The Cat's Snowflakes
I was assisting a group of scientists in performing a behavioral experiment. We would pick up a large, thin sheet of translucent rainbow-colored material by its edges and follow a cat around the room with it. When the cat stopped, we held the sheet of material just above it. The material would then melt onto the floor around the cat, and the multi-colored droplets on the floor would then start to arrange themselves into a symmetrical pattern, like a giant snowflake. The cat would watch the pattern taking shape, and would then use its paws to help complete the design, pushing the droplets along to their final positions before they solidified. When the pattern was complete, we would pick up the new solid sheet of material, the cat would begin to wander, and we would follow it around until it stopped. Then we would hold the sheet over the cat, the sheet would melt, and the cycle would repeat.Eventually the cat grew tired of the game, and refused to stay under the sheet. "Looks like the jig is up," I said.