PARANOID observation of the week comes to us from Russia, courtesy of Jeff Clarke, who uncovered it at the .
Operating on the principle that readers鈥� comments on news events can be more interesting than the coverage of the news itself, Jeff turned to what RT鈥檚 readers had to say about the cataclysmic meteorite event at Chelyabinsk on 15 February.
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The not-untypical comment he draws our attention to is: 鈥淓urope is to blame. They鈥檙e using all those wind farms they are building to blow the planet off course, and deliberately tried to make Earth collide with this meteorite whilst it was over Russia.鈥�
Tesco鈥檚 supermarket sold Alan Trusler a packet of 鈥渕icro oats鈥� with the stipulation 鈥渦se by Jan 10 9020鈥�. Nice to see such business confidence in the future
MEANWHILE, Feedback鈥檚 award for the week鈥檚 least surprising headline goes to the Wiley Science Newsroom. Its press release on a recent paper in The Journal of Sexual Medicine (vol 10, p 474) makes the shock announcement: 鈥淣ew Study Reveals Sex to be Pleasurable With or Without Use of a Condom or Lubricant.鈥�
THE revelation that horsemeat has been found in processed foods on sale in the UK and other European countries has led to some hasty mugging up on science by those who see part of their job as reassuring the public.
Sometimes it has been too hasty. John Arthur reports a message from his son鈥檚 school taken from the Vale of Glamorgan council website: 鈥淰ale Council ensures food safety standards: the Council has confirmed 鈥楴o traces of DNA have been found in food supplied by the Vale Council鈥檚 Catering Service鈥�.鈥�
鈥淪o what were they feeding the children?鈥� John wondered.
Since then, further mugging up on science must have taken place: the council has amended its website.
WATER from the purifier that Colin Robertson saw advertised in a shop window in Bayswater, west London, is, apparently, 鈥淎lkaline and hydrogen-rich with antioxidant properties!鈥� Feedback asked round the office: 鈥淚s there a chemist in the house?鈥� and of course there was: she confirmed that if the water were hydrogen-rich it would be acid, not alkaline 鈥� although this could indeed mean that it was antioxidant.
A philosopher interjects: things that are true only by accident don鈥檛 count as knowledge.
THANKS to for telling us the cost per unit weight of the Irwin spanners it is selling, such as 鈥溌�48.17/kg鈥� or 鈥溌�1.93/oz鈥�. But, Ed Kiernan wants to know, why are some listed in pounds sterling per ounce and others in pounds sterling per kilo? Surely, dollars per ounce and euros per kilo would be more consistent?
THE packaging of the that Steve Midgley bought for his car had him 鈥渂affled鈥�. A panel on one side of the pack promises 鈥淯p to 100%鈥�, with a design above it that resembles an hourglass. However, as the scan of the pack Steve sends us confirms, it doesn鈥檛 say 鈥渦p to 100%鈥� of what. The statement is just there, on its own, with no reference to any kind of meaning鈥�
THE satellite navigation gizmo in the photo Perry Bebbington sends from his car instructs him to turn both left and right. Perhaps it was confused by the location: Nine Corners, in Nottinghamshire, UK. Or perhaps, as Perry suggests, it is looking forward to future quantum engineering in the automotive industry.
鈥淭WO megawatt hand-held lasers have been seized from people pointing them at a police helicopter in London鈥� 鈥� or so Julian Ball attests he heard the London Tonight ITV news programme report on 5 February. He suggests the Ministry of Defence would want to get there first 鈥� such a laser 鈥渨ould at the very least have sliced the helicopter in half鈥�.
THE poster on display in Sainsbury鈥檚 supermarket in Shorehead, Yorkshire, UK, stated: 鈥淎ll our chickens are 100% British.鈥�
鈥淚 suppose at rival supermarkets the legs are British,鈥� suggests Roger Denison, 鈥渂ut the rest of each chicken is sourced from other countries in the EU.鈥�
FINALLY, Guy Cox writes to thank us for publishing an item about the mental pain he experienced trying to respond to a recursive email from a colleague (16 February). He takes the opportunity to comment on another item we published in the same column about 5-year-old Ethan Tapsell鈥檚 conversation with his father on infinity.
鈥淲hen my son Cassian was three we had a very similar conversation,鈥� Guy says. He explains that to understand what follows you have to think in a 3-year-old鈥檚 voice, in which 鈥渢h鈥� and 鈥渇鈥� are pretty much indistinguishable.
鈥淚 know a bigger number than inthinity,鈥� Cassian announced.