Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more
Wash your troubles away
HEAPS of dirty dishes piled in the sink can be a source of domestic tension. The good news from Florida State University in Tallahassee is that washing them up can relieve that stress 鈥� if you do it mindfully.
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A press release helpfully defines mindfulness as 鈥渁 meditative method of focusing attention on the emotions and thoughts of the present moment鈥�. Meditation may be the last thing to spring to mind when contemplating an unwanted task. However, in the journal Mindfulness that students who focused on the smell of the soap, the warmth of the water and the feel of the detergent experienced 27 per cent less nervousness and 25 per cent more mental inspiration. Those who didn鈥檛, saw no benefit.
Feedback, though, enjoys the soft, pleasant hum of the dishwasher.
鈥淒o not take if you are pregnant鈥�: advice spotted by Steve Etzel on a pack of Prolia 鈥� a treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis
Endless forms most dreadful
HOW do I dislike thee, let me count the ways. Hans Alves and colleagues at the University of Cologne explore the quirks of friendship in a titled: 鈥淢y friends are all alike 鈥� the relation between liking and perceived similarity in person perception.鈥� The authors discover that although people tend to know their friends in more detail than their enemies, positive impressions are less diverse than negative ones. They conclude 鈥� as most politicians have surely realised already 鈥� that 鈥渢here are only a few ways to be liked, but many ways to be disliked鈥�.
Let鈥檚 tryst again
MORE loving feelings: the twilight years offer no shortage of romance, as evidenced by a report into the sex lives of nursing homes residents. reports that over 70 per cent of nursing home directors surveyed had dealt with issues arising from residents鈥� sexual activities.
But perhaps most surprisingly, one in eight require family members to approve sexual activity for a resident, even if they have no cognitive impairment. The authors write that clear guidelines, communicated to the resident and their family, 鈥渨ould enable residents to engage in sexual activity with understanding and support rather than hiding鈥�. Openness is sensible but, as any teenager sneaking paramours into their bedroom knows, far less exciting.
Antimatter midges
IT鈥橲 often quipped that summer is the best day of the year in Scotland, and the most recent season was indeed wet and cold. Residents may take consolation in the dramatic effect this inclement weather has had on local pest species: the Courier & Advertiser newspaper reports that midge populations have dropped an incredible 鈥渢wo million per cent鈥�.
Nigel Henbest worries that 鈥渢he age-old annoyance of midge bites in Scotland is to be compounded by an even vaster horde of anti-matter midges鈥�. Feedback notes that the Courier also conveys a warning from the Scottish Midge Forecast that the mild autumn has produced a rare 鈥渢hird hatch鈥� of the biting flies; this could make for an explosive combination.
Leave them kids alone
YET more trouble with girls: in The Telegraph, columnist Cristina Odone why her 12-year-old daughter should be forced to study science, 鈥渏ust to appease feminists鈥�.
Girls, we are told, are being pressured into science, technology, engineering and maths classes to make up a shortfall of women in these industries 鈥� an argument that, were it true, would only demonstrate how ineffective such pressure is.
Odone, who studied history at the University of Oxford, is keen to illustrate that the life scientific is no guarantee of fulfilment. She points out that 鈥淛 K Rowling strikes me as a lot happier and more successful than Alan Turing, the tortured mathematics genius who took his own life鈥�. Truly is mathematics the dismal science.
Amid all this hullabaloo, Feedback can鈥檛 help but note that the reason Odone鈥檚 daughter is forced to study science is rather less sinister: it is a compulsory subject for all students under 16, regardless of their gender.
Good riddance, Earth!
RUSSIA is aiming for the stars, but finds itself weighed down by more base concerns. The Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBP) plans to seal six cosmonauts in a wood-panelled isolation chamber for eight days, to simulate a trip to the moon and back.
The fact that all six are women didn鈥檛 escape many at the press conference. The that the crew found themselves fielding questions on how they would survive a week without men or make-up.
If the all-female crew was an attempt to shore up the equality credentials of the Russian space programme 鈥� which has sent only four women into space in its history 鈥� IBP鈥檚 director Igor Ushakov didn鈥檛 get the memo.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to wish you a lack of conflicts,鈥� he told the crew, 鈥渆ven though they say that in one kitchen, two housewives find it hard to live together.鈥� Russia鈥檚 prospective cosmonauts could be forgiven for thinking eight days of isolation from the rest of the world isn鈥檛 nearly long enough.
Nuts to you
THOSE with a nut allergy and a nervous disposition should look away now. Subramaniam Divakaran is left feeling paranoid after reading the cryptic warning attached to his rossogolla (an Indian dessert of paneer balls in sweet syrup). 鈥淧roduct made in nut free areas,鈥� it tells him, before adding: 鈥渂ut nuts elsewhere.鈥�
(Image: Paul McDevitt)
Correction, 23 November 2015: When this article was first published, Hans Alves鈥檚 name was misspelled. This has now been corrected.