# data[].attributes.body
"Ban DHMO: Dihydrogen Monoxide"
This website is unreliable because of its absence of a credible author, misinformation, and false evidence. First of all, the article does not have a credible author. It lacks an academic tone and provides biased information that is illogical which emphasizes how unprofessional and untrustworthy the author is. The essay also contains multiple grammar mistakes and non-existent evidence. Even though it mentions multiple websites,  the majority of them are not found or unrelated to the topic.

Significance:
By doing this activity, students can now efficiently identify unreliable websites and avoid using biased or false information on their reports. It highlights the importance of why students need to check their sources in order to write an accurate paper.

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“Ban DHMO: Dihydrogen Monoxide!“
http://descy.50megs.com/descy/webcred/webcred/dhmo.html
This website is unreliable because of multiple reasons. First, it has no author, the url is “.com”, and the clear purpose of the article is to persuade others to support the banning of DHMO; these reasons show that the website is not credible. Secondly, the article is also not reasonable: the tone of the author is unprofessional, the author is biased in multiple ways, and the reasons he gave we’re not logical. For example, the author claims that “DHMO contamination is even found in most cells in the human body”, which is a statement that was never proven by science. Thirdly, the website provides no contact information, and has partnership with people who also support the banning of DHMO, and who also might be biased. However, the website also contains no grammar/spelling mistakes, and is updated twice a year, which means that it’s accurate; it also included a works cited, which shows that it got “support”; but overall, the evidence of unreliability outweighs the ones of reliability, so the article is considered unreliable.

Significance
The significance of this activity is to help us learn that not all sources on the internet is reliable, and not every article can be used as evidence for our writing. We need to determine its reliability before referencing it, or else we might get the wrong or biased information. Another purpose is to teach us how to determine if a website is reliable or not, so that we can research properly when writing our papers.

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http://descy.50megs.com/descy/webcred/webcred/dhmo.html
This website is unreliable.
Although it did provide further readings that are credible, but the website uses wordings that are radically pessimistic and biased. Despite it provided reliable sources to refer to, they are not properly cited. Additionally, the URL of this website is not presented with credibility. Furthermore, information provided by the website is vague and are not supported by statistics.  It is shown more as an advertisement to ban DHMO than as an credible, informational text.

In this activity, I learned how to identify reliable and unreliable resources. I will be able to apply appropriate sources to my research paper, and thus improving the quality of my assignment.

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Feline Reactions to Bearded Men (Seazen Lu)

# data[].attributes.subject
Feline Reactions to Bearded Men (Seazen Lu)

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.improbable.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html
this article is unreliable. The educational backgrounds of the experiment's contributors' boast Ivy League and prestigious universities, which could very well be made up. No charts were displayed that could give a visual demonstration of the cat's reaction towards bearded men. The proceedings of the experiment were described with dexterity, but bordered somewhere on ridiculous. For example, one line states that "214 cats participated in the study... fifteen cats gave birth while viewing the photographs." Since someone else has already slammed the bibliography, i may as well not include it.

the significance of this activity is not simply to guide students on figuring out which source is a reliable one. this activity also serves to encourage students to analyze and scrutinize sources carefully.

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https://www.infowars.com/posts/japans-well-fed-zombie-corporations/
This website is reliable because it cited sources used within the article and those sources are all proven reliable. In addition, there is no biased opinion because it's an article sticking to just the facts and statistics. Furthermore, the website is up-to-date; updated no longer than a week ago. The website is also commonly known for stating out the bold reality.
We took time to do this activity to help us understand the importance of a reliable article and website and not use the ones that aren't reliable in our research papers now, or later in our lives. Also to help us identify which sites are credible enough for us to use to not have false research papers.

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“Atlantic City Is Offering Bidders The Chance To Blow Up A Former Trump Casino”

https://www.npr.org/2020/12/17/947540932/atlantic-city-is-offering-bidders-the-chance-to-blow-up-a-former-trump-casino

Reliable site
The article has clear author and date, it is from .org, and that it does not have a possible sponsorship. All the sources of the article are cited clearly.

What is the significant of this activity?
- this activity helps us identify the source that is reliable. This helps us know what source to use while writing our essays or research papers, and also tells us what to believe in more when we do readings online. By knowing how to identify the reliable and unreliable sources, people can also be more efficient while researching a specific topic.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Atlantic City Is Offering Bidders The Chance To Blow Up A Former Trump Casino"

# data[].attributes.subject
"Atlantic City Is Offering Bidders The Chance To Blow Up A Former Trump Casino"

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.npr.org/2020/12/17/947540932/atlantic-city-is-offering-bidders-the-chance-to-blow-up-a-former-trump-casino

This website is reliable because it is written by a professional reporter and published by a non-profit media organization. It is both publicly and privately sponsored. The information being reported is recent and unbiased, and all claims were backed up with evidence with links to the source.

I learned, from this activity, that a source's credibility should be judged from many aspects, as a source proficient in one area may lack reliability when you regard other aspects of it. For example, "In Vitro Meat" may be a ".org" site but lacks a clear author and sponsor. I now know how to assess a website's reliability by judging its many aspects.

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https://www.improbable.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html
"Feline Reactions to Bearded Men" is an article that describes an experiment on the reactions of feline animals to bearded men. It is a reliable source because it includes the majority of the criteria of CARS--credibility, accuracy, reasonableness, and having support. For credibility, this article is created by various authors/ universities including Catherine Maloney and Fairfield University. Its purpose is to inform the audience of experimental discoveries, not to promote an idea or product, so therefore is not bias. For accuracy, this passage has no spelling/grammar mistakes. Though many may consider the date written (the late 20th century) as a flaw of the article for being not up to date, it is not. Experiments, unlike medical advancements, do not need to be recent for it to be credible because successful experiments results can be still be applied today. For reasonableness, this article has a formal tone using professional vocabulary. It has no bias for the article is simply stating the results concluded through observation which is supported by evidence. One of the data collected from the experiment:

Pritchett:

          7% attacked photograph.

          1% fled.

          91% had no visible response.

91%of the cats that approached the phone of Pritchett had no visible response, which leads to the conclusion that cats are indifferent to men with shorter beards. All the observations leads to the final result, proving how the article is reasonable. For support, the article has a bibliography for source citations. Furthermore, the MIT Museum Collection contributes by allowing them to use their photographs as part of this research report.
To wrap up the main points, this source is credible because it is not biased and the experimental conclusions are supported by evidence, and fulfills most of the CARS standards. Even though it was created decades ago, the information is still accurate today.

I learned how to identify whether an article fulfills all the criteria of CARS. This activity helps us in our research paper with us knowing how to distinguished biased information with credible sources. Thus, it would improve the credibility of our own research papers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Feline Reactions to Bearded Men

by Catherine Maloney, Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut, Sarah J. Lichtblau, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois Nadya Karpook, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida Carolyn Chou, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Anthony Arena-DeRosa, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Abstract

Cats were exposed to photographs of bearded men. The beards were of various sizes, shapes, and styles. The cats' responses were recorded and analyzed.

Findings of Prior Investigators

Boone (1958) found inconclusive results in studying feline reactions to clean-shaven men. O'Connor and Brynner (1990) found inconclusive results in studying feline reactions to shaven heads. Quant (1965) found inconclusive results in studying feline reactions to bangs. Seuss (1955) found inconclusive results in studying feline reactions to hats. Ciccone (1986) found inconclusive results in studying feline reactions to hairy legs. Other related studies (Smith/Brothers 1972, Conroy 1987, Schwartzenegger 1983) have since been retracted because the investigators were not able to reproduce their results.

Norquist (1988) performed a series of experiments in which cats were exposed to photographs of Robert Bork[1] (not pictured here), a man whose beard is confined largely to the underside of the jaw. After viewing the Bork photograph, 26% of the cats exhibited paralysis of the legs and body, including the neck. An additional 31% of the cats exposed to the Bork photograph showed other types of severe neurological and/or pulmocardial distress and/or exhibited extremely violent behavior. Because of this, we did not include a photograph of this type of bearded man in our study.

Materials

Five photographs were used in the study. The photographs, reproduced here, display a range of different types of bearded men. (As noted above, one type of bearded man was, however, excluded from use in this study.)

The test subjects were female cats, all between the ages of four and six. 214 cats participated in the study. Three cats died during the study, due to causes unrelated to the bearded men. Fifteen cats gave birth while viewing the photographs.[2]

Methods

Each cat was exposed to the photographs. One photograph was shown at a time. Each photograph was visible for a span of twenty seconds. The photographs were presented in the same order to each cat.

While each cat was viewing the photographs, it was held by a laboratory assistant. To ensure that the cats were not influenced by stroking or other unconscious cues from the assistant, the assistant was anesthetized prior to each session. The cats' reactions were assessed for changes in pulse rate, respiration, eye dilation, fur shed rate, and qualitative behavior.

Results

The results are presented in Table 1. The quantitative results are average values calculated over the entire feline subject population. The qualitative results are broken out by percentages of the subject population.

Table 1



Pulse Rate:

Runkel:         +42%

Crafts:        unchanged

Despradelle:   +87%

Pritchett:     +2%

Wiener:        unchanged



Respiration:

Runkel:        +186%

Crafts:        unchanged

Despradelle:   +317%

Pritchett:     + 3%

Wiener:        unchanged



Eye Dilation:

Runkel:        +23%

Crafts:        +1%

Despradelle:   +31%

Pritchett:     +3%

Wiener:        unchanged



Fur Shed Rate:

Runkel:        +12%

Crafts:        unchanged

Despradelle:   +19%

Pritchett:     +2%

Wiener:        unchanged



Qualitative Behavior:

Runkel:

          52% attacked photograph; hissing; spitting;

                generally agitated behavior.

          34% fled.

          14% had no visible response.

Crafts:

          2% attacked photograph.

          1% fled.

          1% licked photograph.

          94% had no visible response.



Despradelle:

          79% attacked photograph; hissing; spitting;

                generally violent, agitated behavior; chaotic

                tail twitch; screeching; incontinence.

          19% fled.

          2% had no visible response.

Pritchett:

          7% attacked photograph.

          1% fled.

          91% had no visible response.



Wiener:        (100%) No visible response.

Interpretation

1. Cats do not like men with long beards, especially long dark beards.

2. Cats are indifferent to men with shorter beards.

3. Cats are confused and/or disturbed by men with beards that are incomplete (e.g., Bork) and to a lesser degree by men whose beards have missing parts (e.g., Crafts).

These interpretations are not categorical. They are subject to several obvious qualifications. The most notable are listed below.

Qualification A. This study excluded photographs of men with beards confined largely to the underside of the jaw (see above discussion of Robert Bork). While data are available from studies conducted by other investigators, those studies made use of a different methodology than the one we used in our study. We are therefore hesitant to interpret our findings in light of the "Bork" findings, or vice versa.

Qualification B. This study was conducted with photographs of bearded men. In a future study we intend to investigate feline responses to animate bearded men. A large number of factors might produce significantly different results in the two studies. In particular, there has been speculation that bearded men produce pheromones which could have a significant effect on cats.[3]

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank The MIT Museum Collection for allowing us to use photographs from its Bearded Men Collection and for generously granting permission to reproduce the photographs as part of this research report. Special thanks to Sally Beddow for assistance in selecting appropriate photographs (the Collection includes more than 71,000 photographs of bearded men) and to Warren Seamans and Kathy Thurston. Special thanks also to Lisa Yane for coordinating the scheduling, travel and housing arrangements for the feline subjects and for obtaining medical clearances in connection with anesthetizing the research assistant.

Notes

1. Bork was a nominee to the United States Supreme Court. Because of Bork's distinctive beard, his photograph has been used in reaction studies with dogs, rats, and planaria (flatworms) and in bombardment studies with pigeons.

2. We excluded all data pertaining to the fifteen cats who gave birth while viewing the photographs. The reproducibility of the GAVE BIRTH/DID NOT GIVE BIRTH data will be addressed in a separate, future study.

3. Photographs do not, of course, produce pheromones, but they do emanate airborne scents derived from chemicals used in the photo developing process. Our study with animate bearded men will employ a strategy to eliminate this imbalance: before being shown to the cats, each bearded man will be immersed in a photochemical bath.

Bibliography

Boone, Patrick, "Cat Reactions to Clean-Shaven Men," in Western Musicology Journal, March/April 1958, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 4-21.

Ciccone, Madonna Louise, "Feline Responses to Hairy Legs," in Midwestern Sociological Review, January 1986, vol. 32, no. 1, pp 51-79.

Conroy, Gary, "Feline Responses to Ponytails," in Urban Sociology Review, November 25, 1987, vol. 21, no. 36, pp. 302-321.

Norquist, Winthrop Grover, "Feline Reactions to Supreme Court Nominees," in Journal of Feline Forensic Studies, vol. 12, no. 8, August 1988, pp. 437-450.

O'Connor, Sinead, and Brynner, Y., "Feline Responses to Shaven Heads," in Journal of Head Trauma, May 30, 1990, vol. 42, no. 17, pp. 309-324.

Quant, Mary, "Cat Responses to Bangs," in Tonsological Proceedings, May 1965, vol. 3, no. 5, pp. 251-262.

Schwartzenegger, A., "A Study of How Cats Respond to Body Hair," in Mind/Body Review, December 1983, vol. 3, no. 12, pp. 25-108.

Seuss, Doctor, "Feline Responses to Hats," in Veterinary Developmental Studies, July 1955, vol. 32, no. 7, pp. 54-62.

Smith, J., and Brothers, Joyce, "Feline Responses to Healthy Adults," in Health Advice, September 1972, vol. 51, no. 9, pp. 32-33.

NOTE: After this report was published, the authors continued their research.
A later report (including newly discovered historical photos of cats reacting to Abraham Lincoln, Csar Nicholas, and others) can be seen in the Sept./Oct. 1999 issue (vol. 5, no. 5) of the Annals of Improbable Research.
And still further reports appear in many of the subsequent issues of the magazine. Also see the report Feline Reactions to Bearded Men of Beard Type #55G.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
by Catherine Maloney, Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut, Sarah J. Lichtblau, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois Nadya Karpook, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida Carolyn Chou, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Anthony Arena-DeRosa, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts Cats were exposed to photographs of bearded men. The beards were of various sizes, shapes, and styles.

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"COVID-19 hits culture sector even harder than expected, warns UNESCO"
https://en.unesco.org/news/covid-19-hits-culture-sector-even-harder-expected-warns-unesco

The article from UNESCO discussed about impact of Covid-19 pandemic on culture, which has caused a much more severe consequence as expected. It is considered as a reliable source because:
- Recent date of publication-- the article was written and posted on December 12th, 2020.
- Tone is professional. It has showed no bias and kept neutral.
- Reliable domain and sponsor. UNESCO is one of the official entities of the United Nation, which is an authority in all kinds of worldwide and developing issues.
- Statistical data used and cited at the end of the article.

What is the purpose of doing this activity?
As we are doing desk research on our topics for the research paper, which should remain a professional tone and keep neutral, we should have learned how to distinguish unreliable websites and biased information. This activity help us to practice how to distinguish if a website is reliable or not, and become very careful when looking for information online and interpreting the topic.

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Artists are often employed informally and are left behind. Women, who hold a higher proportion of precarious jobs in the arts and culture sectors, are particularly vulnerable to social and economic insecurity. UNESCO which promotes targeted actions to achieve gender equality in these sectors, presents 15 key measures to address the impact of COVID-19 on the cultural sector.

The guide presents the three main types of actions taken by governments around the world: direct support to artists and cultural professionals, indirect support to cultural and creative industries, and strengthening the competitiveness of cultural and creative industries. For example, Uruguay and Zimbabwe have established funds to support artists, the Philippines have provided individual financial assistance to hundreds of cultural workers affected by quarantine restrictions, while Germany and the United Arab Emirates have commissioned and purchased works of art as a form of relief and income generation for artists.

"Not only must we support culture financially and politically, we must also give it a place at the political negotiating table," said theatre director Omar Abiazar at the UNESCO ResiliArt Lebanon webinar of 10 September.

Since the pandemic hit, concerts and festivals have been taking place online. While research shows that COVID-19 has accelerated this change, according to one estimate, reducing to three months developments that would otherwise have taken five years; according to one estime, the UNESCO guide recalls that some 46% of the world's population have no access to an internet connection (5), depriving almost one in two individuals of access to arts and during confinement.

In response to the pandemic, UNESCO launched a global monitoring exercise to assess, among other things, the impact of COVID-19 on the cultural sector, with a tool in the form of a weekly bulletin entitled "Culture & COVID-19: impact and response." The Organization also facilitated a global conversation between professionals and artists, with more than 220 ResiliArt debates in over 75 countries, including consultations with ministries of culture, civil society and the private sector. All of these formed the basis of the guide for decision-makers.
See also:
(1) "Global Screen Production - The Impact of Film and Television Production on Economic Recovery from COVID-19," Olsberg SPI, 25 June, 2020,
(2) Clare McAndrew, " The Impact of COVID-19 on the Gallery Sector. A 2020 mid-year survey," Art Basel, consulted on 2 October, 2020,
(3) Stefan Hall, " This is how COVID-19 is affecting the music industry," World Economic Forum, 27 May, 2020,
(4) "Global Book Publishers Market 2020-2030: COVID-19 Impact and Recovery," Business Wire, 25 May, 2020,

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
COVID-19 hits culture sector even harder than expected, warns UNESCO

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Artists are often employed informally and are left behind. Women, who hold a higher proportion of precarious jobs in the arts and culture sectors, are particularly vulnerable to social and economic insecurity. UNESCO which promotes targeted actions to achieve gender equality in these sectors, presents 15 key measures to address the impact of COVID-19 on the cultural sector.

# data[].attributes.headline
Cheese is one of the Most Neuroprotective Foods

# data[].attributes.subject
Cheese is one of the Most Neuroprotective Foods

# data[].attributes.body
Mimi Xue

URL:https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2021/02/20/cheese-is-one-of-the-most-neuroprotective-foods.aspx
This article is unreliable because when I first clicked into this link, I found that I need to subscribe in order to have access to this article. This shows that the owner of this website is trying to gain followers or people’s personal information from this article. The url ends in .com, and all of the article published on this website seemed to be written by one person, so this website might just be a website opened by one person, instead of an organization. Website owned by only one person may contain bias information because no one would disagree with his opinions before he upload these articles onto the internet. By only reading the title, i can also tell that this source is unreliable. Using my common sense, I know that cheese cannot be neuroprotective and this is just an opinion-based statement.

From this activity, I learned that we need to find reliable sources only for our research paper, or else, false statements could easily appear in our research paper. We need to find websites with url ending in .org or .edu. We need to check for the article’s author. This way, we can keep our research paper as accurate as possible

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"Tucker Carlson: Lockdowns are killing our children, and everyone knows it -- including teachers' unions"

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-coronavirus-lockdowns-killing-children-teachers-unions
I know this website is unreliable because FOX News is known for being America's biggest right-wing news source. This gives the source a certain amount of bias. Also, the source portrays its tone as pessimistic. The site's logic does not work out all that much, as lockdowns are only present to PREVENT children from getting killed by the coronavirus, not to CAUSE children to get killed. Lockdowns are present because it helps to stop the spread of disease. FaceTime and chatting apps could also resolve mental health diseases, where friends could still chat with each other. Therefore, this site is deemed unreliable.

The significance of this activity is to educate us students on how to look out for unreliable sources that could cause great harm to our research papers when we are working on them. Therefore, we should always analyze the sources we find before actually citing them in our texts.

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"In Vitro Meat"
http://bitelabs.org/process_details

Unreliable site
-It is an advertisement for a product
-It may be presenting facts, but is only focusing on the good side of sausages and not meant to be cited as a source
-It presents information in a weird and vague way----instead of saying "sausages", it tries to make the product sound good by calling it "In-Vitro Meat."
-No clear author and sources, not even images from the process of making the sausages
-Nutritional information is not presented ("coming soon"), meaning that the product's healthiness is not to be shown to us

We took time on this activity, since it helps greatly with research. Instead of just learning about CARS, we need to actually be able to use it in application. Thus, we can identify, when doing research, whether something is reliable/biased or not. It is an important step in our research, and could be used in future research for papers in English or other subjects/activities.

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"Never Forget the Lies About Air Defense Failures on 9/11"

https://911truth.org/never-forget-911-air-defense-failures/

Why it might be reliable:
-URL ends in ".org"
-Provides information about author
-Correct grammar/spelling
-Professional tone
-Provides actual photograph
-Accurate dates of past events
-Provides way of contact

Why we take time to do this:
We can learn how to identify reliable sources, and choose sources in a smarter and quicker way. We can save a lot of time researching, and it will also help us in the future.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Credibility of “Feline Reactions to Bearded Men” Research (and the Significance of This Assignment*) By Yiwei Jiang

# data[].attributes.subject
The Credibility of “Feline Reactions to Bearded Men” Research (and the Significance of This Assignment*) By Yiwei Jiang

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The Credibility of Feline Reactions to Bearded Men
The article/ research paper Feline Reactions to Bearded Men (link attached below) talks about the reactions of cats while looking at pictures of bearded men.
Overall, this article is unreliable, as I will prove below.
First, even if the results of the experiment may be correct and accurate, the tests are not necessarily causing the results, i.e. the reactions of the cats are very diverse and vary a lot, and most of the percentages are just slightly higher or lower than the other ones.
Next, the experiment cites fictional works as their sources, such as Cat in the Hat, by Doctor Seuss.
Additionally, there were only 5 pictures for the cats to look at, and that produces inaccurate results. The paper also talks about a part where the lab assistants hold the cat in order for it not to move, however, a sentence later, the article says that the lab assistant was anesthetized, which would be ridiculous. This shows that the people who did the experiments aren’t professional.
Finally, there is no sponsor, and the article is very not up to date, because the sources are all very ancient and in the end of the article, it says that the follow-up experiment was held in 1999.
In conclusion, the article was not up to date, didnt include a sponsor. and didn’t use strong evidence and therefore is an unreliable source.
Q.E.D. :)

*Significance of the Assignment:
This assignment was a practice for us to differentiate between unreliable sources like the aforementioned article about house pets and facial hair, and credible sources like New York Times and National Geographic. This skill will be useful in our future lives and the research paper that we are going to write in a few weeks.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Feline Reactions to Bearded Men

by Catherine Maloney, Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut, Sarah J. Lichtblau, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois Nadya Karpook, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida Carolyn Chou, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Anthony Arena-DeRosa, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Abstract

Cats were exposed to photographs of bearded men. The beards were of various sizes, shapes, and styles. The cats' responses were recorded and analyzed.

Findings of Prior Investigators

Boone (1958) found inconclusive results in studying feline reactions to clean-shaven men. O'Connor and Brynner (1990) found inconclusive results in studying feline reactions to shaven heads. Quant (1965) found inconclusive results in studying feline reactions to bangs. Seuss (1955) found inconclusive results in studying feline reactions to hats. Ciccone (1986) found inconclusive results in studying feline reactions to hairy legs. Other related studies (Smith/Brothers 1972, Conroy 1987, Schwartzenegger 1983) have since been retracted because the investigators were not able to reproduce their results.

Norquist (1988) performed a series of experiments in which cats were exposed to photographs of Robert Bork[1] (not pictured here), a man whose beard is confined largely to the underside of the jaw. After viewing the Bork photograph, 26% of the cats exhibited paralysis of the legs and body, including the neck. An additional 31% of the cats exposed to the Bork photograph showed other types of severe neurological and/or pulmocardial distress and/or exhibited extremely violent behavior. Because of this, we did not include a photograph of this type of bearded man in our study.

Materials

Five photographs were used in the study. The photographs, reproduced here, display a range of different types of bearded men. (As noted above, one type of bearded man was, however, excluded from use in this study.)

The test subjects were female cats, all between the ages of four and six. 214 cats participated in the study. Three cats died during the study, due to causes unrelated to the bearded men. Fifteen cats gave birth while viewing the photographs.[2]

Methods

Each cat was exposed to the photographs. One photograph was shown at a time. Each photograph was visible for a span of twenty seconds. The photographs were presented in the same order to each cat.

While each cat was viewing the photographs, it was held by a laboratory assistant. To ensure that the cats were not influenced by stroking or other unconscious cues from the assistant, the assistant was anesthetized prior to each session. The cats' reactions were assessed for changes in pulse rate, respiration, eye dilation, fur shed rate, and qualitative behavior.

Results

The results are presented in Table 1. The quantitative results are average values calculated over the entire feline subject population. The qualitative results are broken out by percentages of the subject population.

Table 1



Pulse Rate:

Runkel:         +42%

Crafts:        unchanged

Despradelle:   +87%

Pritchett:     +2%

Wiener:        unchanged



Respiration:

Runkel:        +186%

Crafts:        unchanged

Despradelle:   +317%

Pritchett:     + 3%

Wiener:        unchanged



Eye Dilation:

Runkel:        +23%

Crafts:        +1%

Despradelle:   +31%

Pritchett:     +3%

Wiener:        unchanged



Fur Shed Rate:

Runkel:        +12%

Crafts:        unchanged

Despradelle:   +19%

Pritchett:     +2%

Wiener:        unchanged



Qualitative Behavior:

Runkel:

          52% attacked photograph; hissing; spitting;

                generally agitated behavior.

          34% fled.

          14% had no visible response.

Crafts:

          2% attacked photograph.

          1% fled.

          1% licked photograph.

          94% had no visible response.



Despradelle:

          79% attacked photograph; hissing; spitting;

                generally violent, agitated behavior; chaotic

                tail twitch; screeching; incontinence.

          19% fled.

          2% had no visible response.

Pritchett:

          7% attacked photograph.

          1% fled.

          91% had no visible response.



Wiener:        (100%) No visible response.

Interpretation

1. Cats do not like men with long beards, especially long dark beards.

2. Cats are indifferent to men with shorter beards.

3. Cats are confused and/or disturbed by men with beards that are incomplete (e.g., Bork) and to a lesser degree by men whose beards have missing parts (e.g., Crafts).

These interpretations are not categorical. They are subject to several obvious qualifications. The most notable are listed below.

Qualification A. This study excluded photographs of men with beards confined largely to the underside of the jaw (see above discussion of Robert Bork). While data are available from studies conducted by other investigators, those studies made use of a different methodology than the one we used in our study. We are therefore hesitant to interpret our findings in light of the "Bork" findings, or vice versa.

Qualification B. This study was conducted with photographs of bearded men. In a future study we intend to investigate feline responses to animate bearded men. A large number of factors might produce significantly different results in the two studies. In particular, there has been speculation that bearded men produce pheromones which could have a significant effect on cats.[3]

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank The MIT Museum Collection for allowing us to use photographs from its Bearded Men Collection and for generously granting permission to reproduce the photographs as part of this research report. Special thanks to Sally Beddow for assistance in selecting appropriate photographs (the Collection includes more than 71,000 photographs of bearded men) and to Warren Seamans and Kathy Thurston. Special thanks also to Lisa Yane for coordinating the scheduling, travel and housing arrangements for the feline subjects and for obtaining medical clearances in connection with anesthetizing the research assistant.

Notes

1. Bork was a nominee to the United States Supreme Court. Because of Bork's distinctive beard, his photograph has been used in reaction studies with dogs, rats, and planaria (flatworms) and in bombardment studies with pigeons.

2. We excluded all data pertaining to the fifteen cats who gave birth while viewing the photographs. The reproducibility of the GAVE BIRTH/DID NOT GIVE BIRTH data will be addressed in a separate, future study.

3. Photographs do not, of course, produce pheromones, but they do emanate airborne scents derived from chemicals used in the photo developing process. Our study with animate bearded men will employ a strategy to eliminate this imbalance: before being shown to the cats, each bearded man will be immersed in a photochemical bath.

Bibliography

Boone, Patrick, "Cat Reactions to Clean-Shaven Men," in Western Musicology Journal, March/April 1958, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 4-21.

Ciccone, Madonna Louise, "Feline Responses to Hairy Legs," in Midwestern Sociological Review, January 1986, vol. 32, no. 1, pp 51-79.

Conroy, Gary, "Feline Responses to Ponytails," in Urban Sociology Review, November 25, 1987, vol. 21, no. 36, pp. 302-321.

Norquist, Winthrop Grover, "Feline Reactions to Supreme Court Nominees," in Journal of Feline Forensic Studies, vol. 12, no. 8, August 1988, pp. 437-450.

O'Connor, Sinead, and Brynner, Y., "Feline Responses to Shaven Heads," in Journal of Head Trauma, May 30, 1990, vol. 42, no. 17, pp. 309-324.

Quant, Mary, "Cat Responses to Bangs," in Tonsological Proceedings, May 1965, vol. 3, no. 5, pp. 251-262.

Schwartzenegger, A., "A Study of How Cats Respond to Body Hair," in Mind/Body Review, December 1983, vol. 3, no. 12, pp. 25-108.

Seuss, Doctor, "Feline Responses to Hats," in Veterinary Developmental Studies, July 1955, vol. 32, no. 7, pp. 54-62.

Smith, J., and Brothers, Joyce, "Feline Responses to Healthy Adults," in Health Advice, September 1972, vol. 51, no. 9, pp. 32-33.

NOTE: After this report was published, the authors continued their research.
A later report (including newly discovered historical photos of cats reacting to Abraham Lincoln, Csar Nicholas, and others) can be seen in the Sept./Oct. 1999 issue (vol. 5, no. 5) of the Annals of Improbable Research.
And still further reports appear in many of the subsequent issues of the magazine. Also see the report Feline Reactions to Bearded Men of Beard Type #55G.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
by Catherine Maloney, Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut, Sarah J. Lichtblau, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois Nadya Karpook, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida Carolyn Chou, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Anthony Arena-DeRosa, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts Cats were exposed to photographs of bearded men. The beards were of various sizes, shapes, and styles.

# data[].attributes.body
*the other anonymous post identical to this one was because I didnt log in

“Feline Reactions to Bearded Men”
https://www.improbable.com/archives/classical/cat/cat.html

Why it might be reliable:
-Multiple authors from different universities
-Actual photograph of the experiment conducted
-Professional Tone
-No bias
-Experiment information and results were very detailed and clear

Why it might be unreliable:
-No date
-URL is a .com
-Refers to fictional works such as Dr. Seuss’s  “Cat in the Hat” as professional studies
-Fake Bibliography
-Experiment variables are poorly controlled
-Lacks logic between the experiment results and conclusion

Conclusion: This article is not reliable. Although it has actual authors, experiment details, and a professional tone, the experiment was poorly conducted and illogically explained. Therefore, the final results the site presents should not be used.

# data[].attributes.body
“Feline Reactions to Bearded Men”
https://www.improbable.com/archives/classical/cat/cat.html

Why it might be reliable:
-Multiple authors from different universities
-Actual photograph of the experiment conducted
-Professional Tone
-No bias
-Experiment information and results were very detailed and clear

Why it might be unreliable:
-No date
-URL is a .com
-Refers to fictional works such as Dr. Seuss’s  “Cat in the Hat” as professional studies
-Fake Bibliography
-Experiment variables are poorly controlled
-Lacks logic between the experiment results and conclusion

Conclusion: This article is not reliable. Although it has actual authors, experiment details, and a professional tone, the experiment was poorly conducted and illogically explained. Therefore, the final results the site presents should not be used.

# data[].attributes.body
"Atlantic City is Offering Bidders the chance to Blow up a Former Trump Casino"
https://www.npr.org/2020/12/17/947540932/atlantic-city-is-offering-bidders-the-chance-to-blow-up-a-former-trump-casino

Reliable website:
-Clear author and date (Colin Dwyer, from Dec 17, 2020)
-Tone neutral
-no apparent sponsors--less bias
-properly cited authority figures as sources to support claim eg the mayor stating what he wants to get from this demolition(see pic below)
-multiple sources highlighted in blue--hyperlinks encased that can verify info in this article (again, see pic below)
-article from NPR--trusted news website and broadcasting service in the US

Purpose
-identify articles that are reliable/unreliable even though they might seem the opposite
-makes our lives easier when finding good sources for our research papers
-good skill to have when doing any type of research--that way not going to be fooled by unreliable sources

# data[].attributes.body
"Ban DHMO: Dihydrogen Monoxide!"

http://bandhmo.org/
This website is unreliable because several basic components of a credible website are missing. This website article doesn't have a visible author or date, and it isn't published on a credible news source (Example: CIA). There are multiple grammar and spelling mistakes, and the website page looks out-of-date. The tone is dramatically negative and opinionated, only sharing one perspective of the topic and refusing to bring out the other. The article also has false sponsor claims and inappropriate citations (see below), along with statements that lack statistical support.

Significance:
- identify sources as either credible or incredible.
- differentiate the characteristics of a reliable website and an unreliable website.
- Makes researching less of a burden online -> high-quality paper with credible sources.

# data[].attributes.body
"Help Save The Endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus From Extinction"
https://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
I know this website is not reliable because...

# data[].attributes.body
After determining if the websites were reliable or not and filling out the worksheet, please post the following on this padlet:
1. Post the title of the website; link; evidence and reasoning as to how you know it is reliable or not
2. Answer one of the following questions - What did you learn from this activity? What is the significance of this activity? Why did we take the time to do this activity?