Least Competent Criminals | Cutting-Edge Science

• Irresistible Self-Promotion: Jason Stange, 44, who became a fugitive last year by walking away from a Spokane, Washington, halfway house while on probation for bank robbery, was re-arrested in July in Olympia, Washington, after featuring himself in an extensive newspaper pictorial about a local movie he was starring in. Stange could have chosen a more veiled stage name, but (since it was a horror movie) billed himself merely as "Jason Strange" -- making detection easier for U.S. Marshals. [News Tribune (Tacoma), 7-21-2015]

• Some owners may be petting their cats all wrong, cautioned recent research in issues of the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science by scientists from University of Lincoln in England and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For example, felines seem to prefer face-caressing, especially between the eyes and ears, and are especially aroused, negatively, by tail-petting, especially at the base. Cats appear to be pickier about how their owners pet them than strangers, according to a Washington Post review of one article. The Wisconsin research revealed that cats better appreciate (or are annoyed less by) music written especially for their pitch (an octave higher) and tempo (mimicking purring) than traditional classical music. [Washington Post, 6-30-2015] [Sci-news.com, 3-15-2015]

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