HERE鈥檚 a question that has split the New 杏吧原创 London office down the middle. Perry Bebbington writes: 鈥淚鈥檝e noticed there seem to be pretend wind generators springing up at business and retail parks. At first glance they look like genuine wind generators, but what gives them away is they always turn at the same speed, even when there is no wind. Who are these companies who are pretending to be green when they are nothing of the sort?鈥�
We consulted our colleagues about Bebbington鈥檚 thesis. Several dismissed the idea out of hand, saying that to build and run pretend wind generators would be too expensive and too much trouble to be worth the bother. Others thought the idea was all too possible, comparing it to those shops and bars that falsely claim to have CCTV cameras installed. A similar split can be found on a blog on the topic at .
Advertisement
Can any Feedback reader supply definitive evidence to confirm Bebbington鈥檚 suspicions? If so, please email us or post your comments on this week鈥檚 Feedback page at www.newscientist.com.
Meanwhile, let the last word for now go to one of our colleagues who commented: 鈥淲hat next? Fleets of pretend Toyota Priuses that are really Porsches?鈥�
鈥淲hen Judy Castelino took a flight in a nine-seater plane from Invercargill to Stewart Island in New Zealand, she was relieved to read the notice stating: 鈥淭he minimum flight crew is one pilot鈥濃��
HEARING that Rhonda Lenair, a 鈥渕edical intuitive鈥�, charges in the region of $1000 per hour for her services, Alex Gordon-Brander was sufficiently intrigued to visit her website at . There he found that although half an hour on the phone with Lenair , this does not equate to the exorbitant $990-per-hour rate you might imagine. 鈥淩honda鈥檚 30-minute consult is very concentrated time 鈥� a half hour is equivalent to about 3陆 hours,鈥� the site tells us. At this rate, Gordon-Brander notes, she is only charging a more modest $141 per hour.
鈥淭his time-compression technology opens all kinds of possibilities,鈥� Gordon-Brander suggests, and goes on to envisage this scenario:
Plumber: 鈥淚鈥檒l be finished in an hour.鈥�
Client: 鈥淗ow much will it cost?鈥�
Plumber: 鈥�$50 for the parts and I charge $50 an hour for labour.鈥�
Client: 鈥淕reat, go ahead.鈥�
One hour passes鈥�
Plumber: 鈥淭hat鈥檒l be $10,000.鈥�
Client: 鈥淲HAT?鈥�
Plumber: 鈥淪orry pal, I had to concentrate time while working on your spigot valve.鈥�
TAKING the view that saving resources is generally a good thing, Robert Howard proposes a campaign to cut down the verbiage on public signs. Many of the words they use are unnecessary, he suggests, and gives the example of an automatic traffic barrier at his workplace that has a sign beside it saying, 鈥淒o not walk under the barrier if open or closed.鈥�
鈥淎ssuming,鈥� Howard says, 鈥渢hat it is also not safe to walk under it when the barrier is at some point between these two states, wouldn鈥檛 it be more efficient to state 鈥榙o not walk under the barrier鈥�? By being more succinct on our notices we would save valuable materials.鈥�
He gives another example seen at King鈥檚 Cross station in London, where there is a huge wooden sign saying: 鈥淔or Tickets to Cambridge and all other destinations.鈥�
鈥淪hortening this to 鈥楾ickets鈥� might have saved a whole tree,鈥� Howard suggests. 鈥淎nd, incidentally, what鈥檚 so special about Cambridge?鈥�
COUNTLESS clinical trials of new drugs have compared the supposed cure with a placebo to see if the drug really is effective 鈥� but what did the people getting the placebo actually swallow? Jennifer Buettner, an American 鈥渕ommy鈥�, as she describes herself, learned to her dismay there was no recognised, standardised placebo available anywhere in the world. So she developed a 鈥減harmaceutical grade placebo鈥�, gave it a clever name 鈥� 鈥� and is now selling it over the internet.
It contains dextrose and natural cherry flavour and is guaranteed to be inert. Who might want to buy Obecalp? Buettner is hoping paediatricians will. 鈥淚 was amazed to learn of the massive over-prescribing and lack of efficacy in children鈥檚 drugs,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hy, when drugs are not needed, couldn鈥檛 children, adults and seniors be given a placebo by their medical authority figure instead?鈥� Obecalp, she concludes, 鈥渇ills the gap when medicine is not needed but children need something more than a kiss to make them feel better鈥�.
FINALLY, the Meta Thatcham MC1 motorbike alarm spotted by Mike Sands at apparently comes with an unexpected bonus. According to the website, the makers have 鈥渆xtended our free 鈥榣ifetime guarantee鈥� on this product鈥�. Sands wonders if this means the company expects its product to be useable in the afterlife. If not, what does it mean?