Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more
How to unwind your DNA
A PERSON called Sara from an organisation called the Institute of HeartMath seems to know something that the rest of the scientific world doesn鈥檛. Geraldine Goon directs us to in the online publication Care2 entitled 鈥淐an You Change Your DNA?鈥� The answer, Sara seems to think, is: 鈥淵es, you can鈥�.
鈥淚nstitute of HeartMath researchers,鈥� she tells us, 鈥渇ound evidence that the physical nature of DNA strands can change with heart-focused intention.鈥� Indeed, one individual in their experiment became able to 鈥渦nwind鈥� two 鈥淒NA samples鈥�.
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Sara goes on to quote the researchers鈥� report, which assures us that 鈥渢he results provide experimental evidence to support the hypothesis that aspects of the DNA molecule can be altered through intentionality鈥�. It concludes: 鈥淚ndividuals capable of generating higher ratios of heart coherence were able to alter DNA conformation鈥︹��
Our suspicion that this is all fruitloopery is reinforced by the words at the bottom of the page announcing what the subsequent chapter in Sara鈥檚 essay is about: 鈥淣ext 鈥� quantum nutrients.鈥�
The Kleo Tanning & Nail Studio in the London suburb of Putney promises us 鈥淐rystal Clear Oxygen鈥�. 鈥淎s opposed to the other kind?鈥� asks Andrew Cartmel
Science journal scams鈥�
OPEN access publishing sounds like a good idea: everyone can read research results without paying the subscriptions or per-article fees charged by traditional journal publishers. But someone has to pay. In many open access schemes, that someone is the researcher, whose livelihood depends on being published somewhere. This harsh economic reality has not escaped the attention of scammers.
Mark Tasker points us to the New Ground Research Journal of Scientific Research and Articles, 鈥渁 peer-reviewed, international multi-disciplinary, open access journal鈥�. A moment鈥檚 that the internet name is registered in Lagos, Nigeria 鈥� a city which will, sadly, face an uphill struggle to become a trusted centre of science publishing, following the worldwide plague of so-called 鈥淣igerian鈥� scams.
Meanwhile, Pennie Quinton came across the oddly titled Wudpecker Journal of Public Administration, which includes the Journal of Scientific Research and Reviews. The owner of prefers to .
Perhaps readers would like to repeat the experiment carried out by Philip Davis of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, who submitted a paper 鈥渨ritten鈥� by a computer program to The Open Information Science Journal 鈥� which accepted it, then invoiced Davis for a mere $800 publication fee (15 August, 2009).
One line of defence for those tempted by offers of easy publication is to do what we have done here: ask to find out the name of the owner of the journal鈥檚 website.
鈥nd science journal shams
POSSIBLE scams involving open access publishing (above) look positively tame compared to a story in the journal Nature that a colleague alerts us to. The report at says that scammers have impersonated the websites of actual journals and collected fees from 鈥渉undreds鈥� of researchers.
A friend of Feedback who manages websites checked out one victim of scamming in the report 鈥� Wulfenia, an internationally recognised biology journal published in Carinthia, Austria. Said friend found the fine points of the visual design of the fake website indefinably whiffy, use of 鈥渕ultidisciplinary鈥� in the name smelly, and the fact that a reveals the website to be registered anonymously, absolutely stinky.
The real journal is at the less memorable:
Tweets before Twitter
UNDER the heading 鈥淲ell ahead of the curve鈥�, William Bains sends us a screenshot of the website of , a company that develops remote health monitoring systems under the slogan 鈥淯nbounded healthcare鈥�. On the site鈥檚 landing page is the heading 鈥淟ATEST TWEET鈥� followed by the information: 鈥渁bout 15897 days ago.鈥�
鈥淗ere is a company that was on Twitter 43 years ago,鈥� William observes. They were indeed well ahead鈥�
Use your forgotten password
CLOTHING firm Cotton Traders sent Rodney Bryant this 鈥渃lassic鈥� contradictory instruction: 鈥淵our Password: your unique password is only known by you. If you forget your password or want to change it simply sign into 鈥楳y Account鈥� online. You鈥檒l need your email and password each time you sign into .鈥�
Bed鈥檚 unusual gravity
THE with Travel Bag at Argos has an unusual feature, spotted by Grant Denkinson: 鈥淭his bed offers a higher level of gravity, ideal for those who struggle with getting in and out of bed.鈥�
It probably takes a lot of mental agility to work out what this means. So far, we haven鈥檛 succeeded.
Humdrum toilet paper
FINALLY, the pack of Basics Toilet Rolls that Richard Jowitt bought from Sainsbury鈥檚 supermarket bore the inscription: 鈥淔or Everyday Use鈥�. Richard wonders if he should buy other toilet tissue for use on special occasions.