(Roughly) Daily

For most of the latter half of the 20th century, the United States and the Soviet Union were leading adversaries in the nuclear arms race known as the Cold War. Seemingly no potential advantage was to be overlooked, regardless of sector or industry. This was true in technology and espionage as well, and, in the 1960s, the CIA found a marriage of the two which could have been a potential game-changer.

That innovation? A bionic spy cat named the Acoustic Kitty.

According to former CIA agent turned author Victor Marchetti, the CIA had developed a way to, literally, wire a cat so that it could be used in espionage missions. The CIA surgically implanted a power supply into the cat, as well as wires going into its brain and its ears. A microphone was layered into its ears and an antenna through its tail. The implanted device was able to determine when the cat was aroused or hungry and suppress those urges, allowing it to carry out its mission — cuddle up to some Soviets and listen to their conversations. The entire operation, from start until its end, cost the government somewhere in the ballpark of $20 million and took about five years to develop.

In testing, the CIA discovered that the Acoustic Kitty had a fatal flaw. A surveillance van drove up to the test subjects and released the cat, which again according to Marchetti, made its way across the street unnoticed. Unnoticed, that is, by an oncoming taxi cab, which struck the cat, killing it immediately.

The CIA decided to drop the spy cat program soon thereafter.

From kindred spirit (public broadcasting guy who does a daily email/blog) Dan Lewis, whose Now I Know is always a treat.

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As we beef up our bionics, we might recall that one cat did make it through: on this date in 1979 Elton John became the first Western pop star to play a live concert in what was then the Soviet Union, as he performed in Leningrad, kicking off a hugely-successful Evil-Empire-wide tour.

Elton behind the (Iron) Curtain

In this 1974 clip from the BBC news magazine Nationwide, Mr. Tony McCabe demonstrates how to jump on eggs without breaking them:

 click here for video

Slow news day…

[TotH to The Presurfer]

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As we struggle to balance “nimble” and “quick,” we might light a candle for Lucifer Calaritanus, bishop of Cagliari in Sardinia; he died on this date in 370 (according to St. Jerome; it may have been 371).  Though the status is elsewhere disputed, Lucifer is considered a saint in Sardinia, and today is his feast day.  In any case, his name– which means “bearer of light”– is a reminder that “Lucifer” had not in his life time attained its Satanic connotation.  Indeed, it was St. Jerome, in his translation of the Bible into Latin (the Vulgate) in the 390s, who made “Lucifer” synonymous with the Dark Lord… Given that Jerome was a theological antagonist of (Bishop) Lucifer, the naming may not have been altogether coincidental.

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German scale-maker Kern has been in the weighing business since 1844.  To demonstrate the precision of the scientific instruments in which it now specializes, Kern has launched The Gnome Experiment.

If Earth was a perfect sphere of uniform density, then gravity would be consistent. But it’s not, which means gravity varies wherever you go. So can we chart those discrepancies using just a basic-range Kern scale?

Method

We’re shipping our Gnome Kit from scientist to scientist around the world. Join the experiment and you’ll receive:

1x Kern EWB 2.4 Scale
Pre-calibrated according to local gravity at Kern HQ, Balingen, Germany.

1x Kern Gnome
The perfect test-subject for two good reasons: Gnomes are already accustomed to travelling the world. They also originate from our homeland, Germany.

1x Lab gloves & 1 x Air duster
Important because dust or grease will reduce the accuracy of the results.

Readers can check up on results-to-date…

… and can sign up to participate, here.

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As we pack our bags to move south,* we might send earthy birthday greetings to civil engineer and geodesist John Fillmore Hayford; he was born on this date in 1868.  Hayford, the father of the modern science of geodesy, made the first precise determination of the ellipsoidal shape and size of the earth.

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* an object weighs about 0.5% more at the poles than at the Equator.

Identical twins Camille and Kennerly Kitt are Third Degree Black Belts in Tae Kwon Do and “Distinguished Experts” in rifle marksmanship, competitive swimmers who qualified for the Junior Olympics 5 times, and actresses (in, e.g., the films Creeporia and Blacktino).  But they are surely best known as “The Harp Twins,” “the world’s only known identical twin professional harpists…. known for their remarkable duet harp arrangements of songs by artists such as Lady Gaga, Guns N’ Roses, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Pink Floyd, U2, Journey, Taylor Swift, The Cranberries, Rihanna, Coldplay, The Beatles, Britney Spears, Enya, Johnny Cash, OutKast, P!nk, Deep Purple, The Smiths, Elton John, Joy Division, and many more.”

See the duo do the Game of Thrones theme song on Laughing Squid; then visit here for more.

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As we are reminded that (speaking of Joy Division) it was on this date in 1980 the Ian Curtis, the band’s lead singer, committed suicide, we might also recall that this was the date, in 1972, on which the TV series Me and the Chimp came to an abbreviated end, cancelled after 19 episodes by CBS.  An early effort by Garry Marshall and Tom Miller ( who later worked together on Happy Days and Laverne And Shirley), the sitcom was built around Ted Bessell (who’d gained prominence in That Girl)… and Buttons the Chimpanzee.  It went on to rank 46th in TV Guide‘s list of “The 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time.”

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The Phoenix Coyotes got an unexpected addition to their roster last Friday while battling the Nashville Predators: Somebody chucked a slimy, whiskered catfish onto the ice. A smiling puck-girl had to cart it off in her bare hands before play could resume…  Predators players are supported by an army of catfish-flinging maniacs, who may or may not catch them by noodling. The tradition began in 2002 as a response against the [Detroit] Red Wings military use of octopus. The catfish get so thick sometimes that shovels are required to scoop them off the ice…

From Atlantic Cities, a city-by-city breakdown (replete with videos!) of “Hockey Fans Throwing Weird Crap on the Ice.”

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As we remember to pack our ponchos, we might recall that it was on this date in 1875 that Oliver Lewis rode H. P. McGrath’s thoroughbred Aristides to victory in the first Kentucky Derby, at the Louisville Jockey Club. (McGrath, a gambling parlor owner who had used his profits to enter the world of horse racing, had entered two horses in the first Derby: Aristides, who was expected to be quick out of the gate and force the other horses to wear themselves out early, and Chesapeake, whom McGrath expected to be the real winner.  But Aristides took the lead early and never relinquished it, while Chesapeake never really caught up with the pack. Not sure what to do, Aristides’s jockey, Lewis, looked to McGrath, and McGrath signaled for him to go on.  Aristides won by a long length, and took the purse — a whopping $2850.)

Aristides. Etching by C. Lloyd (The depiction notwithstanding, 14 of the 15 jockeys in the first Derby– including Lewis– were African-American)

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For more on race relations– then, now, and in-between– read through to the middle of this fascinating-and-instructive Salon piece.