Today, I learned that:
What would our human world look like if we did not let our favorite pets and all the other animals remind us about the basic stuff, such as love, care, compassion, and other positive things and attitudes?
Today, I am honoring our dog, of the lhasa apso race, named Prins, so majestically posing in the header photo. It was taken exactly 6 months ago, on 2015-12-14, when he had just undergone a complete shear. He was born exactly 7 human years ago, on 2009-06-14. His race originated in Tibet, guarding the monks. More about lhasa apso can be found in reference #1 below.
By the way, did you know that the effective age of a dog is calculated differently than a human being’s? A hint: Prins is considered to be 41 dog years old. Consult reference #2 below to find out how that calculation is done!
But if you really want to discover the details of animal life, would you consider disguising yourself with an animal custome? The American researcher Joel Berger found it to be a good way to get closer to the musk oxen in the Arctic. Listen to the fascinating story in reference #3 below.
The way we treat our world, resulting in global warming, can also mean that we extinguish certain animals. Today is a sad day in that sense, because there are reports about the first mammal that has been declared extinct due to current climate change. We mourn the Bramble Cay melomys, the only mammal species endemic to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. More information in reference #4 below.
Finally, there is an expression in contemporary Swedish that can be translated as “making a poodle”. The meaning is a public apology, often pronounced by a celebrity. Its origin is the press conference on 2002-11-12, when the minister of migration, Jan O. Karlsson, regretted that he had received two salaries. The way he asked for pardon looked like the one a poodle performs when lying spreadeagled on the floor, as the reporter Pål Jebsen commented in his article. It was commented in today’s edition of the SR language programme Språket, reference #5 below.
… That’s what I learned in school !
Refs.:
1: Lhasa Apso
2: How old am I in dog years, how old is my dog in person-years ?
3: Arctic Researcher Bears Up for Science
4: Barrier Reef rodent is first mammal declared extinct due to climate change
What did you learn in School today? 
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