All publications of Norm Nelson . New York , United States of Ame

2 vaccinated tigers at ZooTampa test positive for COVID-19

The pair of tigers - a 16-year-old male and a 7-year-old female — has recently tested positive for the coronavirus.

The zoo’s medical care team had noticed the tigers exhibiting mild respiratory symptoms, so they decided to test them.

The animals are being treated and monitored now. They will permanently keep out of public viewing until further notice.

ZooTampa notified the US Department of Agriculture of the diagnosis and claims to have a thorough COVID prevention plan in place for all animals.

NASA's Mars rover collected its first rock samples🪐

NASA’s latest rover landed on Mars in February. On September 1, it drilled into a flat rock and filled a roughly finger-sized tube with stone.

The rover collected a second sample from the same rock on September 8. Both are currently stored within the rover in sealed containers.

Scientists will have to wait for the newly obtained rocks to be analyzed. The earliest that any samples may reach Earth is 2031.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration strategy.

Falling cat saved at a football game

The most notable catch Saturday during the game between No. 22 Miami and Appalachian State didn't even happen on the field.

Wasn't even a football. It was a cat.

The cat somehow got into Hard Rock Stadium then got caught by one of its paws off the facade of the upper deck. It eventually fell to the lower level of the stadium, where fans using an American flag as a makeshift net were able to safely catch it before it was carried off to safety.

"They were trying to grab it from above, and they couldn't reach it but they were scaring it downward," said Craig Cromer, a facilities manager at the University of Miami and season-ticket holder who, with his wife Kimberly, brings the flag to each home game. "It hung there for a little while with its two front paws, then one paw, then I was like, 'Oh my goodness, it's coming soon.'"

That's when the Cromers unhooked the flag from the ties they use to keep it on a railing and hoped for the best. The petrified cat fell, bounced a bit off the flag and eventually was secured in the nearby student section before being brought away by stadium security workers.

Miami coach Manny Diaz said he learned of the cat incident postgame. The Hurricanes held on Saturday, topping Appalachian State 25-23.

"I don't know anything about that or what was going on,'' Diaz said. "But I'll tell you, if the cat will help us in our red-zone offense, I'm going to see if we can give it a scholarship."

The cat was not showing any signs of injury. The Cromers, other than a spilled beverage and getting sprayed by the dangling cat, were otherwise fine.

"Strangest thing that's ever happened at a game," Kimberly Cromer said