Sideswipe: August 29: Hide and Squeak

A team of researchers spent weeks playing human-vs-rodent hide-and-seek, which was so much fun that the rats giggled and jumped for joy. The researchers filled a room with hiding places made from different boxes, and the rats learned that if they began the game inside a closed box, they were the seeker, while being in an open box meant they needed to hide. Over time, the rats became stealthier, working out that opaque boxes make the best hiding places, and learning to check spots where their two-legged rival had hidden before when seeking. While learning to play the game, the rats were rewarded for success through tickles, strokes, and a bit of rough-and-tumble play. The rats would often leap away to hide in a new location once they'd been rumbled. Like excitable children, they wanted to keep playing again and again. While research like this can tell us more about learning in the mammalian brain, it can also help us better understand the importance of play.

But the tooth fairy does exist, right?

Phil spotted this improvised signage on Pt. Chevalier Road.

Historically hardcore

1. The story of Khutulun, who was Genghis Khan's great-great-granddaughter. She said she would marry whomever could beat her in a wrestling contest. If she won though, they had to give her 100 horses. She died unmarried, with 10,000 horses.

2. Galvarino: A Chilean warrior who had both his hands cut off by the conquistadors for raising arms against the Spanish. Instead of letting himself serve as a message of helplessness in the face of the invaders, he strapped swords to his stumps and went on the warpath.

3. The Achaemenid Empire had trouble conquering Egypt in the early part of their war, so they decided to use the very embodiment of their holy figure against them. They had soldiers carry cats with them, and painted cat heads on their shields - the Egyptians couldn't fight back due to their religious beliefs, and so surrendered. They literally pulled a "Your God is our frontline". This is known as the Battle of Pelusium.

4. When Chairman Mao made Nikita Kruschev have a meeting in a pool, because he knew he couldn't swim. Mao was a good swimmer, and he swam around the pool as Kruschev was geared up in floaties.