How Australian English Grew Its Wings - "Modern linguists have tentatively agreed on there being roughly three forms of the Australian accent: Broad Australian, General Australian and Cultivated Australian. All three differ from the British accent and lie on a spectrum with “Broad” being the most removed from the British accent, and “Cultivated” being the closest comparison... 1855: Reports from school inspectors in the various colonies (and later, states) reported mispronunciation of vowels and diphthongs by the younger students. A diphthong is a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable, where the sound begins as one vowel and moves towards another (as in coin, loud, and side). There are diphthongs in every English accent, but they are very pronounced in the Australian accent. Documents accused settlers of mispronouncing “maountain” for “mountain,” “taown” for “town,” and so forth. Another common criticism levied against the settlers was the “corruption” of -ing words, pronouncing them with the ending -en instead of -ing. Instead of saying writing, fishing, reading, the words more closely resembled a pronunciation of written, fishen, readen."
Could Washington D.C. Become an Official U.S. State? - "Residents of neighboring states Maryland or Virginia are not interested in annexing the district of Columbia and D.C. residents prefer the full autonomy of their own statehood... Republicans have generally opposed D.C. becoming a state for several reasons, the main being that it is likely to be a Democratic state and would hand the Democrats more electoral votes... "Procedurally, the reform would require a constitutional amendment, and because D.C. is so overwhelmingly liberal, it would ensure more Democrat representation in both the Senate and the House. That's a non-starter for Republicans, who have limited incentive to help their opponents secure a greater voice in Congress"... Gift said that advocates of statedom often fail to mention that D.C., because of its special status, also obtains huge federal benefits that shore up its operating budget. "This includes hundreds of millions of dollars a year in help from Uncle Sam for capital expenses related to its public subway system, Metro""
A woman raised as white wanted to trace her ancestry. She discovered her father was Black and she was probably conceived at a swingers party. - ""It was the '50s and '60s, and my parents were liberal progressives," she said. They would often put her to bed without a babysitter and then head out to listen to jazz in Harlem. Sometimes they'd tell her they were having "friends sleep over," sending her to the home of a neighbor or cousin, she said. In her mid-teens, Jacobsen realized that the sleepovers were swingers parties — events at which married or partnered people have casual sex with others, with their spouse in attendance. "I knew, but it was never discussed"... Traditionally, a swinging couple "is supposed to be in the swinging event together, and it's supposed to cement or unify their relationship," Jacobsen explained. That makes the lifestyle different from open relationships or polyamory, in which one member of the couple builds a relationship outside their primary partnership. But Jacobsen said that when she was a teen, her mother broke the rules of swinging by having a relationship with another participant. Her mom's lover and confidant would "hang out" at their home, Jacobsen said, calling it a "stressor for my father and me." One night in 1968, she had a fierce argument with the man, whom she recalls exclaiming: "What do you know? You don't even know that your father's Black!" Jacobsen said her mother started screaming. "Oh my God, you promised you'd never tell""
BBC World Service - The Food Chain, Inside the mind of a kitchen gadget - "‘Some people like to characterize the sorts of people that use lots of kitchen gadgets as being a bit lazy. And when it comes to products like the the stir that you described earlier, that's received a bit of flak. Are kitchen gadgets for lazy people?’
‘You're talking about two things though. So if a lazy person is using it because it's easier, then it's also going to be easier for somebody that maybe has arthritis and can't use a product that's difficult to use, for example. You know, it's two sides of an argument there. And you could say great, yeah, I'm glad it's being used by lazy people because it means it's easier, more efficient, works better.’"
BBC World Service - The Food Chain, Is it time to kill the calorie? - "‘When you look at the calories listed on a food label, or in a diet plan, you see the total number the food contains, not the amount your body will actually extract through digestion and metabolism’
‘Let's just take protein. So for every 100 calories of protein that we actually eat, we will only ever absorb 70 calories, seven zero. So 30% of the protein calories we eat, are expended taking apart protein so we can absorb the calories. So you can look at the back of every pack, and all the protein calories will be 30% off, will be 30% wrong. Fat, on the other hand, is very, very energy dense. And actually, it's a very efficient store of fuel, which is why we use it as our long term energy store. And so it costs us nearly no heat in order to break down fat. So for every 100 calories of fat that we eat, we pretty much get 98 to 100 calories of fat.’
‘Put simply, if you eat 100 calories of chips, you'll absorb far more calories than if you'd eaten 100 calories of carrots. So calorie counting as a diet plan, Giles argues, makes no sense unless you take into account the type of food you're eating. And the complexity doesn't end there. How much energy any of us will extract from a particular food will be affected by a dizzying array of individual variables: our age, the amount we sleep, our gut bacteria, our hormones, and how much we chew our food to name just a few. You won't find any of that on a food label. And then there's how food is processed.’
‘So cooking helps you extract calories from food because it does some of the breaking down. I'll give one example. A medium sized stick of raw celery, it's really only worth about six calories to us, which is nearly zero. However, if you cook the celery, you suddenly increase the caloric availability of the salary to 30 calories.’"
To all the internet experts, it's as simple as calories in and calories out
BBC World Service - The Food Chain, OCD, the kitchen, and me - "One of the most common is that it's somebody who's just what we call a neat freak, they're just trying to be clean, or the big one is just somebody needs things to be in order. A lot of people will say, you know, I don't think this person has OCD, I didn't realize they have OCD, because well, their room looks like almost a tornado’s hit it. And there's mess everywhere. And that's a massive misconception. A lot of times, my place also looked like a mess. But in that mess, I had my own order, I knew where certain things went, where certain things had to go, and they couldn't be moved at all. I think a lot of people also will say something like, I'm so OCD, in one trying to be clean, or two that I just like to sometimes do things my way. When you know, somebody with OCD, is not about just doing it their own way, there's severe anxiety, if they don't do it in that way"
BBC World Service - The Food Chain, Why I chose to live on rations - "[On the UK in WWII] ‘Fish was never rationed. And neither was fish and chips rationed, curiously enough, but it was very difficult to get hold of. And the reason it wasn't rationed is they thought that it would actually keep the sort of nation sort of like spirits up if their national dish wasn't rationed. But the reason it was so difficult to get fish is because most of the trawlerman and fishermen were called up for coastal defense duties. So there weren't an awful lot of fishermen left for fish'...
'1943 rations… in 1943, what I figured it out to be was… about 75 to 100 grams of cheese. Or if you were vegetarian, you had an extra three ounces of cheese but no meat obviously'"
BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent Podcast, China's New Rules for Society - "[On the Australian submarines] Because of France's revolutionary past and its self conception as a beacon for human rights over the last few centuries, the French left never developed an intrinsically anti military standpoint. Certainly the officer classes tended to be on the Catholic right. But from Napoleon on, the armed forces can be seen positively by the left too as spreading the Enlightenment. Colonialism in France was a left wing cause for many years. All this means that the French off whatever political strike celebrate their military past. The other reason is more sensitive. The French are prickly about their military because they know that in the historical record of wins and losses, they don't necessarily come out on top. In two world wars, they were saved by the Allies and then there were the humiliations of Indochina and Algeria, not to mention Napoleon himself, of course. Not for nothing were the French papers for this week of references to the new Trafalgar, Trafalgar to us. In the Indo Pacific once again as 216 years ago the French had been bested by the Anglo Saxons. The fact that today as opposed to back then the French are supposed to be allies with the Anglo Saxons only makes things worse, because the episode answers to all the atavistic fear and envy that the French harbor to the English speaking world. They love it in one way and admire it and emulate it, but they also know they're not of it. And when things go badly that rankles"
Baked Tonkatsu 揚げないとんかつ - "Cut off the extra fat and make several slits on the connective tissue between the meat and remaining fat. Tip: Red meat and fat have different elasticities, and they will shrink and expand at different rates when they are cooked. Making a few slits will allow the Tonkatsu to stay nice and flat and prevent the cutlets from curling up."
Stiffy 2.0 - Posts | Facebook - "A female employee got an expensive pen as a gift from her boss. She sent him a 'Thank you note' by email. Boss’s wife read the email and filed for divorce. The email said: Your penis wonderful and I enjoyed using it last night. It has extra ordinary smooth flow and a firm stroke. I loved its perfect size and grip. Felt like I was in heaven when using it. Thanks a lot.!
Moral: A "space" is an essential part of English grammar!!"
Meme - "Public Fleshlight"
Can you help me find an old article? - "So, You Want Realism in D&D? by Brian Blume
We at TSR have heard several people express a desire for a system which gives more realism and variety to the method for determining the natural abilities of player characters in D&D. After minutes of exhaustive research, we have come up with an optional system which is designed to replace the old method of rolling three dice for each of a player’s abilities. This system is guaranteed to make a player character conform more to the abilities of the actual person owning them and will provide a great variety in these abilities from person to person.
STRENGTH — To determine strength, go to a gym and military press as much weight as you possibly can. Divide the number of pounds you lifted by ten; the result is your strength rating.
INTELLIGENCE — To determine your intelligence, look up the results of the most recent IQ test you have taken and divide the result by ten. This number is your intelligence rating.
WISDOM — To determine your wisdom, calculate the average number of hours you spend playing D&D or working on your D&D Campaign in an average week. Subtract the resulting number from twenty and this is your wisdom.
DEXTERITY— To determine your dexterity, go down to the track at the local High School and run 440 yards. Subtract your time in seconds from eighty, and the result is your Dexterity rating.
CONSTITUTION— To determine your constitution, figure out the number of consecutive number of months you have gone without missing a day of school or work due to illness. The number of months is equal to your constitution rating.
CHARISMA — To determine charisma, count up the number of times you have appeared on TV or have had your picture printed in the newspaper. Multiply this number by two, and the result is your charisma rating."
Kwells Kids 150 microgram tablets - 12 tablets - "Warning: This medicine may make your child feel sleepy. If this happens they should not drive or use tools or machines. Children who have been given Kwells should not be left unattended or be allowed to drink alcohol."
Meme - Charlton Police Department: "Does your meth contain unhealthy gluten, sugar or MSG? Not sure? Bring it down to your local police station and they will test it for free! No appointment necessary."
"Yeah so I went down there and told them if they could find the bag I shoved deep up in my ass they could test it all they want. During the search procedure I climaxed 3 time and each time I did I got all emotional with the police officer who was performing the search. I asked him to cuddle and stuff but he got furious and kept on going. It took him about an hour to realize there was no bag. Best evening ever. 10/10, will definitely visit again"
New York continues to lead nation in population loss as Florida, Texas gain - "New York saw the steepest population decline in the nation over a one-year period ending in July, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The wave of departures is continuing a pandemic-era trend that has also shaped political arguments on the best policies for the future of the state, including how to stem the mass exodus... Population loss emerged as one of the top issues during the gubernatorial campaign for U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-Long Island, who like many other Republicans has attributes the exodus to high taxes, increasing government regulation and spiking crime rates."
BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent Podcast, Face to face with Abiy Ahmed - "[On money printing] The demise of cash has long been predicted some countries like Sweden have gone a long way towards it. But in fact, in the Eurozone, demand for banknotes is rising, just as it is for Sterling in Britain. In part that's the result of population growth, and because many people still like cash as a store of value. But, financial lives and indeed financial crime are moving online. And now reports with depressing regularity about life saving stolen by crooks operating over the internet... without any irony, there's a ban on bringing in your own money. Taking in notes could confuse matters if you're found to be taking cash out"
BBC Radio 4 - Best of Today, The salt and sugar reformulation tax - "‘Now, you say you would use some of the money raised from this new tax in order to for example, pay to prescribe fruits and veg to people. Now would that work? A GP saying to you, you know, what you need is a basket of broccoli?’
‘Yeah. So there are some fascinating programs that have been trialed in Washington and in Ohio, in the States where basically people who have diet related disease can be prescribed literally fruit and veg. So instead of giving them drugs, you give them fruit and veg, and cookery lessons and visits to the store to help them change the way they shop. And these have had extraordinary results, you know, BMI down five points, blood pressure down 20 points, and actually have over time saved money on drugs. So we need to start trying to rather than mopping up everything in the NHS, we need to be spending a bit more money to stop people getting to the NHS because not just money, it's their health. It's their, it's their life, it's their ability to enjoy their grandchildren.’"
BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent Podcast, North Korea cracks down on outside influences - "*Something*’s voice dropped to a whisper as she described how she'd once been forced to watch a man in her North Korean village being tied to a stick and shot. He'd been caught with some DVD copies of a South Korean drama. The entire neighborhood was ordered to watch his execution. If you didn't, it would be classed as treason, *something* told me. She was only 11 years old at the time and her eyes were fixed on the blindfold. I can still see his tears flew down. The blindfold was completely drenched in tears, she said. The Pyongyang regime has always handed out harsh punishments to those caught selling or watching foreign films, music or drama, especially if the material was South Korean. But now leader Kim Jong Un has clamped down further, introducing a sweeping new law against what the government calls reactionary thought. Anyone caught smuggling in large amounts of South Korean media over the border from China could face the death penalty. Those simply caught watching can be sent to a prison camp for up to 15 years. And it's not just about what people watch. Recently, Mr. Kim wrote a letter published in state media, calling on the country's Youth League to crack down on unsavory, individualistic anti socialist behavior. He wants to stop the spread of foreign speech, South Korean slang in particular, along with foreign hairstyles and clothes, which were described as dangerous poisons. All this is because Mr. Kim is engaged in a war that doesn't involve nuclear weapons or missiles. He is trying to stop outside information reaching the people of North Korea, as life in the country becomes increasingly difficult. Millions are thought to be going hungry there. But Mr. Kim wants to ensure it they're still fed more of the state's carefully crafted propaganda, rather than gaining glimpses of life elsewhere, especially the sort of life pictured in glitzy K dramas set south of the border in Seoul, one of Asia's richest cities… The harder life becomes in the north, the harsher the regulations, and the punishments become too. Psychologically, when your belly is full, watching a South Korean film might just be a bit of relaxation. But when there's no food there, and it's a struggle just to live, people get more annoyed. He said he believes that more than half of the country's labor camps are now full of young people who've watched foreign media"
BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent Podcast, Thailand's youth protest movement stalls - "‘After MPs backed changing the law, women in the Czech Republic may soon be able to take non gendered versions of their surnames. By the traditional rules of Czech grammar, the ending ová is added automatically to almost all female surnames, and can only be dropped in very limited circumstances. It's been this way for centuries. But, says Rob Cameron in Prague, the old restrictions may not hold for much longer.’
‘Take three tennis players. Petra Kvitová, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova. Now let's pretend I'm a Czech tennis commentator. Petra’s surname stays the same as she's Czech. She was born in North Moravia. Venus would be Venus Williamsová, her sister would be Serena Williamsová and in their time they've played not only Petra Kvitová, but also Lindsay Davenportová, terroir, Naomi Osakaová, and so on. You get the idea. Finally, we come to Maria Sharapova. It's actually pronounced Sharapova in Russian, but let's not split hairs. In Czech, however, she is and I'm not making this up, Maria Sharapovaová. She literally gets two ovás to denote her gender, the original Russian and a second in Czech. Just so we get the message. Petra Kvitová is called Kvitová because she's the daughter of a Mr. Kvit. Mr. Kvit’s wife is also Kvitová . Pavla Kvitová, actually. If Petra Kvitová got married, if she weren't one of the most famous tennis players in the world, that is, she'd most likely take the surname of her husband. So if he was Pan Novak, Mr. Novak, she'd become Ani [sp?] Novaková. Mrs. Novak. It's just the way things have always been done. And, say the great guardians of Czech grammar, it makes lexicological sense. One could argue that that's the same in many cultures, a woman usually takes her husband's surname, as do their children when they're born. And when his daughters marry, they're more likely than not to take their husband's name. However, there's an added problem for Czech women. Ová’s a suffix that's used in grammar to denote not only gender, but possession of female nouns, including female people. To some the ová ending creates the impression of possession of the woman by the man. Grammar purists insist furiously this is not the case. It would be true if it was the short vowel sound ová, but it's not true when it's the long vowel sound ova [sp?]. Linguistic nitpicking aside, a woman who gets married in the Czech Republic is only allowed to dispense with the ová for three reasons. If she's a foreigner, if she's marrying a foreigner, or if she's planning to live abroad. If she doesn't meet any of those three criteria, the famously inflexible officials who run the registry offices will say no, or ne, to be more precise. I dimly remember having to fill in a form in the same registry office when my daughter was born. To prevent her becoming Cameranová by default. Occasionally, a teacher will add the ová anyway, it's clearly a hard habit to break. Now, however, this could be about to change... in some quarters, the original form is now a sign of worldly sophistication, even wokeness’"
BBC Radio 4 - Best of Today, What electric vehicles mean for consumers - "‘A few years ago, we were being told that self driving taxis were set to transform transportation these Robo taxis would be so cheap, it wouldn't be worth owning a car anymore. Well, the automated car revolution hasn't happened. In fact, in last few months, both Uber and Lyft have sold off their driverless car research divisions.’...
‘Getting cars to drive themselves is a much trickier computing conundrum than we realized. Which is why Uber and Lyft got out of the game. The thing is, human beings are actually rather good at driving. So Sam Abu Al-Samed, an autonomous vehicles analyst with the research company Guidehouse Insights’
‘You often hear the statistic that 94% of crashes involve human error. That's absolutely true. But on the flip side, most of the time when we drive, we don't make mistakes that cause crashes. In the US, we've been averaging about 3.2 trillion miles a year of driving. And within that we were averaging about six and a half million crashes a year. And that works out to about one crash every half a million miles. So your probability of getting into a crash. It's about once every 30 years. So that's actually pretty good.’
‘Nevertheless, some companies are still insisting driverless cars are just around the corner.’"
I was told confidently by someone that Uber would become rich once they introduced self-driving taxis
Best of Today: Wednesday's business with Dominic O'Connell (10 Mar 2021)
"It's a an issue that properly reflects the almost impossibility of making profits from the last mile delivery model. The CFO of Domino's Inc, in the States, two or three weeks ago, said that in the 60 years that Domino's has been going they haven't made $1 from the actual delivery of the product. It's all comes from actually selling the product. So delivery itself is, the last mile delivery component is incredibly difficult to make money out of."
Best of Today: Exam results day 2021 (10 Aug 2021)
‘You're not doing kids any favors, are you, by giving them a higher marks than they deserve? Because they could end up in, doing a much more difficult course than they're able of carrying out’
‘Absolutely, I mean, the whole point of these assessments and the whole point of doing both GCSEs, A levels, and BTECs is to go on to the next stage. So it's all about progression. There's no point in progressing onto a course halfway through university where you're paying to find that actually, you don't have the skill set required to do that difficult course.’
Liberals want to abolish grading. Then when minorities do worse, they blame racism. When you take a signal as a talisman, and think giving everyone the talisman will magically make them brilliant, you push lots of people into university, then when a university degree no longer gives one a good life, you complain that "Capitalism has failed"
BBC Radio 4 - Best of Today, MI5 boss and former PM Tony Blair on 9/11 anniversary - "‘911 was for some communities, obviously devastating and for other communities actually, was the beginning of a new, more prosperous period. The government slashed interest rates in order to prop up the economy from 911. And that created this enormous growth in the financial industry and Wall Street and the businesses that surrounded it. It also created huge growth in places like Washington, DC, where I live, I mean, between 2002 and 2010 the amount of money coming into Washington for lobbying and public relations tripled, and it was mostly fed by financial firms that it kind of described and also defense contractors and also the new internet economy. The effect was that there was this period after 911, in which just in sheer financial terms, the economy was being transformed in America to a degree that people didn't appreciate in their day to day lives. But the net effect over 20 years has been transformative.’
‘Perhaps the central enemy that America fights these days is itself. The no greater example exists of that than the fact that millions of Americans believe things that are not true. About life, about themselves, and incredibly about 911... I’ve sort of traced that really to some of the people who then ended up on the steps of the Capitol on January the Sixth protesting about the stolen election. Because there's a habit now of thinking, the worst of America and its own government that I find utterly baffling, having seen what I did on 911.’"
Of course, no mention of BlueAnon
Kampong Glam restaurant apologises to Muslim community for belly dance by 'almost naked' dancer - "Belly dancing is believed to originate in Egypt. A Turkish restaurant in Singapore has apologised to the Muslim community for a belly dance performance in Kampong Glam. The apology was in response to a Dec 24 post by Facebook user Abu Jalal Sarimon, who said the restaurant in Bussorah Street next to Sultan Mosque organised belly dancing by an "almost naked" dancer in her "revealing attire". "Where (is) the respect to the Muslim community and the Holy Mosque?" he asked in the post, which included two photos of the belly dancer. because Muslims are offended?... he said that the restaurant owner is a non-Muslim Singaporean and added: "So sad our own Singaporean has no respect and intolerable towards our religion." The next day, Derwish Turkish Restaurant made a few clarifications on its Facebook page before apologising. The restaurant said: "The dance was organised by a regular patron as a gesture of appreciation for a party hosted for them at our restaurant a week ago. It was not our intention to disrespect the mosque or the Muslim community. "Our patron who had performed had, in fact, worn a fitted skin-coloured vest that was draped on the outside in a belly-dancer costume. It would be unthinkable for us to allow a scantily-dressed dancer in front of the shops knowing our proximity to the mosque. "Derwish Turkish Restaurant has always had a Muslim owner. The Singaporean non-Muslim colleague mentioned by Mr Abu Jalal is our restaurant manager of 11 years and not the owner of the business. He, at no point, claimed to be the owner of the restaurant and there was a clear misunderstanding regarding this point. "As a Muslim-owned business that has been operating a restaurant in the vicinity for many years, we unreservedly extend our sincere apologies to all Muslim patrons and the Muslim community at large should any offence be taken. "We wish to further make assurances that this will not occur again and we will do better in gauging the sensitivities to the community in the future.""
BBC Radio 4 - Best of Today, Nasa’s Artemis mission and the future of space travel - "One thing which astronomers are aware of more than most people is that the future is at least as long as the past. Educated people are aware that we're the outcome of 4 billion years of biological evolution but they tend somehow to think that we humans are the top of the tree, the culmination. No astronomers could believe that, because they know the sun is less than halfway through its life. It's got 6 billion years before its fuel runs out, and the universe can go on for longer, maybe for an infinite length of time. And therefore we could be nearer the beginning than the end of the emergence of wonderful complexity in the universe. We're not the culmination and that I think is a most inspiring vision"
Katie Horneshaw on Twitter - "Yearly reminder that drug dealers aren't to blame for your loved one's banned drug-related problems. Quite the opposite: dealers often act as community elders, keeping an eye out for regulars and providing a stigma-free community connection point. Blame prohibition."
Now drug dealers are good. "Stigma" is to blame for everything
Eggs And Bacon Shaped Like Sperm Swimming Towards The Egg
In Bee Shortage, Bubbles Could Help Pollinate - Scientific American - "Miyako and his team tried to mimic the pollinating prowess of honeybees by retrofitting a two-inch-long toy drone with brushes made of horsehair. They loaded the device with pollen suspended in a sticky gel. But the tiny flyer was tough to control. And its hairy little applicators ended up damaging the delicate floral targets. After spending some time blowing bubbles with his son, Miyako started thinking more seriously about these soapy little marvels. He figured bubbles would be sticky enough to carry and deliver a pollen payload but soft and flexible, so they shouldn’t hurt a blossom when they land and then pop."
Paired Comparisons Could Mean Better Witness Identifications - Scientific American - "“There are now hundreds of cases in which individuals have been exonerated based on this post-conviction DNA analysis.” Most of these innocent people were sent to prison because witnesses misidentified them... “If somebody tells us that they saw something, we figure, well, it must be true. They saw it with their own eyes.” Lineups typically show witnesses photos of six faces—five of innocent people and one of the suspect. “The eyewitness is simply asked to identify any person that they remember from the crime scene.” But only having them pick their top choice doesn’t account for how well the witness remembers that face. This issue can result in errors. Albright’s team thinks there’s a better way—by tapping into the strength of the witness’s memory... “So on each pair, the witness will vote for one or the other of the faces: Which one looks more similar to the person you remember from the crime scene? We then tabulate that vote. And the face that has the largest number of votes is the winner.” Compared to traditional lineup techniques, the two-faces-at-a-time method led to a less biased and more accurate identification of the fictional perpetrator." “People are far better at making relative judgments than they are at making absolute judgements.”"
The power of personal experience!
White Rhinos Eavesdrop to Know Who's Who - Scientific American - "Rhinos have notoriously poor eyesight, so they mostly rely on their noses to understand the world around them. But there’s one interaction in which sound plays a key role. Southern white rhino males can either be dominant or subordinate. And only the dominant males hold and defend territories. New research finds that they eavesdrop on the calls of other males to know who is who. “We found that contact calls carry information about the dominance status of the males. It means that only by listening to the calls, you can say if the male is territorial or subordinate.”"
Play Helped Dogs Be Our Best Friends - Scientific American - "Evolutionary biologist László Garamszegi of the Institute of Ecology and Botany in Hungary. He says that our playing with dogs is a key component of the human-canine bond. But breeds vary in their degree of playfulness. For example, a breed called the Vizsla is very playful. “On the other hand, the Chihuahua doesn’t like to play at all. Of course, you can train a little bit, but the average level of playfulness will be always lower than in the Hungarian Vizsla.” Garamszegi and his colleagues analyzed the playfulness of more than 89,000 purebred dogs across 132 breeds, from Pomeranians to Great Danes. The dogs were all given a test measuring their degree of enthusiasm for a game of tug-of-war with people. “We were interested in whether breeds could be distinguished by their average level of playfulness and what are the evolutionary forces that makes different breeds behave differently.” The researchers found that after controlling for the degree of genetic relatedness between breeds, dogs bred for herding and sporting were more playful on average than dogs that had been selected for other purposes like the nonsporting and toy breeds. “For some functions, like hunting or herding, you need trainable dogs and the very strong owner-dog relationship. So if you have a playful dog, it’s easy to train. One way to train a dog is to play with the dog.” By tracing playfulness back genetically through canine evolution, the researchers showed that the ancestors of today’s dogs already possessed an intermediate level of playfulness... Toy breeds were originally meant to be fashion accessories for the aristocracy, so playfulness could be a liability. “They need to match with your clothes; they need to match with your traveling habits. But they do not need too much attention. And in this particular situation, if you have a playful dog, it just creates a problem for you.”"
