sussex.

It's a good morning:

1. A proper lie-in! (I had to get up yesterday, because R's father was coming over to do some work on the porch)

2. sunshine! and of quite a different tone to the bright African sun

3. Toadstools! and autumn leaves all over the lawn! I love autumn, though I'm always sad to see the end of summer: crisp air, colours, mellow light.

4. Sitting outside with a mug of proper (cheap, instant) coffee, and two cats watching me anxiously from the doorstep.

5. Plenty to do, but enough time to do it in.

Depression, Transmissable Conditions and Why Cats Make You Mad

Ages ago, I posted about whether emotional / mental conditions might be transmissable, rather than rooted in the wiring.

I've just been reading a piece in National Geographic. Snappily titled Cat Carrier: Your Cat Could Make You Crazy*, it does actually discuss the role of infection in mental illness. The article focusses on long-term effects of toxoplasma, but there are links to some other discussions. ( Read more... )

quick question (but I've spent half an hour not answering it via Google)

how many satellites are in geosynchronous orbit (and in other orbits) around the Earth? (Let's exclude space junk and bits that've fallen off other satellites.)

Context: throwaway line in piece about Clarke's 'Extraterrestrial Relays' paper, published 60 years ago ...

In Other News ...

"A Christmas special is due to be broadcast at Christmas." Gosh, really? (from BBC News, on Doctor Who: site's too slow tonight for me to check the link.)

The shortlisted poems for the Poetry Society's 'send a poem into space' poll, won by Adrian Mitchell: includes the very fabulous Do You Think We'll Ever Get to See Earth, Sir? by Sheenagh Pugh.

And apparently G P Taylor (author of Shadowmancer) wasn't really asked to curtail a school appearance after calling Harry Potter gay. No, no, it was just 'inappropriate language'. But I have this image of lots of schoolchildren doing a quick websearch, just to check, and finding (eeek) fanfiction.net...

EDIT: my point re the last 'news' item is not what was said, but the fact that Reuters issued a revision of their original story.