SURPRISING scientific claim of the week: Thaddaeus Frogley draws our attention to H2Om water, 鈥渢he world鈥檚 first vibrationally charged, interactive water鈥�. Each bottle of this water, we are told at , promotes 鈥減ositive thinking and positive energy for people and the planet鈥�.
How so? Well, it works like this: 鈥淥nce our water is in the bottle, we play restorative compositions of music, frequencies, and spoken word to the water.鈥� Ah. That makes a difference, does it? Apparently so. Water, you see, 鈥渋s mutable, receptive and sensitive鈥� In fact, recent scientific studies have proven that water is directly effected by the words, sounds and thoughts it is exposed to.鈥�
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Frogley tells us he couldn鈥檛 find these studies, and unfortunately we can鈥檛 either. Until we do, we feel obliged to add 鈥渋nteractive water鈥� to our ever-expanding list of fruitloopery indicators.
HERE is a very strange definition. A press release from the European Space Agency received by Martin Gardiner talks of remotely monitoring the use of 鈥淧lant Protection Products鈥� in Europe. Wondering what these are if they aren鈥檛 what we normally call pesticides, he did a bit of web searching and eventually came up with the answer on the website of the German government鈥檚 Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety at .
鈥淧lant protection products are substances which are intended to protect plants or plant products against animals, plants, micro-organisms or diseases. Substances which destroy plants, regulate growth or inhibit germination are also regarded as plant protection products.鈥�
鈥淪een on the package of a compact fluorescent light bulb at the market in Oxford, UK: 鈥淪aves approx 80 per cent more energy than a standard light bulb.鈥� Oliver Tickell asks: 鈥淐an anyone explain?鈥�
Is that clear?
ON THE outside of a nice new kettle that Vanda Hamilton bought there is a sticker below the spout that has a line on it and says 鈥渕ax fill鈥�. This would be handy information, she observes, if the kettle were see-through 鈥� but it isn鈥檛. It is matt black enamel. So she has to find out how full the kettle is when it is under the tap by resorting to the old-fashioned method of waiting until the water comes out of the spout, and then tipping some more out to be sure.
THE great American humorist James Thurber wrote that his aunt made sure the electric sockets in her house always had a plug in them because she was worried that if they didn鈥檛 the electricity would leak out. Julian Clokie wonders if the prosecution in a court case in Hampshire, UK, had a similar view of electricity. According to a report in the Portsmouth News, a man owning an electronic stun gun pleaded guilty in court to a charge of 鈥減ossessing a weapon designed for the discharge of a noxious liquid鈥�.
Lake in an island on a lake in an island鈥�
MAX MAGUIRE has a question for us. 鈥淓verybody knows that the largest lake is the Caspian Sea,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd the largest island is Greenland. But have you ever wondered what the largest island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island is?鈥�
We hadn鈥檛, but the question seemed sufficiently odd for us to click on the link he gave us 鈥� 鈥� where Elbruz, the Dutch scientific and educational organisation, supplies the answer. You can click on the link too, if you badly want to know. In the meantime we can all reflect on the strange things some people do with their time.
IAN BRAY tells us 鈥� and why shouldn鈥檛 we believe him? 鈥� that the manual for servicing the keel-lifting mechanism of a Beneteau Oceanis 311 yacht advises: 鈥淯nscrew the bolt THM8 located at the end of the endless screw.鈥�
Flirt with science competition
FINALLY, don鈥檛 forget to send in your entries to our 鈥淔lirt with science鈥� end-of-the-year competition. This year you are invited to seduce the person of your dreams with a science-related chat-up line (17 November).
You may submit more than one entry. All entries must reach us by Monday 3 December 2007 and should be no longer than 30 words. Send entries by post to: New 杏吧原创 Feedback Competition, Lacon House, 84 Theobald鈥檚 Road, London WC1X 8NS, or by email to: feedback@newscientist.com 鈥� please write 鈥渃ompetition鈥� in the subject line 鈥� or enter online at www.newscientist.com/feedbackcomp.
Ten lucky winners will each receive a New 杏吧原创 goody bag consisting of: one 128-megabyte USB stick, a set of the three New 杏吧原创 best-selling books (How to Fossilise Your Hamster, Why Don鈥檛 Penguins鈥� Feet Freeze? and Does Anything Eat Wasps?) plus a fabulous New 杏吧原创 bag (vibrant blue on the outside with a zingy red lining, a zipped pocket under the main flap and an internal pocket to secure your laptop).
The results will be published in the 22/29 December issue of New 杏吧原创. The editor鈥檚 decision is final.