FEEDBACK will not inquire why Roger Key started to read an elderly copy of the Daily Mail newspaper used, he says, for packaging. We are only grateful for the wonderful advert he sends, for seeds of the 鈥淭omazing鈥� tomato, promising both 鈥渟weetness without the calories鈥� and 鈥渉igh sugar content鈥�.
More remarkable than the product, though, is its genesis: 鈥渁 remarkable breeding success story based on traditional methods not genetics鈥�. So on what was it based? Animal sacrifice, giving the seedlings a good talking-to, or what?
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THE IonMax reading light 鈥渋s perfect for those who need to focus on what they鈥檙e doing 鈥� it actually helps you to concentrate!鈥� How does it do that, then? Unfortunately Raoul Murfitt was left speechless by 鈥� so it鈥檚 down to Feedback to work out what鈥檚 going on.
The light 鈥渇eatures a compact built-in Anion-Generating ioniser in the base of the lamp that generates thousands of anions, which are great for your health and wellbeing.鈥� Er, yes. Anions. They鈥檙e not actually that hard to come by. Your average pinch of salt, for example, contains approximately 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (1022) anions.
Which suggests to Feedback that 鈥渢housands鈥� is the sort of number of anions that would wander off by accident from, say, the first micrometre of ink drying on the cheque for A$139.95 you are paying for the lamp. Then you tear up the cheque, your health and concentration already improved.
鈥溾�滻t is dangerous to cross this bridge when this notice is underwater鈥� 鈥� David Purchase swears he really did see this sign on New Zealand鈥檚 South Island about 20 years ago鈥�
COMIC Sans, the much-hated typeface, has a use, apparently. Imogen Sykes responds to Feedback鈥檚 mention of campaigns against it (24 June), reporting that teachers of young children in the UK are encouraged to print material in a font in which the lower-case 鈥渁鈥� is drawn in the same way as children are taught to write it 鈥� without that curl at the top 鈥� which is the case for Comic Sans.
Helvetica Textbook is a proper typeface also with that feature. Unfortunately it wasn鈥檛 installed on Imogen鈥檚 machine. We are grateful to her for tracking down two other fonts, Berlin Sans FB and Coronet, that may be installed easily and also have the handwriting-style 鈥渁鈥�.
None of this, however, provides any excuse for the University of Southampton examination paper sent in by a reader who would understandably rather remain anonymous. It is printed in a curly-wurly font called Blechh. And it was a physics exam, not the infantile studies or jelly-and-custardology that the appearance of the font would suggest.
THE idea of running things off water has an enduring appeal, it seems. Philip Ball reports that a chemist friend recently saw a 鈥渨ater-powered鈥� calculator on sale 鈥� in the shop at London鈥檚 Science Museum.
Tracking it down online, he found it also for sale at 鈥� with the claim that 鈥淭he hydrogen required to power a fuel cell has to come from somewhere, and water (H2O) is one possible source. The hydrogen and oxygen in water can be separated from one another through a process called water electrolysis, which you can do with this simple classroom experiment.鈥�
Or perhaps not. Digging a little further, we find confessing that they have no idea how it works, and a user of replying: 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a battery, it looks a little bit different鈥� it is powered by a dissolving hunk of zinc.鈥�
So you pays your money and you chooses your belief system, depending on where you pays it.
THE Gunwharf Quays shopping centre in Portsmouth Harbour in southern England is running radio adverts which, Jon Grove insists, promote the seafront location as a place to take 鈥渁 couple of deep breaths of pure ozone鈥�. He thinks he鈥檒l stick with his local shops and preserve his alveoli.
THE instruction sheet for the Crate & Barrel shelving unit Taz Daughtrey had just unpacked contained crucial information on how it was to be put together: 鈥淣ote: people are required to safely assemble this product.鈥�
Something of a disappointment, no doubt, for those who hope to leave the whole thing to natural selection.
FINALLY 鈥� or perhaps not 鈥� John Hamm, the premier of Nova Scotia, Canada, gave CAN$1.5 million to boatbuilders to encourage them to maintain their traditional activities. The announcement was much appreciated by a member of the state鈥檚 legislative assembly, Carolyn Bolivar-Getson, who was reported by the Chester Clipper newspaper as saying that 鈥渁side from the economic spin-off, increased boat-building also contributed to the region鈥檚 seafaring past鈥�.
Sifford Pearre, who spotted this, concludes that: 鈥淎 little good you do today can reap great benefits yesterday.鈥� And if readers in Nova Scotia think they saw this story some years ago鈥� that just proves the point, doesn鈥檛 it?