Sherlock Clones
WHAT has four legs, wears a deerstalker and cracks unsolvable crimes? Why, Sherlock the police dog of course. Or rather Sherlock the police dogs. China鈥檚 state-owned tabloid Global Times reports that Sinogene, a biotechnology company, has cloned a celebrated police sniffer dog, and in the future.
Readers are invited to give this new puppy meme their own score on a scale from 鈥渃ute鈥� to 鈥渁larming鈥�. The mutt clone army would have its advantages, though: its paw soldiers would supposedly be ready for duty at just 10 months old, while traditionally sourced dogs need five years of training at police academy. Still, as Sinogene鈥檚 deputy general manager admitted to the newspaper, the high cost of cloning could still be a bar to the plan in a world where puppies usually get made for free.
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鈥淎 naked Russian man tried to board a plane at Moscow鈥檚 Domodedovo airport, reports UK newspaper The Independent. His explanation? Shedding clothes made him more 鈥渁erodynamic鈥濃��
Lies, damned lied and sta-tea-stics
FANCY a cuppa? You could be risking your life, according to recent headlines reporting a study that was published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Researchers looking at tea drinkers in northern Iran found that those enjoying a couple of piping hot cups of tea (heated to over 60掳C) every day .
This is an assault on all Feedback holds dear: our outpourings rely on vast inpourings of strangely insipid hot brown liquid (dash of milk, one sugar please). Fortunately, cooler minds are on the case. The yearly risk of developing oesophageal cancer is around six in 10,000; so giving a stadium filled with that number of people scalding hot tea every day would result in no more than six additional cases every year.
Age is also a factor, as many pointed out while eviscerating the lurid headlines the study provoked. Oesophageal cancers mostly appear late in life, so the real winning strategy is to avoid getting old in the first place. Sigh.
Giant leap for viruskind
BESIDES cosmic rays, cramped quarters and an ageing International Space Station, astronauts have something else to worry about: cold sores. A study published in Frontiers in Microbiology reveals that than when on Earth. The researchers hypothesise that the stresses of space missions dampen the immune system, allowing dormant infections to flare up. Feedback suggests we add this to the already long list of Things We Must Solve About Space Travel.
Literal lullabies
ON A brighter note (possibly), astronomical verse continues to plop into our inbox. Peter J. Bleackley gives a succinct science lesson with his take on Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star:
A great incandescent mass
Of self-gravitating gas
Far away in outer space
I believe that is the case.
In your thermonuclear core
Proton-proton chains galore
Fuse together nuclei
Releasing radiant energy.
Meanwhile, geology-minded Richard Johnson turns the telescope on our home planet, offering a star鈥檚 eye view of Earth:
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
Do you wonder what we are?
Below we鈥檙e nickel-iron bright,
Mantled in peridotite.
Life in the supersonic lane
THE Bloodhound supersonic car has been rescued from a possible trip to the scrapheap, after the project was bought out by entrepreneur Ian Warhurst for an undisclosed sum.
The rocket-powered vehicle performed a 鈥渓ow speed鈥� test run at 320 kilometres per hour in 2017, but couldn鈥檛 outrun its creditors. The new venture pursues an identical funding model 鈥� selling sponsorship for ad space on the buggy鈥檚 fairing 鈥� but Warhurst promises his deep pockets will protect the vehicle from similar bumps in the road.
Bloodhound is supposed to provide inspiration for a future generation of engineers, although according to those involved, the biggest hurdle it faces now is a less-than-inspiring mountain of paperwork. We are sure it can burn through that.
Kodak six-pack
FACING up to the most pressing challenge of the day, researchers have . Super Eight, created by Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Delaware, was designed in collaboration with Kodak.
The company touts the beer as its 鈥渕ost extreme yet鈥�. Its eclectic set of ingredients includes 鈥減rickly pear, mango, boysenberry, blackberry, raspberry, elderberry and kiwi juices, a touch of toasted quinoa and an ample amount of red Hawaiian sea salt鈥�.
Or if you prefer, and assuming the digital age has passed you by, you can heat the beer on a stove, add ascorbic acid and baking soda, and drop your negatives into the brine. After 15 minutes, a quick dip in a stop bath and fixer will have your holiday pics ready for print.
Sadly, choices must be made: the beer can be used for drinking or photography, but not both. That is a problem for future scientists to crack. We await developments.
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