#ray cats

[spookthelilguy]

oh ray cats they could never make me hate you...

[atomic-mythologies]

Can cats save us from radiation poisoning?

Unusual question, I know. And yet, such bizarre concept was proposed by philosopher Françoise Bastide and semiotician Paolo Fabbri in a survey conducted by the German journal “Zeitschrift für Semiotik” (“Journal of Semiotics”) in 1984. The journal asked academics about the main topic of nuclear semiotics, which is how to communicate a very specific message 10,000 years into the future.

Bastide and Fabbri came up with an idea of a “living radiation detector” – a creature, coexisting with humans on a daily basis, that upon coming in contact with high enough radiation would change its appearance. The pair came to the conclusion that cats would neatly fit the criteria for a species living alongside humans and being very likely to do so even in a distant future. They cited the Egyptian worship of cats and suggested that such reverence could easily be resurrected by culture and folklore.

The proposed altered version of our feline companions was dubbed “ray cats”, and while authors of the concept didn’t specify how they would change their appearance when detecting radiation, many artistic renditions suggest color change or glowing similar to bioluminescence.

For the demonstration purposes I have made a drawing of my own lazy and only-trusty-when-he-wants-to-be companion. Meet Bourgeois the Cat, or in this case, Bourgeois the Ray Cat.

When everything is fine and dandy he is like a regular cat (aside from the weird, slightly concerned expression he has, but that’s a norm for him).

However, if the would find himself to close to faulty nuclear repository…

Alas! Truly a radiant specimen!

Of course, even if we would actually turn future cats into living Geiger counters, people thousands years later would still need to be informed about this unusual ability and the meaning behind it. Thus, the knowledge about ray cats should be spread through culture and folklore, or perhaps even worship.

And it seems that the concept of ray cats doesn’t even need to be realized in actual animals to make its mark in the broader consciousness. In 2014 Emperor X released a song called “10,000-Year Earworm to Discourage Settlement Near Nuclear Waste Repositories (Don't Change Color, Kitty)”. As the (lengthy) title suggests, its catchy melody and easy lyrics resembling a campfire song are intended to carry the message far and wide.

A year later, “Don’t Change Color Kitty” was featured in a documentary short “The Ray Cat Solution”. Paolo Fabbri also makes the appearance there and admits he was positively astounded with the amount of traction his idea has gotten over the years, despite it being initially treated as a bit of a joke.

And there IS something really remarkable about this seemingly weird idea becoming an iconic symbol of the almost impossible task to communicate with our descendants thousands of years later.

Maybe the real ray cats were the cute nuclear semiotics icon we have found along the way…

Signed, relaxing at home with Bourgeois the Ray Cat,

– The Atomic Bard

[longfleshyfinger]

For every note this post gets I will write ONE ☝️ sentence in my fic minimum.

[happygoldfish]

Radioactive Cats - 1980

Sandy Skoglund: Enchanting Nature Exhibit, Sep. 11th 2025 - Feb. 1st 2026, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio.

[menhera-vampiire]

currently listening to 10,000-year earworm to discourage settlement near nuclear waste repositories. admittedly it is very catchy maybe it deserves its title

[hurdy-girly]

Just learned about ray cats, cool concept but the song is not nearly annoyingly catchy enough

[chromonym]

i think ray cats are a very fun concept, so.

here's cyan as one.

(background is from this paper)

[genesissaturna]

I made a small ringtone out of Emperor X's "the 10,000 year earworm," but since both I and Tumblr are stupid I can't upload the audio files here. I'll post them somewhere and then come back here to post a link to it I guess :3

Stay tuned bc ray cats are my newest interest