Competition: what Darwin didn鈥檛 say
THIS week, as we approach the 200th anniversary of Darwin鈥檚 birth, Feedback invites readers to provide 50 words on the thought-provoking theme of: 鈥淭hings you would never have heard Charles Darwin say about evolution.鈥� The editors will reward what we judge the wittiest non-Darwinism with the framed original of the beautiful artwork in 鈥淯prooting Darwin鈥檚 tree鈥� on page 31 of this issue, signed by the artist Yulia Brodskaya.
You may enter the competition by email 鈥� with the subject line 鈥淒arwin Competition鈥�, please 鈥� or by fax or post or by going to www.newscientist.com/article/dn16399. The competition closes on Monday 16 February. The winning entry and the best runners up will be published in the 7 March issue of New 杏吧原创.
Advertisement
Please read the Terms and Conditions before entering.
THE recording world, Feedback reported three years ago, has been split over 鈥渁ccidental stereo鈥� (18 March 2006). In the old vinyl days, it was standard practice to cut two blank wax discs at the same time, in case one was a dud. Usually the two discs were fed from the same microphone, but if two microphones were used, the two discs would have accidentally captured stereo 鈥� or so some engineers claimed.
Others disagreed vigorously, so much so that EMI鈥檚 planned 1992 UK release of an accidental stereo recording of Elgar鈥檚 The Kingdom: Prelude was abandoned. A later 鈥渟tereo鈥� release by UK independent record label Naxos of the same composer鈥檚 Cockaigne Overture failed to resolve the issue, as professionals who listened to it clashed over whether it really was in stereo.
Now the argument has started all over again. A few years ago in the US, Sony Music found a stash of originals by Leopold Stokowski and his All-American Youth Orchestra that had been recorded in 1941. The discs were in pairs marked L and R rather than the usual A and B, and when the Sony engineers listened, they were sure they were hearing real left and right stereo. But Sony then merged with BMG and laid off the people planning to release CDs of 鈥淪tokie in stereo鈥�.
Refusing to let the matter rest there, the Leopold Stokowski Society managed, after a long battle, to get clearance to release those recordings of Wagner鈥檚 Ride of the Valkyries and Mendelssohn鈥檚 Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream in 鈥渟tereo鈥�. Edward Johnson writes in the latest issue of the society鈥檚 journal: 鈥淣ay-saying listeners can now explain how such vivid instrumental separation can be obtained from one mono source.鈥�
Let fresh battle commence.
SEATED and with a few moments to spare, Dan Barrett tells us, he found himself reading the packaging of some Andrex toilet paper, as one does. He learned that it contained eight rolls of 2-ply tissue. Fair enough, he thought 鈥� but it went on to tell him that there was an average of 360 sheets per roll, that average sheet size was 124 脳 110 millimetres and that average roll length was 44.64 metres. This, he thought, was getting a bit silly 鈥� but the clincher, which applied to the entire pack, was: 鈥淎verage total area 39.28 square metres.鈥�
鈥淎re others finding a use for the product that I don鈥檛 know about, such as wallpapering?鈥� he wonders. 鈥淎nd why are they not using a more standard unit of measurement, such as the football field?鈥�
WITH the recent holiday period still fresh in his mind, Daniel Livingstone calls our attention to a UK broadcast in the run-up to Christmas on BBC Radio 1鈥檚 Newsbeat. In it, Rachel Vreeman and Aaron Carroll of the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, 鈥�, after which Newsbeat promptly proceeded to drift into mythological territory of its own.
One of the debunked myths was the popular belief that 鈥渕ost body heat is lost through the head鈥�. This, it transpires, is simply not true, but Newsbeat inadvisedly went on to 鈥減rove鈥� it by suggesting that wearing a woolly hat in winter has no effect. The programme sent two subjects to stand in the cold, one wearing a Santa hat and one with a bare head. After a while, thermometers were used to measure their body temperatures. The reporter announced with satisfaction that both temperatures were the same, in the apparent belief that this proved no heat had been lost by the person with the bare head.
In fact, of course, losing heat from any part of your body won鈥檛 usually affect your core temperature 鈥� but the more heat you lose, whether from your head or anywhere else, the more energy your body has to use to keep its thermostat up. Livingstone hopes that no Antarctic explorers were listening to this broadcast.
鈥淎rms full, Andy Thomson approached the sliding doors in a London store. When they didn鈥檛 open, he noticed a sign beside them saying: 鈥淐ustomers should use push buttons to open automatic doors鈥濃��
FINALLY, Ian Dearing tells us that just before Christmas he received a message with the subject line: 鈥淚mportant Message from Santa.鈥� Imagine his disappointment when he opened the message to find it was from a bank and its full title was: 鈥淚mportant Message from Santander Group.鈥�