A BUTCHER鈥檚 shop may be the last place where you would expect to come across nutty physics theories. Nevertheless, it was at his local butcher鈥檚 in East Sussex, south-east England, that Jeremy Drew and his son picked up a postcard flyer headed 鈥淭achyon energy鈥�. Yes, folks. Tachyons are back, together with their usual baffling claims.
The flyer explained that tachyon energy 鈥渄iffers from other forms of energy in that it is not of the electromagnetic realm鈥�. Quite so. Nor is it of any other realm that we know of, since the particles named tachyons are, as we reminded readers when we first came across this particular form of fruitloopery (9 July 2005), entirely hypothetical and have never been shown to exist.
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Not that the people selling tachyon trinkets at 鈥� as advertised on the flyer from the butcher鈥檚 鈥� seem too bothered about such minor details. Whether tachyons exist or not, 鈥渢he effect of tachyon energy on matter and living systems is unambiguously measurable using appropriate methods鈥�, they assure us. What鈥檚 more, 鈥渋t has become possible to restructure certain materials at the subatomic level in such a way that they permanently attract tachyon energy鈥� like an antenna, tachyon products teleport tachyons from hyperspace and emit them into the surrounding area.鈥� It goes without saying that this energy 鈥減romotes harmony and balance in the body and the environment鈥�.
There is lots more guff on the website about 鈥渮ero-point energy鈥� and 鈥渟ubtle organising energy fields鈥� 鈥� those fantasy concepts so dear to tachyphiles 鈥� before it gets down to the nitty-gritty of marketing baubles like the Tachyon Chakra Set, which consists of seven coloured glass chips and costs 拢59.90.
鈥淰isiting Baltimore City鈥檚 courthouse to obtain a marriage licence, Christoph Lehmann was confronted with a sign reading: 鈥淣o food, drink, radio or clothing is allowed in this building.鈥� He declined to undress鈥�
Perhaps Drew should ask his butcher if he has been 鈥渢achyonising鈥� the meat he sells before he considers buying any.
THIS column expressed surprise on 28 June at the claims by makers of pet foods that their products are not tested on animals. Fancy making pet foods 鈥渨ith no idea whether or not your target animals will like the taste鈥�, we mused.
Helena Telk盲nranta proposes 鈥渁 little addition鈥� to that story. She notes that the manufacturers of Skinner鈥檚 dog food state that 鈥淲e utterly condemn the practice of animal testing鈥� and 鈥渘o animals are used, or tested on, in any way by our company鈥�. However, a quick trawl through the 鈥淥ur products鈥� section of the site reveals that, without exception, the dog foods on offer have among their ingredients chicken and/or 鈥減oultry鈥� and/or duck and/or beef and/or salmon.
鈥淥ne can only wonder,鈥� says Telk盲nranta, 鈥渨hether the company knows something about biology and classification of species that the rest of us don鈥檛.鈥�
RE-RELEASED to mark the centenary of its original publication in 1908, Scouting for Boys by Robert Baden-Powell is fascinating. Besides offering advice on how to milk a goat, how to cheer up someone threatening suicide and how not to fly the Union Jack, it鈥檚 packed with insights into the ills of society.
The author laments the toll alcohol has taken on Britons: 鈥淎 priest in the East End of London has lately stated that out of 1000 cases of distress known to him, only two or three were not caused by drink.鈥� Fast-forward to today鈥檚 outcries about binge drinking in the UK, and it seems things haven鈥檛 changed much.
Or perhaps they have. In another section entitled 鈥淗ow to help in a great national work鈥�, Baden-Powell worries about puniness in the British army: 鈥淚n 1900, 44 men in every 1000 recruits weighed under 7 stone, 12 pounds [50 kilograms]; in 1905 this deficiency had increased to 76 per 1000.鈥� This made Baden-Powell fear the worst for the future of the British Empire: 鈥淥ne cause which contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire was the fact that the soldiers fell away from the standard of their forefathers in bodily strength.鈥�
One hundred years on, we haven鈥檛 lost our taste for looming catastrophe, but it鈥檚 not underweight soldiers we worry about now. Instead, the word we find 鈥渢imebomb鈥� linked to in today鈥檚 decline-of-society stories is 鈥渙besity鈥�.
THANKS to Terence Dunmore for alerting us to a report in the 11 June issue of Professional Engineering about the UK鈥檚 new Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations (WEEE regulations). It warns readers: 鈥淚f you are a producer of WEEE, you must make sure it is disposed of in an environmentally sound manner, including the treatment, reuse, recovery and recycling of components where appropriate.鈥�
Dunmore is puzzled. 鈥淚sn鈥檛 the local sewage department already doing just that?鈥� he asks.
FINALLY, we all know that food production these days has become highly industrialised. Even so, Simon Birstingl was taken aback by a notice he saw in Sainsbury鈥檚 supermarket. It apologised that there were no shallots in stock 鈥渄ue to a lack of raw materials鈥�.