THE WORLD still waits, with bated breath, to know whether 2003 UB313, the object larger and farther away than Pluto whose discovery was revealed at the end of July, ends up as a planet or a mere Kuiper belt object, and what it will be called. Meanwhile, several colleagues have alerted us to the claim at that 鈥淎n Illinois man has added fuel to a furious astronomical debate by officially applying to the International Astronomical Union for status as a planet.鈥�
We suspect that the site may, possibly, be satirical, but we appreciate the writer鈥檚 grasp of the problem. 鈥淭here isn鈥檛 a good definition of what constitutes a planet,鈥� says Gerald Finkelschmidt. 鈥淚鈥檝e put on a few pounds these past couple of years, but I鈥檓 clearly below the limiting mass for thermonuclear fusion鈥� And I orbit the sun, obviously. So technically, I qualify.鈥�
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IN scientific journals, 鈥淢aterials and methods鈥� should always be written fully and precisely so that other researchers can replicate the work. Liz Hirst points us to a model example of this in the journal Blood (vol 104, p 1397) in a paper on lymphocyte microvillar properties.
The paragraph on scanning electron microscopy in the 鈥淢aterials and methods鈥� section tell us: 鈥淭his drop of cells was placed on top of a 5 millimetre round acid-washed glass coverslip (EM Sciences) previously coated with 0.1 per cent poly-L-lysine (>300,000 molecular weight [MW]; Sigma, St Louis, MO). After 30 minutes (while serenaded by a selection of baritone arias), cells on the coverslip were treated with a 0.5 fixative for 30 minutes鈥︹��
鈥淎 notice Marie Rabouhans came across on park gates in Richmond, on the outskirts of London, told her enigmatically: 鈥淭hese gates will close 陆 hour before closing time鈥濃��
A HUGE number of readers responded to our call for a word for a word that describes itself (10 September). Several pointed to the Wikipedia page , which provides a word for such words and gives a list of them.
However, Wikipedia restricts its definition of 鈥渁utological鈥� to adjectives only, such as 鈥渟hort鈥� and 鈥減olysyllabic鈥�, both of which are what they mean. It notes that these are in contrast to adjectives such as 鈥渓ong鈥� and 鈥渕onosyllabic鈥�, which are not what they mean and are therefore 鈥渉eterological鈥�.
It then goes on to a discussion of the Grelling-Nelson paradox, which asks whether 鈥渉eterological鈥� is autological or heterological, and concludes that it is both. This discussion hurts Feedback鈥檚 head 鈥� just as it once hurt Bertrand Russell鈥檚 head 鈥� but, more importantly in this context, what we want to know is: where do Wikipedia鈥檚 definitions leave 鈥渨ord鈥�, which is undeniably a word, as many readers have pointed out, but is a noun, not an adjective?
John Steele points us to , which includes nouns in its definition of 鈥渁utological鈥� and lists them. But Corey Kosak and Elizabeth Swinbank both suggest that 鈥渨ord鈥� is actually an 鈥渁utonym鈥�, and they have weighty online support for this at . Pam Lunn, meanwhile, suggests 鈥渁utonominative鈥�, which, as well as being an example of itself, appears to be an original coinage. And several readers came up with 鈥渟elf-referential鈥�.
As to examples of whatever-we-call-it, readers seemed to particular enjoy the grey areas. Dennis During points out that when it was invented, 鈥渋nvention鈥� was autological/an autonym/autonominative/self-referential 鈥� but for how long? Several readers also point out that 鈥淭LA鈥� (three letter acronym) ought to qualify even though it isn鈥檛 a word. Others observe that 鈥渂lack鈥� and 鈥渨ritten鈥� sometimes are and sometimes aren鈥檛, and Grant Hutchison was just the first of many readers to suggest examples like 鈥渕ispelled鈥�.
Most confusing of all, it occurred to Malcolm Winterburn when he was shaving (when else?) that the word 鈥渉ere鈥� is here when it is here, but there when it is not here, while 鈥渢here鈥� is there when it is there, but here when it is not there. At which point Feedback鈥檚 head starts hurting again, so we declare: 鈥淓nough!鈥�
WE haven鈥檛 finished with words, though. Owen Lorian points out that though 鈥減alindrome鈥� is not a palindrome, as we said on 10 September, 鈥渆mordnilap鈥� is a word 鈥� at least according to you-know-what search engine, which reported 2240 occurrences when Owen looked and 815 when we did (look now, while emordnilaps last!). One of those is which lists many, many words that are other words reversed, from 鈥渁but鈥�/鈥漷uba鈥� via 鈥済ulp鈥�/鈥漰lug鈥� and 鈥減aws鈥�/鈥漵wap鈥� to 鈥測ob鈥�/鈥漛oy鈥�. If you find more, tell the site owner.
AND the last word on words for now, Hal Koun offered this as a polyontologia (see 24 September). It isn鈥檛, and we don鈥檛 know what it is (and nor do we want to know). But we liked it enough to pass on the fact that his architect, obsessed with intricate assemblages of buildings, would have a complex complex complex.