MANY modern customs originated with the ancient Greeks. Now researchers at
the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology have
unearthed another one.
According to a recent issue of Nature, the researchers have been
using molecular techniques to investigate the funeral banquet of Midas, king of
Phrygia around 700 BC鈥攖he man who legend credited with the ability to turn
things into gold. The analysis has revealed that a 鈥渟picy meal of sheep or goat
and pulses was eaten鈥� at the funeral, along with 鈥渁 mixed fermented beverage of
grape wine, barley beer and honey mead鈥�.
Exactly the same culinary tradition as this is enjoyed on Saturday nights by
many in Britain today: several pints of alcoholic brew and a curry.
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AND TALKING of Nature, readers will be aware that we have nothing
but admiration for the magazine. Even so, we can鈥檛 resist recording our
puzzlement over a press release about another recent issue.
One of the papers in the magazine, the release tells us, presents 鈥渢he
complete chloroplast DNA sequence of the microorganism Meostigma viride鈥�.
So far so good, although the name of the species in question, Mesostigma,
has been misspelt. But then the release goes on to say: 鈥淚t is
a record of what may be a living descendant of the common ancestor of all green
algae and land plants.鈥�
What we would like to know is this: can Nature tell us of any of
today鈥檚 green algae and land plants that isn鈥檛 a living descendant of that
common ancestor?
ON THE WALL of a corridor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh there
is a large noticeboard with a prominent sign in the middle saying: 鈥淭his Notice
Board is for Philosophy Only!鈥�
Sadly, when Feedback last passed it, the rest of the board was blank.
ALL AROUND the world there are pilot projects for the use of smart cards as
electronic purses. Their owners can use them on public transport and to pay for
goods and services all over town. A card reader at the point of sale just sucks
the exact payment due from a credit reserve stored inside the card.
And that, Feedback learns from an inside source, is why some service
providers, especially car parks, do not like them. Pay and display machines
issue parking tickets for cash, but they must be bought in advance for a guessed
time period. The machines almost never give change, so the operator creams a
nice profit from drivers who play safe by buying too much time, or who do not
have the exact money and so pay more than they need to. But if a smart card is
used, the payment鈥攚hich would be made on exit from the car
park鈥攚ould be for the exact time used, with no need for change.
If there is a pilot smart card scheme in your area, it is a safe bet that the
car parks will be the last to install card readers. In one recent European trial
the operators only fell into line when the card providers threatened to go
public and expose their no-change scam.
HERE is a very strange e-mail that Richard Row says he received from a
mailing list. With the alarming subject line of 鈥淲arning鈥�, it said: 鈥淭his is an
automatically generated message created by the ListBot system. This is a warning
message to let you know that your mail is bouncing. If this e-mail reaches you,
then please disregard this message.鈥�
In other words, you should only pay attention to the message if you don鈥檛
receive it. Tricky.
THE Sydney branch of Manchester Unity insurance company is nothing if not
optimistic. When reader Bruce Mitchell鈥檚 father died, Mitchell wrote to tell the
company so and to request cancellation of his father鈥檚 membership of its health
fund.
Shortly afterwards, a letter from Manchester Unity addressed to Mitchell鈥檚
father arrived. It notified him that his membership had been cancelled as
requested, thanked him for his past patronage and added: 鈥淪hould you wish to
rejoin the society at a later date, you may contact our customer service
department . . . for the cost of a local call.鈥�
Mitchell wrote back saying: 鈥淲e regret that we are unable to forward this
information to the addressee at this stage.鈥�
OUR note on 12 February about the public understanding of science reminded
Robin Davey of a TV interview he watched a while back. The interviewee, who we
hope was not an engineer, became very animated about the problem of the
deterioration of a particular aqueduct carrying a canal. He said that it was not
built for the extra weight of the new, heavier barges.
HAMPSHIRE reader Mike Ellis tells us he has long enjoyed Hartridge鈥檚
excellent lemonade (it goes particularly well with Pimms, he says).
But he was surprised to notice recently that, according to its label, it no
longer comes in a bottle. Instead it comes in a 鈥淏reakable Glass Container鈥�.