Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2012 June 3

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June 3

Prince Harry wearing a beret at the Queen's jubilee pageant

I noticed that Prince Harry is wearing a beret, instead of a peaked cap like his older brother, at the Queen's jubliee river pageant. I'd imagine that there's dress code provided by protocol for a formal occasion like that. What's the reason behind beret vs. peaked cap? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.16.33.142 (talk) 15:33, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Although Harry is a Captain in the Blues and Royals, he's on attachment to the Army Air Corps. As British Army uniform's section on #1 uniform says "The peaked cap is not worn by all regiments; berets are worn in lieu by the Royal Tank Regiment, Army Air Corps..." If he wasn't on attachment, he'd wear the Blues and Royals' own #1, which is a navy blue peaked cap with a red band. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 15:48, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Prince William on the other hand, is wearing standard Royal Air Force uniform. He is currently a helicopter pilot in a search & rescue squadron. Roger (talk) 15:53, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

If anyone's bored because of the wet weather over the holiday weekend, our Army Air Corps (United Kingdom) article could do with a "Uniform" section. Alansplodge (talk) 17:33, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Cat climbing between two surfaces

Do cats do things like http://naamapalmu.fi/file/32166/temppu.gif instinctively or this is a special case? Of course the picture is a little weird in that the cat could easily have jumped down. --80.112.182.54 (talk) 19:20, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

I had a cat who would do something similar. He would get on his back on the waxed wooden floor, under the bed, and use his claws on the underside of the bed to pull himself along. They do seem to have an instinct to get into tight places, as these may be a refuge when chased by a dog, etc. In the toilet case it wouldn't help much, but instincts aren't always that specific. (For example, they seem to have an instinct to claw at the ground after pooping, but need to be taught to actually use that instinct to cover their feces.) StuRat (talk) 19:42, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Also note that jumping down only a tile floor may be painful on those tiny cat paws (high pressures result). So, that cat may have figured out a less painful way to get back down. StuRat (talk) 19:44, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

I think calling this "instinct" is almost certainly too strong a claim for such a specific (and somewhat unusual) action. I suspect that cats are instinctually inclined to try and figure out clever methods of locomotion, and that they experiment, and that they do (clearly) remember how to duplicate what works and what doesn't. Cats can also figure out how to open doors by hanging on the handles, or how to jump onto the blades of ceiling fans, and a great many other things; none of the specifics here can be instinctual, but the general "figure things out and jump on things" probably is (since it doesn't seem to require any kind of teaching or observation). --Mr.98 (talk) 20:31, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

I agree. Cats are very playful animals, and play is generally a way of learning through experimentation (the same is true in humans). Cats are also creatures of habit - they stick to a particular solution to a problem once they have found it. The cat in that clip has clearly found that that way of getting down works well, and so sticks with it. If he continued to experiment, he might find a better solution, but he's content with the solution he has. --Tango (talk) 20:46, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

As to how this might have developed, I have six cats and have seen most of them at one point or another work out the rudiments of this scheme. They would attempt a few steps of some incline or vertical surface to see if it will work for the entire path. Some trials worked better than others. For instance, the railing along the stairs is polished wood and doesn't provide a lot of friction. At least not enough for our cats to walk down it. Dismas|^(talk) 12:48, 4 June 2012 (UTC)