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popsci.com > environment > navy-cat-simon

The tiny tuxedo cat who became a naval hero

3+ hour, 55+ min ago  (647+ words) Published Feb 18, 2026 9:01 AM EST Image: PA Images / Contributor / Getty Images One day in March of 1948, George Hickinbottom, a British sailor,was walking around the docks of Stonecutters Island in Hong Kong. When the 17-year-old spotted a small black-and-white tuxedo cat,…...

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popsci.com > environment > why-cat-eyes-glow

Why do cats’ eyes glow in the dark?

3+ day, 9+ hour ago  (851+ words) Published Feb 15, 2026 8:01 AM EST Image: Anita Kot / Getty Images One foggy night in 1933, a businessman named Percy Shaw was driving home from the pub in Yorkshire, England. The road was twisty and hard to see. Suddenly, two bright dots flashed…...

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popsci.com > environment > why-cats-lick-you

Why do cats lick you? An expert explains.

1+ mon, 2+ day ago  (851+ words) Published Jan 16, 2026 9:00 AM EST Image: Kseniya Ovchinnikova / Getty Images If you've ever been around a cat, you know they can get the sudden urge to groom themselves at just about any moment. You're petting them on the couch. They're purring....

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popsci.com > science > can-animals-read

Can animals read? Not in the human way.

1+ mon, 1+ week ago  (646+ words) Published Jan 5, 2026 9:01 AM EST "My cat always watches my phone as I text or read a book," someone wrote on Reddit. "Even right now she is on my shoulder, intently watching what I am typing on this post. Can she…...

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popsci.com > science > would-dog-cat-eat-owner

Would my dog or cat really eat me if I died alone?

1+ mon, 2+ week ago  (985+ words) Published Dec 29, 2025 9:00 AM EST Most of us would say our beloved dogs and cats are part of the family. We live, sleep, and eat with them'but our domesticated companions are still animals, and sometimes, they give in to their biological…...

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popsci.com > environment > wild-cat-thailand-returns

Tiny wild cat spotted in Thailand for first time in 30 years

1+ mon, 3+ week ago  (200+ words) Published Dec 26, 2025 4:00 AM EST The happy news was confirmed by a survey from Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation, and Panthera Thailand, a global wild cat conservation organization, according to a statement emailed to Popular Science." "Even…...

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popsci.com > environment > dogs-teens-health

Pet dogs can help teens' mental health

2+ mon, 2+ week ago  (367+ words) Published Dec 3, 2025 11:00 AM EST "Raising dogs has beneficial effects, especially for adolescents, and these effects may be mediated through symbiosis with microorganisms," Dr. Takefumi Kikusui, a study co-author and animal behaviorist at Azabu University in Japan, said in a statement....

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popsci.com > environment > roman-military-cats-domestication-europe

Roman military helped bring cats to Europe

2+ mon, 2+ week ago  (287+ words) " The best Cyber Monday deals you can shop right now (updating) " Published Dec 1, 2025 10:40 AM EST Cats then became a staple in Ancient Egypt roughly 3,500 years ago. Unlike the more murky history during the Neolithic Age, Ancient Egyptian culture is full…...

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popsci.com > technology > cat-videos-killing-bugs

Cats love to massacre bugs, and scientists have the videos to prove it

2+ mon, 4+ week ago  (379+ words) Published Nov 20, 2025 1:10 PM EST Orthoptera (think grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets) were the most frequently preyed-upon bugs, appearing in 20.7 percent of the videos. Insects from the expansive Hemiptera order, which includes bed bugs and cicadas, appeared 14.5 percent of the time. Bugs…...

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popsci.com > environment > why-cats-love-boxes

Why do cats love boxes? Evolution has an answer.

3+ mon, 6+ day ago  (653+ words) Published Nov 12, 2025 9:00 AM EST If you've ever purchased an expensive, bespoke toy for your feline friend, then watched them ignore said purchase in favor of the cardboard container it arrived in, you will know this universal truth: cats love boxes....