Class war
MANY British readers may be feeling uneasy that their government has formed a coalition with Northern Ireland鈥檚 DUP, whose anti-science positions include one assembly member鈥檚 call for creationism to be taught in all schools to counter the 鈥減eddled lie鈥� of evolution.
The US has long been pioneering efforts to rejoin church and state. A recent innovation is found in Florida, where state governor Rick Scott signed into law legislation allowing any resident to challenge educational material used in public schools. Passed under the auspices of empowering parents, critics warn that the bill will allow people to .
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Feedback can only assume that the Sunshine State鈥檚 mathematics professors will soon have to find a way to make pi equal 3, sex educators teach the controversy over stork deliveries, and rockets blasting off from Cape Canaveral recalibrate for a geocentric model of the cosmos.
鈥淕loucestershire Live informs Eugene Doherty that resurfacing a local road will use 770 tonnes of material, 鈥渆quivalent to 855 adult kangaroos in weight鈥�. Well, that clears that up.鈥�
Touching image
has been gestating in the journal Prenatal Diagnosis, as scientists argue over a male fetus spotted apparently masturbating in the womb.
Discover magazine鈥檚 Neuroskeptic describes how last year, Carlos L脫pez Ram脫n y Cajal and Vanesa Rodr铆guez Fern谩ndez at the 脕lvaro Cunqueiro Hospital in Vigo, Spain, published what they claim are the first ever images of the act, captured in 4D ultrasound.
Not so fast, ultrasound expert Israel Meizner wrote in published in March. He attacked this interpretation, saying the images showed nothing more than the fetus鈥檚 clenched fist. The authors hit back, inviting Meizner to visit their lab to inspect the footage.
The twist? Fetal masturbation has been described in the academic record only once before, in 1987, witnessed by none other than Israel Meizner, . Yes, it seems no niche is too small to be defended these days, though how the fetus feels about this public debate over his private moment remains unknown.
Strange times
THERE are very strange goings-on with the timekeeping of Andy Bebington鈥檚 timekeeper (8 July), says Jan Meulendijk. 鈥淏y my reckoning, using Central European Time would make the man show up an hour early rather than late, unless of course he had managed to set his clock back by 2 hours when he arrived on UK soil.鈥�
Non-scents
PREVIOUSLY we scratched our head over the scentless perfume offered by Josie Maran (3听别volution). Stuart Gillies writes 鈥渢he bigger puzzle is the widely available perfumed deodorant, which by definition cannot be鈥�.
Femmes fictifs
OUR search for units of measurement named after women, and related eponyms, has borne little fruit. Mary Hancock asks: 鈥淲ould you count Lazy Susan and Spinning Jenny as science or engineering eponyms relating to a woman鈥檚 name?鈥�
Both of these are named for a woman, yes, but sadly neither seems to be a real one. A scan of the history books reveals no evidence that Susan or Jenny existed in corporeal form.
High water
BAD news for those expecting a happiness boost from lithium-laced water (1 July). Retired GP Ian Dunn tells us: 鈥淟ithium tends to limit the range of mood, reducing the risk of being too high or indeed too low. As far as I am aware it would do nothing to someone whose mood moves within the normal range.鈥�
He also notes that lithium is toxic and patients using it require close monitoring. We think we鈥檒l stick with tap water: it might not make people happy but it鈥檚 rumoured to turn people gay (17 June).
Lead alert
JUMPING a bit further along the periodic table, the opening of a new children鈥檚 hospital in Perth, Australia, has been delayed, owing to the high levels of lead found in the water supply. David Curtis sends a clipping from The Weekend West, which reports that despite treatment, 74 per cent of samples contained safe levels of lead, 21 percentage points below the legal threshold.
Previously the treasury had claimed that compliance was at an impressive 92.5 per cent. 鈥淪hades of Yes Minister鈥�, says David, as the chief health officer Tarun Weeramanthri put the discrepancy down to 鈥渁 rounding error鈥�.
Stolen joules
THE road is long, and drivers can often find packs of mysterious supplements for sale in service stations to fuel their wakefulness. Jeremy Dean spots an example in Portland, Maine, more questionable than most, as each selling point only leaves us with more questions.
鈥淥ver 2000 mg of energy in every bottle,鈥� it proclaims, 鈥�0 sugar, 0 carbs, 0 calories鈥�, and adding for good measure 鈥� given the target market 鈥� 鈥淣o crash!鈥�
Jeremy wonders what form of energetic substance would be sold in grams, and why it doesn鈥檛 contain any calories if it鈥檚 meant to be consumed. He says: 鈥淢aybe this is where the universe is hiding all that dark energy?鈥�