
Japan PhD researcher shares paper she wrote as a child on cat paw dominance, impresses many
Madoka Hattori, 43, received a PhD in bioscience at Kyoto University in March and published a book containing 39 papers about cats, including her PhD dissertation.
On July 16, Hattori posted photos of a paper she did as homework when she was a primary one pupil.
Madoka Hattori carried out the research on her pet cat when she was a primary one pupil. Photo: Weixin
The paper is titled 'Is the cat right-pawed or left-pawed?'
Hattori had one person holding her pet cat, a four-month-old male called Cedric Hanzo Hattori, and another person flaunting a teaser in front of Cedric.
The cat teaser was presented 200 times in exactly the same way, and Hattori documented the paw the animal used to grab it each time.
Cedric used his right paw 110 times, left paw 56 times and both paws 34 times.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


South China Morning Post
13 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Astronauts launch for space station after being sidelined by Boeing's troubled Starliner
Astronauts sidelined for the past year by Boeing's Starliner trouble blasted off to the International Space Station on Friday, getting a lift from SpaceX. The US-Japanese-Russian crew of four rocketed from Nasa's Kennedy Space Centre. They will replace colleagues who launched to the space station in March as fill-ins for Nasa's two stuck astronauts. Their SpaceX capsule should reach the orbiting lab this weekend and stay for at least six months. Zena Cardman, a biologist and polar explorer who should have launched last year, was yanked along with another Nasa crewmate to make room for Starliner's star-crossed test pilots. 'I have no emotion but joy right now. That was absolutely transcendent. Ride of a lifetime,' Cardman, the flight commander, said after reaching orbit. The botched Starliner demo forced Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to switch to SpaceX to get back from the space station more than nine months after departing on what should have been a week-long trip.


South China Morning Post
5 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Chinese scientists double artillery gun lifespan with 2,000-year-old chromium tech upgrade
Scientists in northwest China have doubled the service life of high-temperature, high-pressure artillery barrels by refining a chromium plating technique first used by the Chinese military before 200BC. Bronze swords buried with the Terracotta Army of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang , remained sharp and untarnished after more than 2,000 years underground. Microscopic analysis revealed a thin layer of chromium salts – just 10 to 15 micrometres thick – on their surfaces, protected by an underlying oxide film that had all but halted corrosion, seen as evidence of a sophisticated surface treatment technique mastered by ancient Chinese metallurgists. According to a study published in the July issue of Acta Armamentarii, China's top defence tech journal, researchers have now upgraded this ancient method into a cutting-edge solution for one of modern artillery's most persistent challenges – barrel erosion. High-velocity cannons and advanced howitzers face extreme conditions with every firing. Inside the barrel, temperatures soar past 3,000 degrees Celsius (5,432 degrees Fahrenheit) and pressures exceed tens of thousands of atmospheres. The combined effect of chemical erosion from propellant gases, mechanical abrasion from projectiles and thermal shock from repeated firings leads to rapid wear, microcracking and eventual degradation of the bore.


South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
‘Staggering' brain drain of US climate scientists may signal shift in scientific gravity
US climate scientists are increasingly looking abroad as a result of cuts to research funding, according to a Hong Kong-based professor, signalling a possible shift in the centre of scientific gravity. He said that out of 20-plus candidates for assistant professorships at CityU, half were working at leading US universities, including Columbia, Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford and Yale. Horton said he had approached colleagues he knew in the US about job openings in hopes of supporting young scientists who might relocate to Hong Kong as a 'safe haven'. 'I emailed them saying 'I know how dreadful the situation is. But maybe I can offer some hope for your young scientist'.' He added: 'Not many people are looking after the young ones who have not made their impact yet. We were the only ones.'