Barking mad
PHILIP CLAPHAM writes to warn us of 鈥減redatory journals鈥�: unscrupulous publications willing to print papers of dubious scientific merit in exchange for cash. He reports that one such journal has published 鈥淪olicitation of patient consent for bilateral orchiectomy in male canids鈥�, advising that dogs should be asked for consent prior to being neutered. 鈥淭he authors of this little opinion piece,鈥� says Philip, 鈥渁re two dogs and a chicken.鈥�
We at Feedback fully support the doctrine of patient consent. As the paper notes, implementing it is challenging given 鈥渢he current absence of a mutually comprehensible inter specific linguistic system鈥�. But if cats, tortoises and octopuses can predict World Cup matches (14 July), it can鈥檛 be that hard. We trust that our paper on a universal pan-species translator will be published soon.
Advertisement
Grave consequences
THE mysterious black sarcophagus we mentioned last week has now been opened, revealing three decaying skeletons but no ancient maledictions risen from the dead. 鈥淲e鈥檝e opened it and, thank God, the world has not fallen into darkness,鈥� said Mostafa Waziri of Egypt鈥檚 Supreme Council of Antiquities. We鈥檙e not, after all, living in an Indiana Jones movie.
鈥淩eader Tim Hall spotted some unusual units in the Irish Mirror: 鈥淕iant Lion鈥檚 Mane jellyfish the size of President Michael D Higgins washes ashore on Galway beach鈥濃��
Water waste
IT SEEMED like a great idea. While California was suffering from drought between 2011 and 2017, 96 million black plastic balls were dumped onto reservoirs to reduce evaporation. They are estimated to have saved 1.7 million cubic metres of water so far.
But that isn鈥檛 the full story. Producing the balls requires large volumes of water, according to researchers at Imperial College London, amounting to some 2.9 million cubic metres. In the interests of promoting sustainability, Feedback wonders if the black balls could be recycled for another purpose. A giant model of the molecular structure of graphene? Necklaces for blue whales in mourning? A gigantic ball pit for goths? Any other suggestions welcome.
Spitting image
IF YOU watched the football World Cup, you might have seen players swigging from a bottle, then spitting out the drink. Huh? Surely you need to swallow a drink to get any benefit from it.
Not so: teams may have been told to do this based on scientific findings. Swilling a carbohydrate solution in the mouth then spitting, or 鈥渃arb rinsing鈥�, improves athletes鈥� endurance. The taste of sugar seems to trick the brain into thinking more energy is coming. By spitting out the drink, players might avoid a feeling of heaviness in the stomach and prevent cramps.
Feedback wonders if a similar placebo effect can be obtained from banned substances by 鈥渄ope-rinsing鈥�, thus avoiding the trouble of passing a drug test. Could athletes be doing this already? You heard it here first.
Ant designs
THE new emojis have landed. , the annual celebration of pictograms that we all breathlessly look forward to, happened on 17 July. It turns out that emoji illustrators don鈥檛 always give enough consideration to scientific accuracy. An entomologist going by the name CurlicueCal marked the occasion by reviewing each phone company鈥檚 ant emoji designs.
Apple鈥檚 design was a clear winner. 鈥淏eautiful big almond eye, realistic and full of expression as she gazes gently at you. Elbowed antennae and delicately segmented legs and body. Gorgeous pearlescent sheen like she is glowing. This ant moisturizes. This ant is round and huggable. This ant is a star. 11/10鈥�
Samsung鈥檚 emoji was less well-received. 鈥淭his ant has an unexplained, double-jointed thorax, and no evidence of a waist. Her four-footed pose suggests that she is a centaur rather than an ant. Centaur ants would be cool. I鈥檓 not sure what was intended here. 2/10.鈥�
Meanwhile, the Royal Institution asked children to submit ideas for new emojis. We look forward to using our favourite of their suggestions, which depicted the face of a person who has 鈥渟tepped on a LEGO鈥�.
Just a sec
WE ARE grateful to the many, many readers who pointed out that parsecs are, in fact, a unit of distance rather than time (7 July). As fans of the original Star Wars movie will be aware, the solecism is Han Solo鈥檚, not ours. Although, given more than 41 acres have passed since its release, anyone can be forgiven for missing the reference.
It鈥檚 a toss-up
GETTING a speeding ticket while other offenders go unpunished can feel like the misfortune of getting caught is decided by the toss of a coin. But spare a thought for Sarah Webb, whose arrest was actually decided by the toss of a coin.
Webb was caught driving at 130 kilometres an hour while running late for work at an Atlanta hair salon. She was stopped by two officers who were unsure whether to give her a speeding ticket or arrest her for reckless driving. So they decided to flip a coin using a coin flip phone app 鈥� and the outcome was an arrest.
Luckily for Webb, a local TV station released footage of the incident. The charges against her were later dropped, and the two officers have been suspended, reports Reuters.
You can send stories to Feedback by email at feedback@newscientist.com. Please include your home address. This week鈥檚 and past Feedbacks can be seen on our website.