To teach the budgie to speak, it can be sent to a special school created for birds in Australia. Assessing the academic performance of the «graduates» of one of these schools in Sydney in 1974, teachers found it possible for 50 «students» to give good and excellent marks, 20 — satisfactory, and three birds were left for the second year, as they violated the educational process by teaching «classmates» words that they learned before entering school.
The movement when a contented and peaceful cat crushes your side with its front paws or just a soft blanket, releasing and retracting its claws, has a completely scientific name — «milk step». This term arose due to the fact that the animal imitates its infant behavior in this way — it is with this movement that kittens stimulate the release of milk from the mother's nipples during feeding. In adulthood, the «milk step» indicates that your pet is currently feeling extremely satisfied and protected.
The planet Uranus is visible from Earth with the naked eye [subject to good atmospheric conditions, on a moonless night]. This planet is a huge gas giant, the third largest after Jupiter and Saturn. It is 14.5 times larger than Earth, consists mainly of hydrogen, helium and methane, has no solid surface and its boundaries are very conditional, similar to all gas planets.
Since the publication of The Quiet Don, skeptics have survived to the present day who doubt that this novel belongs to the pen of Mikhail Sholokhov. The first commission to verify the authorship of the work was created by order of Stalin — the writer submitted his manuscripts to the experts, who fully satisfied them. Over the past years, many examinations have been conducted in Russia and abroad, including computer ones, to compare the indisputably Sholokhov texts and the «Quiet Don». All of them confirmed the authorship of Mikhail Sholokhov, but disputes are still ongoing.
The appearance of Maine Coons seemed so attractive to the creators of the Harry Potter film that the directors involved three representatives of the Maine Coon breed at once: two cats and a cat. And it was also the representative of the Maine Coon breed, the Corduroy cat from Oregon, who lived to be 27 years old and was a Guinness Book record holder for a long time.
There are no polar bears in Antarctica. However, recently scientists are starting to think about how to populate polar bears in Antarctica, as the Arctic is gradually melting.
In 1999, an Israeli citizen had an extremely prolonged attack of hiccups. It did not pass for many days, despite the fact that the man tried various means. But at some point, this man, without ceasing to hiccup, had sex with his wife. And suddenly — oh, a miracle! — the hiccups are gone. The man reported this to his doctor, who then published a corresponding article under the heading «Sex as a possible means of getting rid of intractable hiccups.»
About 200 thousand meteorites fall to Earth every day. Most of the meteorites split into pieces during the flight and burn up in the atmosphere, which is why it is almost impossible to calculate their exact place of impact and initial size.
Lermontov did not know about his relationship with either Byron or Thomas Lermont. All the more striking is his premonition about his Scottish blood, recorded by him in the poem «Desire»: «To the west, to the west I would rush, Where the fields of my ancestors bloom.»
A squirrel is not only smart, but also a cunning beast. In search of food, she adapted to life next to a person: squirrels find something nutritious for themselves in bird feeders, are able to ask passersby for tasty things, pull out plants planted by people in search of seeds. Sometimes, in order to go «to work», they specially gather in groups of two to five animals and distribute roles. The task of some is to distract attention, while others, messengers, pick up the loot.
