NEXT time you鈥檙e feeling under the weather, don鈥檛 just curse those nasty
microbes. Feedback is alarmed to hear of two further threats to our
wellbeing.
According to a promotional leaflet received by Patricia Ging: 鈥淭he air we
breathe today has 50 per cent less oxygen than the air breathed by our
grandparents.鈥� The leaflet goes on to describe the dire effects of 鈥減artial
oxygen starvation鈥�, including stress, unease, fatigue and a host of other
ailments.
It鈥檚 all very worrying, but fear not, for help is at hand. Thanks to 鈥渟uper
oxygenation technology鈥�, you can obtain 鈥渢he oxygen that your body so
desperately needs鈥� by drinking a glass of water containing a few drops of
OxyPlus solution.
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Despite all its claims (鈥渉ow much more quickly and effectively your immune
system reacts to illness and disease鈥�, and so on), the leaflet admits in small
print that: 鈥淲e do not make any claims that OxyPlus cures or alleviates any
disease. However, many people taking Oxyplus have reported experiencing
noticeable and, in many cases, remarkable results.鈥�
Are they referring to the holes burnt in their pockets?
IF IT IS not a lack of oxygen that鈥檚 making us sick, then it must be an
excess of electricity. At least, that is what the manufacturers of the
Bio-Shield 2000 assert. 鈥淭hroughout the past 20 years man has created a new
hazard to health: `geopathic disturbance鈥�, also known as electronic smog,鈥�
proclaims an advert for the device. The smog allegedly comes from high-voltage
pylons, computers, microwaves, TVs and other electrical gadgets. 鈥淭his
electronic pollution causes the natural body electricity to vibrate at altered
states, causing disruption of the natural electrical fields of the body which
can have devastating ill effects on our health.鈥�
Feedback was disappointed that there is no picture of the Bio-Shield 2000 in
the ad, but was intrigued to learn that it is small enough to 鈥渟lip into a
pocket or purse for absolute silent protection鈥�.
Strangely, the advert omits to mention whether or not the device鈥檚 鈥渓ong-life
microchip driven protection鈥� would contribute to any electronic smog.
WHATEVER you may think, no ambiguity was intended in a press release from the
US Center for the Advancement of Health which announced last week: 鈥淲edding
bells often signal the start of a surge in physical activity for newly married
men and women.鈥�
The study referred to鈥攂y researchers from Stanford University School of
Medicine鈥攚as actually about overall levels of activity rather than the
particular form of activity often associated with newly weds. It tracked 302
women and 256 men over a 10-year period, and found that those who married during
that time initially showed increased levels of physical activity compared with
those who didn鈥檛.
Interestingly, the study also showed that in the run-up to marriage, physical
activity is likely to decrease鈥攑ossibly 鈥渄ue to stress or time
辫谤别蝉蝉耻谤别蝉鈥�.
HAVE YOU ever seen a duck swim backwards? One bird-watcher tells Feedback
that he recently saw not one but ten ducks doing a perfect reverse conga. Our
informant was watching the ducks happily going about their daily business when a
drake suddenly switched to reverse gear. This threw the observer, who mentally
leafed through his knowledge of dabbling duck behaviour to find a precedent, but
without success. Then another got in line with the first and it, too, followed
the original bird in the backwards trajectory.
When eight more birds joined the line, the observer thought he鈥檇 stumbled on
something new to science and excitedly started dreaming about the fame the
ornithological fraternity would bestow upon him. But the excitement quickly
turned to embarrassment when a shadowy figure rose from the reeds and pulled the
line of decoys towards him.
Feedback can only assume that they were very good decoys.
GEOFFREY FENTON wonders if he is alone in expecting that food advertised as
鈥�95 per cent fat-free鈥� will have all the fat in one corner, and the rest without
any.
In reality, of course, none of the food is fat-free, so Fenton suggests that
the claim is a dishonest one鈥攂ut it sounds a lot better than 鈥�5 per cent
蹿补迟鈥�.
He does have a point. After all, you wouldn鈥檛 expect a 5 per cent solution of
sulphuric acid to be sold as 鈥�95 per cent acid-free鈥�.
AN ARTICLE about the world鈥檚 most important inventions in a recent edition of
The Ottawa Citizen inspired Richard Turle to write in with an
intriguing question.
Top of the list, he reports, was the invention of printing, a judgment many
might concur with. More controversial, however, was the high ranking given to
the invention of canning, which apparently occurred in 1812.
But what puzzles Turle is that the article went on to note that the can
opener was not invented until 1895.
Can anyone tell an equally perplexed Feedback what happened to all the
unopened cans from 1812 to 1895?
NEVER let it be said that Tesco does not care about the wellbeing of any
troubled souls among those who patronise its supermarkets. The instruction on
the PhotoVision booth in Andy Dickinson鈥檚 local store in Trowbridge, Wiltshire
says: 鈥淩e-take your picture until you are happy.鈥�
FINALLY, thanks to those readers who have pointed out the appropriateness of
the 鈥渄istance-learning course鈥� run by John Moores University in Liverpool. The
subject of the course currently being advertised is astronomy.