Feedback is 快猫短视频鈥檚 popular sideways look at the latest science and technology news. You can submit items you believe may amuse readers to Feedback by emailing feedback@newscientist.com
The ship comes in
We asked, you answered. Feedback wondered what adjective would best describe the Wikipedia page for the Ship of Theseus paradox. As a reminder, the paradox asks whether it鈥檚 the same ship if every single component has been replaced, and the Wiki page for it has been edited so much that nothing of the original remains, making it an exemplar of the thing it describes.
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Sifting through the resulting mailbag, we see a great many suggestions, ranging from Tim Moulsley鈥檚 鈥渁utoparadigm鈥� to Bryn Glover鈥檚 鈥渁utocausative鈥�.
Martin Bastone was one of many readers who took inspiration from the British comedy Only Fools and Horses, in which the dim-witted road sweeper Trigger gets a medal for saving the council money, thanks to his having used the same broom for 20 years 鈥� with the minor caveat that it has had . Martin therefore suggests the Ship of Theseus Wiki page be described as 鈥渢riggering鈥�.
However, it seems there may be a correct answer. It was identified by Peter Jeffery and Peter Gutfreund (who sounds nice), among others, and it is 鈥渁utological鈥�. An autological word 鈥渆xpresses a property that it also possesses鈥�, according to Wikipedia. Peter Thomson offers some examples of autological words: 鈥溾�榥oun鈥� is a noun, 鈥榮esquipedalian鈥� is sesquipedalian鈥�.
There is some question as to whether autological can be used to describe only individual words, in which case, we can鈥檛 apply it to the entire Wikipedia article. So if 鈥渨e need a distinct word for articles鈥�, says Philip Penton, 鈥渕ay I propose 鈥榓utobroomian鈥�.鈥�
Mairi McKissock also got the answer, and then went deeper. 鈥淒igging into this then led me to the opposite term: heterological (a word that does not describe itself),鈥� she writes. For instance, the word 鈥渕onosyllabic鈥� is distinctly polysyllabic. This, in turn, led Mairi to another paradox, the . She writes: 鈥淚s the word 鈥榟eterological鈥� heterological? If it is, it describes itself, making it autological. If it is not, it does not describe itself, making it heterological.鈥�
And now Feedback鈥檚 head hurts, so let鈥檚 switch gears and dive into another section of our mailbox.
Finding a niche
Less of a deluge and more of a steady trickle, the correspondence also continues about niche science-themed tourist attractions. The standard to beat is a park filled with sculptures of foraminifera or a garden devoted solely to mosses.
Andrew Taubman, who volunteers at the Australian Museum, reports that he and his colleagues are hard at work 鈥渄igitising the vast entomology collection鈥�. Most recently, he helped digitise 鈥渟ignal flies of genus Lamprogaster鈥�. As a benchmark for how obscure these insects are, Lamprogaster doesn鈥檛 have a Wikipedia page. Top marks 鈥� except that Feedback can鈥檛 find an actual exhibit. Likewise, Rosalinda Hardiman鈥檚 鈥渃urated set of beach pebbles鈥�, gathered from years of open-water swimming, is as yet not open to the public: Rosalinda wonders if she should do this, to which Feedback answers in the affirmative.
Also in Australia, Sari Sommarstrom highlights 鈥渢he in Richmond, Tasmania鈥�. The Pooseum, as readers may have inferred, is devoted to animal droppings. Its website notes that it is 鈥渢he only one of its kind in Australia鈥�. It to explain: 鈥淲e like to think of ourselves as poo-ologists, having decided to get to the bottom of the matter. Far from presenting toilet humour [sure about that?], we are on a serious mission to educate visitors about the fascinating world of poo.鈥� Sari says it is 鈥渇ull of fascinating facts as well as humorous鈥�. However, Feedback is concerned that it isn鈥檛 really niche, given how universal defecation is.
Finally, we turn to John Blakey, who identifies not one but two obscure attractions. In the town of Hobro, Denmark, there is the . John regrets that he is 鈥測et to visit鈥�, but explains that the museum 鈥渃oncentrates on the fascinating history of domestic gas production and distribution鈥�.
However, it is John鈥檚 second attraction that now sets the standard: Northern Jutland鈥檚 or 鈥淗ouse of Grain鈥�. He calls it 鈥渁 celebration of everything to do with corn and other cereal grains鈥�, all in a 鈥減urpose-built visitor centre set in the middle of cornfields鈥�.
John says: 鈥淭his one is so obscure that no one has yet dropped a review on TripAdvisor鈥�. Feedback checked and this is sort of true. TripAdvisor has , which indeed has no reviews, but there is a for the museum鈥檚 cafe, which as of mid-May had seven reviews. Make of that what you will.
A priceless chihuahua
Feedback doesn鈥檛 want to get into the habit of name-dropping, but this one comes from Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit author Jeanette Winterson. Browsing Apple News, Winterson clocked yet another use of dogs as a unit of measurement, this one : 鈥淕iant 11,000 carat ruby that weighs as much as a dog鈥�.
Just to drive home how useless this comparison is, English mastiffs can weigh over 100 kilograms, while chihuahuas can be 1 kg. The dog comparison is like saying a building鈥檚 height is somewhere between that of a two-storey house and the Burj Khalifa. Further reading reveals that the gemstone weighs 2.2 kg, so very much at the chihuahua end of the dog scale.
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