Vantage point
FLAT Earth adherents have offered a prize of $8250 to anyone who can prove the world is round before their forthcoming congress ends (15 April). David Garret accepted the challenge, and outlines his methodology thus: 鈥淚鈥檒l need a garden chair, some rope, 10 high-altitude weather balloons, a lot of helium and one volunteer from the Flat Earthers鈥� meeting.鈥� After all, they do say that seeing is believing.
鈥淓nceladus sounds positively inviting, finds Alban de la Soudiere: France24 reports that Saturn鈥檚 moon offers any alien life present the energy equivalent of 鈥�300 pizzas a day鈥�.鈥�
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Courting controversy
ROGER HILL adds that a flat Earth defies not only the laws of physics, but the law of the land. He alerts us to a legal precedent: 鈥淎lfred Russel Wallace, the co-discoverer of evolution by natural selection, proved in an English court that the world was round.鈥�
The case followed a bet in 1870 between Wallace and Flat Earther John Hampden as to the shape of the planet. Their test centred on observations made along the Bedford drainage canal, a 6-mile length of supposedly flat water.
After correcting for refraction, Wallace鈥檚 measurements showed the world was still curved, but Hampden refused to accept the result and the case dragged on through the courts for over a decade. Eventually, Hampden was jailed for death threats and libel. Wallace regretted ever taking on the bet, writing that such people 鈥渃an never be convinced鈥�.
Feedback cautions David Garret: there must be less troublesome ways to earn $8250.
A sinking feeling
CHINA is well known for its love affair with the 1997 James Cameron film Titanic. In an increasingly materialistic society, the tale of a wealthy aristocratic woman falling for a charming but penniless man seems to sweep away any concerns about the consequences of improper ship design.
Now Hillary Shaw tells us that the Seven Star International Cultural Tourism Resort is planning to build a 鈥�6D鈥� Titanic experience for holidaymakers. 鈥淚鈥檓 used to the usual four dimensions, three in space and one time,鈥� says Hillary, 鈥渂ut two extra dimensions would surely have given the doomed ship more leeway to swerve that iceberg.鈥�
Feedback is still waiting for the powers that be to standardise those additional entertainment dimensions, but in Yongle鈥檚 case they must represent love and cold water.
A night in the most expensive cabin on board their replica ship will cost upwards of 拢11,000, which presumably includes a free transfer to an open-topped lifeboat at 2 am, while those in the cheaper berths are ditched straight into the water, without so much as lovestruck heiress to
Scales of justice
A DRUG-ADDICTED python is one of hundreds of animals being cared for by inmates at a prison in Sydney, reports the BBC. The 鈥渧ery aggressive鈥� animal was rescued from a methamphetamine lab, having apparently absorbed the drug through its skin. The snake will be rehomed following the trial of the alleged drug producers, prompting Feedback to wonder if the authorities are planning to call it as a witness 鈥� perhaps to put the
Permanent record
OUR colleague tells us Adobe Analytics wants him to update his login credentials, while reassuring him that 鈥淭his login will never expire鈥�. He says: 鈥淚 suspect the cold truth is this claim is thermodynamically untenable, but for the moment I鈥檓 basking in the warm glow of knowing that at least something of me will be left when I鈥檓 gone.鈥�
Thar she blows
WE HAVE been taking a long look at the issue of telescope names, and the shortage of superlatives for them (17 April). Kir Angwin thinks the solution is to 鈥渟top using the word 鈥榯elescope鈥� and adopt the old pirate nomenclature of the 鈥榖ring 鈥檈m near鈥�.鈥�
That way, he says, 鈥渨e could have the 鈥榖ring 鈥檈m nearer鈥�, the 鈥榖ring 鈥檈m even nearer鈥�, and even then the 鈥榖ring 鈥檈m roight alongside鈥�.鈥�
Feedback isn鈥檛 sure about the practicality of this idea, though we do like the notion of renaming the European Southern Observatory 鈥渢he Bring Me the Horizon Institute鈥�.
Freeing up space
AN UNEXPECTED consequence of the first law of thermodynamics? Charles Joynson comments that, as discussed in this magazine, information is now at the core of particle physics. This has consequences for biology, too, he argues. 鈥淲e are losing 100 species to extinction each day,鈥� says Charles, each representing the loss of whatever information was stored in that creature鈥檚 DNA. 鈥淎t the same time, the total amount of information stored in our computers is growing.鈥�
Correlation, or causation? If, as Charles ventures, there is only a fixed amount of information that can exist in the universe, the best way to save pandas might be to forget you ever knew they existed.
The high life
THOSE with a bit of spare change left over after shelling out 拢55,000 on a pair of Sennheiser HE 1 headphones (8 April) can pick up a corresponding travel case from Geekria on Amazon, reveals Adam Justice-Mills. A snip at 拢20.46, you鈥檇 be mad to board your private jet without one.