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    "tStartMs": 6664,
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    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "On May 27th, 1941, the German battleship\nBismarck sank in a fierce firefight,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 13144,
    "dDurationMs": 5310,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "leaving only 118 of her \n2,200 crew members alive."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 18454,
    "dDurationMs": 3080,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "But when a British destroyer came to\ncollect the prisoners,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 21534,
    "dDurationMs": 3350,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "they found an unexpected survivor -"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 24884,
    "dDurationMs": 3360,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "a black and white\ncat clinging to a floating plank."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 28244,
    "dDurationMs": 4020,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "For the next several months this cat\nhunted rats and raised British morale -"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 32264,
    "dDurationMs": 4000,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "until a sudden torpedo strike shattered\nthe hull and sank the ship."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 36264,
    "dDurationMs": 3380,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "But, miraculously, not the cat."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 39644,
    "dDurationMs": 2250,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "Nicknamed Unsinkable Sam,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 41894,
    "dDurationMs": 2580,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "he rode to Gibraltar with the rescued crew"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 44474,
    "dDurationMs": 3140,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "and served as a ship cat on three more vessels –"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 47614,
    "dDurationMs": 5810,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "one of which also sank - before\nretiring to the Belfast Home for Sailors."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 53424,
    "dDurationMs": 3120,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "Many may not think of cats as serviceable\nsailors,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 56544,
    "dDurationMs": 2780,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "or cooperative companions \nof any kind."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 59324,
    "dDurationMs": 3670,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "But cats have been working alongside\nhumans for thousands of years - "
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 62994,
    "dDurationMs": 2770,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "helping us just as often as we help them."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 65764,
    "dDurationMs": 4460,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "So how did these solitary creatures go \nfrom wild predator to naval officer"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 70224,
    "dDurationMs": 2650,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "to sofa sidekick?"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 72874,
    "dDurationMs": 1700,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "The domestication of the modern house cat"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 74574,
    "dDurationMs": 3870,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "can be traced back to more than\n10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 78444,
    "dDurationMs": 2500,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "at the start of the Neolithic era."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 80944,
    "dDurationMs": 2350,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "People were learning to bend nature\nto their will,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 83294,
    "dDurationMs": 3190,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "producing much more food than\nfarmers could eat at one time."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 86484,
    "dDurationMs": 5330,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "These Neolithic farmers stored their excess\ngrain in large pits and short, clay silos."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 91814,
    "dDurationMs": 3020,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "But these stores of food attracted\nhordes of rodents,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 94834,
    "dDurationMs": 4090,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "as well as their predator,\nFelis silvestris lybica -"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 98924,
    "dDurationMs": 3700,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "the wildcat found across North Africa\nand Southwest Asia."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 102624,
    "dDurationMs": 3370,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "These wildcats were fast, fierce,\ncarnivorous hunters."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 105994,
    "dDurationMs": 4730,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "And they were remarkably similar in size\nand appearance to today’s domestic cats."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 110724,
    "dDurationMs": 3500,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "The main differences being that ancient\nwildcats were more muscular,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 114224,
    "dDurationMs": 5720,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "had striped coats, and were less social\ntowards other cats and humans."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 119944,
    "dDurationMs": 3140,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "The abundance of prey in rodent-infested \ngranaries"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 123084,
    "dDurationMs": 3090,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "drew in these typically solitary animals. "
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 126174,
    "dDurationMs": 2605,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "And as the wildcats learned to tolerate the \npresence of humans"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 128779,
    "dDurationMs": 1795,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "and other cats during mealtime,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 130574,
    "dDurationMs": 5350,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "we think that farmers likewise tolerated\nthe cats in exchange for free pest control."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 135924,
    "dDurationMs": 5360,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "The relationship was so beneficial that\nthe cats migrated with Neolithic farmers"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 141284,
    "dDurationMs": 3840,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "from Anatolia into Europe\nand the Mediterranean."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 145124,
    "dDurationMs": 2590,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "Vermin were a major\nscourge of the seven seas."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 147714,
    "dDurationMs": 2640,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "They ate provisions and\ngnawed at lines of rope,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 150354,
    "dDurationMs": 4110,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "so cats had long since become\nessential sailing companions."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 154464,
    "dDurationMs": 3880,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "Around the same time these Anatolian\nglobe trotting cats set sail,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 158344,
    "dDurationMs": 3410,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "the Egyptians domesticated \ntheir own local cats."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 161754,
    "dDurationMs": 4440,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "Revered for their ability to dispatch\nvenomous snakes, catch birds, and kill rats,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 166194,
    "dDurationMs": 4700,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "domestic cats became important\nto Egyptian religious culture."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 170894,
    "dDurationMs": 4760,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "They gained immortality in frescos,\nhieroglyphs, statues, and even tombs,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 175654,
    "dDurationMs": 3120,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "mummified alongside their owners."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 178774,
    "dDurationMs": 2540,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "Egyptian ship cats cruised the Nile,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 181314,
    "dDurationMs": 3130,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "holding poisonous river snakes at bay. "
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 184444,
    "dDurationMs": 2330,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "And after graduating to larger vessels,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 186774,
    "dDurationMs": 3880,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "they too began to migrate\nfrom port to port."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 190654,
    "dDurationMs": 4300,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "During the time of the Roman Empire,\nships traveling between India and Egypt"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 194954,
    "dDurationMs": 5790,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "carried the lineage of the\ncentral Asian wildcat F. s. ornata."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 200744,
    "dDurationMs": 5030,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "Centuries later, in the Middle Ages, \nEgyptian cats voyaged up to the Baltic Sea"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 205774,
    "dDurationMs": 2750,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "on the ships of Viking seafarers."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 208524,
    "dDurationMs": 3280,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "And both the Near Eastern \nand North African wildcats"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 211804,
    "dDurationMs": 3990,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "– probably tamed at this point -- \ncontinued to travel across Europe,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 215794,
    "dDurationMs": 4300,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "eventually setting sail for\nAustralia and the Americas."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 220104,
    "dDurationMs": 2060,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "Today, most house cats have descended"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 222164,
    "dDurationMs": 4670,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "from either the Near Eastern\nor the Egyptian lineage of F.s.lybica."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 226834,
    "dDurationMs": 3610,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "But close analysis of the genomes and\ncoat patterns of modern cats"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 230444,
    "dDurationMs": 2120,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "tells us that unlike dogs,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 232564,
    "dDurationMs": 2800,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "which have undergone \ncenturies of selective breeding,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 235364,
    "dDurationMs": 3760,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "modern cats are genetically\nvery similar to ancient cats."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 239124,
    "dDurationMs": 2840,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "And apart from making them\nmore social and docile,"
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 241964,
    "dDurationMs": 3720,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "we’ve done little to alter\ntheir natural behaviors."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 245684,
    "dDurationMs": 5710,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "In other words, cats today are more or\nless as they’ve always been: Wild animals."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 251394,
    "dDurationMs": 3450,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "Fierce hunters. Creatures that don’t\nsee us as their keepers."
    } ]
  }, {
    "tStartMs": 254844,
    "dDurationMs": 4000,
    "segs": [ {
      "utf8": "And given our long history together,\nthey might not be wrong."
    } ]
  } ]
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