Holy nitpicking
Nitpicking often draws criticism, but G茅rard Lucotte, Areki Izri and Thierry Thomasset didn鈥檛 let that deter them from publishing their sixth article in a series of keen looks at some old hairs. It is called .
Lest there be confusion, let鈥檚 be specific about the hairs. The study says they come from 鈥渁 large lock鈥� of Mary Magdalene鈥檚 hair that was 鈥渁rranged in a dedicated reliquary鈥� in the basilica of the village of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume in southern France. The authors go on to explain that Mary Magdalene is 鈥渢he most abundantly cited women [sic] of the four Gospels鈥�.
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Lucotte, Izri and Thomasset perused 10 hairs in two ways: with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). In slightly plainer words, they made microscopic examinations and did chemical analysis.
The writing in the paper is sometimes evocative, as in this passage: 鈥淔igure 4 shows a bulging nit adhering to the hair number 7 surface.鈥� And the final paragraph conveys, perhaps, hints of suppressed emotion at the keyboard: 鈥淕iven the great oldness of Maria-Magdalena鈥檚 remains, at one period where hygiene habits were not so drastic as today, it is not so surprising that the hairs of Holy Maria-Magdalena would be massively infested by snits [sic] of loose [sic]鈥�.
The team鈥檚 previous studies of these historic hairs present 鈥渙bservations of fennel rests, marine micro-remains, silver and gold particles, skin debris and mineral particles deposited on the hair surfaces鈥�. (Fennel rests are described as 鈥減ollen grains, leaf and stem debris鈥�.)
The nits of louse study was published in Global Dermatology. On its website, the journal invests the citations of its articles with an easy-to-remember acronym: Global Dermatology (GOD).
Quantum spirituality
Feedback was amused that the person who has best demonstrated that quantum is valuable 鈥� that the word 鈥渜uantum鈥� has measurable financial worth 鈥� went unmentioned when this year鈥檚 Nobel prize in physics was announced to honour research that tested the reality of quantum entanglement.
Deepak Chopra has spent decades entangling the word quantum into public discussions of spirituality, happiness and success. But it will be three physics professors who will shake a royal hand in Stockholm this December. Those whose understanding of 鈥渜uantum鈥� comes from Chopra can but wonder.
Chopra is a masterful writer. His prose can suggest every possible meaning, simultaneously. See for yourself. Read aloud these two examples: 鈥淭he limitations of physical life count for much less in the quantum world, and often for nothing鈥�; 鈥淭he mind replenishes itself in silence, the quantum source for all activity.鈥�
Those quantum-centric sentences are the quantum heart of Deepak Chopra鈥檚 1993 master quantum work, Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, .
In 1998, physicist Roy Glauber, in a ceremony at Harvard University, gave this brief speech in tribute to Chopra: 鈥淭here is not much that I need to tell you about relativistic quantum mechanics鈥� Its achievements in the world of atoms and particles have been great. Its successes, on the other hand, in the world of psychiatry and emotional well-being have been few. And it has certainly not been known for them, particularly. Not, that is, until the recent work of tonight鈥檚 honoree.鈥�
The occasion? The awarding of that year鈥檚 Ig Nobel physics prize to Chopra. Seven years later, the King of Sweden presented Glauber with a Nobel prize in physics for his 鈥渃ontribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence鈥�.
Vulvas for Dummies
Matthew J. Zdilla suggested that Feedback take a look at his report called , published recently in the journal Anatomical Science International.
The article contains many things of interest to vulva scholars and newbies alike. The first nine words give an excellent summary of the entire 24-page-long paper: 鈥淲hat exactly is a vulva? The question remains unresolved.鈥�
The 鈥淲hat is a鈥�?鈥� format for titles is reminiscent of the 鈥溾�� for Dummies鈥� format that has had a long, lucrative run in the publishing industry. The potential reader perceives a promise of gentle clarity, rather than one of overwhelming abstruseness.
Scholarly journals have given the world thousands of reports that sport titles beginning with 鈥淲hat is a鈥︹��. Let鈥檚 peek at a few. Helen Steward wrote , which opens: 鈥淚n this book, I explore the question [of] what a continuant is, in the context of a very interesting suggestion recently made by Rowland Stout, as part of his attempt to develop a coherent ontology of processes.鈥� 鈥淲hat is a continuant?鈥� appears in volume 89 of a journal called Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume.
Miha Kova莽 and his colleagues wrote a paper called It begins: 鈥淭he aim of this paper is to reach a level of conceptual clarity about what we call a book.鈥� You might also delight in , , and .
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