Floating in a most peculiar garb
HOODED plastic ponchos imported into Canada by the company 3230121 Canada Inc are described as: 鈥渓ightweight; reusable; one size fits all; a must for emergencies, space travel, space etc鈥�.
鈥淭he cost of space travel is truly falling,鈥� surmises Christopher Garner, and similar comments appeared on . But a little research shows that was perhaps a hope too far: the company on 29 September 2011.
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Instrument supplier Anton Paar has filed a for 鈥渕easurement of the theological properties of material samples鈥�. Andy Prior applauds this concern for smart materials鈥� beliefs
CHANCELLOR of Britain鈥檚 Exchequer George Osborne on 29 November that 鈥渕aths free schools are exactly what Britain needs to鈥� produce more of the engineering and science graduates so important for our long-term economic success.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 educashun in safe hands then,鈥� notes Peter Holness. Where does the hyphen go among the first three words? May we ask whether Osborne鈥檚 education (non-free schools, followed by modern history at Magdalen College, University of Oxford) was maths-free?
MIRACULOUSLY, NASA鈥檚 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter continues to provide of our satellite鈥檚 . Or it would be a miracle if we took literally the description that Hadrian Jeffs found in of the orbiter鈥檚 mission as it launched in 2009: 鈥渋ts stable polar orbit鈥� will vary from an epilune (low point) of only 30km over the south pole to a perilune (high point) of 260 km over the north.鈥�
Hadrian has gently explained, in response to Feedback鈥檚 puzzled messages asking what is puzzling, that the perilune is the closest approach to the moon and the epliune the furthest point, especially when, as is usual, it鈥檚 called the apolune.
The Society for the Promotion of Numerate Proofreading (SPNP) has been informed. We fully expect a sarcastic Selenic sprite to insert a similar error on this page, as happens all too often when one draws attention to others鈥� slisp.
THE aforementioned sprite has already struck. Several readers write of our assertion that a manufacturer that 鈥渨anted to increase our deliciousness by 200 per cent, so鈥� put two bars in each pack鈥� implied that 鈥渢he bars are now two-thirds as good as they used to be鈥� (12 November). Yes, of course, they would have to be one-and-a-half times as delicious as before.
APPROACHING the 6th-century Sutton Hoo Saxon burial site in Suffolk, UK, Cliff Leftly and his wife Ann came across a notice in red lettering: 鈥淣o exit from burial ground.鈥� Was it some kind of macabre joke?
鈥淚t was impossible to fathom a rational meaning,鈥� says Cliff, until, at the end of their circular tour, they discovered a disused path, guarded by the sign. They were, happily, able to exit the burial ground in the approved way and report back.
CONSULTANTS at accountancy firm PwC (formerly known as PricewaterhouseCoopers) helpfully announced to a colleague at 快猫短视频 the results of asking people who know how much Stuff they think we have left. Their conclusion 鈥� 鈥渘ot very much鈥� 鈥� was no doubt arrived at at much greater expense than simply reading a few copies of 快猫短视频 (starting with 18 June, p 36, and working back).
The lists 14 raw materials as 鈥渃ritical鈥� because 鈥渢he risks of supply shortage and their impacts on the economy are higher compared with most of the other raw materials鈥�. Their 鈥渉igh supply risk鈥� is, PwC says, 鈥渕ainly due to the fact that a high share of the worldwide production mainly comes from a handful of countries: Antimoon, Beryllium, Cobalt, Fluorspar, Indium鈥︹��
Our colleague responds: 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 help thinking that the high supply risk of Antimoon was down to factors other than those mentioned.鈥�
Given the uncertainty over most other investments, Feedback is thinking of moving its meagre savings into Antimoon futures. Or, reading PwC鈥檚 last sentence again, perhaps we should emigrate to the lovely country of Indium.
FINALLY, the terminally dark 1964 film Dr Strangelove is restored. The film negatives were wrecked by overuse, so the restorers took the three best surviving copies, scanned them at 8 million pixels per frame, de-blemished and blended them, a frame at a time.
The biggest laughter at a London preview of the digital cinema version was for the British officer played by Peter Sellers telling mad US air force commander Jack Ripper about life in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. 鈥淪wine,鈥� Sellers says, 鈥淧ity they make such bloody good cameras.鈥� Dr Strangelove was made by Columbia Pictures and restored by its current owner 鈥� Sony, which among other things is a camera-maker in Japan.