IS THE number of 鈥渟cience projects鈥� in your fridge about to increase? The says that鈥檚 a euphemism for the ancient cheeses and so on that have evolved their own advanced biological communities.
Some people have none of these, religiously tossing out anything past its 鈥渟ell by鈥� date. Others pick off most of the visible mould and tuck in, or sniff, or cautiously taste.
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Last month the UK government to drop or hide 鈥渟ell by鈥� dates. According to the UK鈥檚 (WRAP), British consumers needlessly dump 5.3 million tonnes of food every year, and this move is supposed to reduce that. Anecdotal evidence from one colleague supports this. Her mother 鈥渉as a pathological fear of food and actually enjoys trashing it鈥�, the 鈥渟ell by鈥� date providing a convenient excuse.
鈥淏est before鈥� or 鈥渦se by鈥� dates remain required by law: the former when it just won鈥檛 be quite so wonderful, as with jam that has gone a bit crunchy, and 鈥渦se by鈥� when it could kill you.
But surely, a colleague protests, this whole date business is unworkable nanny-state claptrap. People should just be taught how to sniff meat, float eggs, and perform other folkloric tests to see if the ageing contents of their fridges are edible.
If it were that easy, we suspect wouldn鈥檛 kill 500 people and hospitalise another 20,000 a year in the UK.
鈥淭he sniff test is a myth,鈥� says Andrew Wadge, the chief scientist at the UK Food Standards Agency at . He points out that you can鈥檛 smell botulism or salmonella.
Turning 40 yards into 20 yards
THE offer Paul Rosenbaum received from Nature鈥檚 Finest Nutrition company told him: 鈥淩ecent studies show that using nutritional supplements can maximise workouts, allowing exercisers to run the 40-yard dash in only 20 yards.鈥�
Paul is wondering if this ability to shorten distances can be applied in other spheres, such as interplanetary spacecraft, since current distances between planetary bodies severely limit the possibilities of space travel.
The film star and the sci fi headset
THE organisers of the giant IFA electronics show held annually in Berlin, Germany, introduced a new online press registration system for this year鈥檚 event. Even some of the organising team admitted they did not understand how to submit an application.
鈥淭o Roger Plenty鈥檚 surprise, The Independent鈥榮 article about giant crabs in the Antarctic stated: 鈥淎 team led by Dr Craig Smith鈥� found the crabs using a remotely operated submersible鈥�
The net result was that every journalist at the show was walking around with a 鈥減ersonal, non-transferable鈥� user-printed badge that showed the same ID picture of the same unnamed lady. And because the badges had often been printed on home printers with less than perfect paper, the barcode readers at the show gates and booths had difficulty reading them.
Last year at IFA, Sony launched a rival to iTunes with the name Qriocity which few people could spell or pronounce. The highlight this year was a 3D video headset that looks like a sci-fi brain machine.
The headset plugs into the mains and balances on the wearer鈥檚 nose with a strap round the head to immerse the viewer in 3D sight and sound. Feedback tried a pair and wholeheartedly agrees with the 鈥渦nrepentantly uncomfortable鈥� verdict of one online review site.
The irony is that this strange device clearly grew out of the lab prototype that actor Tom Hanks mocked when he was booked by Sony to praise the company at an electronics show in the US in 2009.
鈥淥h look, they鈥檙e so cool and hip 鈥� you mean they are going to get even better than they are now?鈥� Hanks teased Sony鈥檚 boss Howard Stringer when he tried on the headset.
Maybe Sony should have listened to Hanks 鈥� and if they want to they still can, as the 鈥淗anks headset鈥� video clip is still scoring hits on YouTube at .
10,000 years of polar exploration
MOST people believe that Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole 100 years ago this year. But not Extreme World Races, David Rootes has discovered. According to the EWR website at , by becoming one of the EWR鈥檚 鈥減olar elite鈥�, you could have the chance to 鈥渨in a place and join the EWR team as a driver in support of the 100th Centenary race to the South Pole鈥�.
So Scott and Amundsen actually reached the pole 10,000 years ago. Not many people know that.
FINALLY, 鈥淪chool Bus Turning鈥� and 鈥�60鈥� say two road-signs, one above the other, in the photo Bob Salthouse sends us from Southern Queensland, Australia.
We can only respond to their combined message by wishing the bus a very happy birthday!