Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more
Amazing miracle water
SEVERAL readers have written to us about astonishing claims in an on 25 August. Headlined 鈥淲ave goodbye to global warming, GM and pesticides鈥�, it extols the alleged virtues of a horticultural water-treatment technique the inventors call Vi-Aqua.
According to the newspaper: 鈥淭he technology 鈥� radio wave energised water 鈥� massively increases the output of vegetables and fruit鈥︹�� It also makes plants 鈥渓argely disease resistant鈥�, renders genetic modification 鈥渙bsolete鈥� and addresses the global warming problem by 鈥渃onverting excess CO2 into edible plant mass鈥�.
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How does it do all this? The explains: 鈥淔or the Technically Minded, Vi-Aqua continuously applies electromagnetic radio signal to the water via either a submersed, inline or hollow antennae [sic].鈥� The water is then used to irrigate crops.
There is a certain scientific backing for the idea that treating water in this way might affect its properties (see ) 鈥� but we could find no published evidence that this includes enhancing the growth of plants. The scepticism of Feedback鈥檚 readers about the claims for Vi-Aqua in the Irish Independent seems fully justified.
Reader Martin McCann was even more sceptical than most 鈥� but he was thrown by a statement in the 鈥淭estimonials鈥� section of the Vi-Aqua website, which is echoed in the newspaper. This says that 鈥淜ew have granted exclusive permission to Vi-Aqua the use of The Royal Botanic Gardens trademark in the promotion of its products highlighting the immense scientific importance of the technology to horticulture at this level.鈥�
So maybe there鈥檚 something in these claims after all?
New 杏吧原创 contacted Kew in London for verification. The answer that came back was: 鈥淭he Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, has not endorsed the Vi-Aqua products since 2009. A recent press article in the Irish Independent that mentioned this endorsement and activities by Kew around it was inaccurate.鈥�
What surprises Feedback about this is that in 2009 Kew appeared to be taking this product so seriously. Our readers will note that it has now changed its mind.
Jim Jobe was intrigued by an offer in Morrisons supermarket for 鈥淢ini Man-Sized Tissues鈥�: 鈥淭hese were for mini-men, no doubt鈥� and of course they were offered at a reduced price.鈥�
Reboot the toilet
THE minutes of the meetings of the Parish Council of Arnside, Cumbria, UK, are posted on a village noticeboard and . Colin Jex draws our attention to item 11788 in the 8 July minutes, entitled 鈥淥ngoing Maintenance and Upkeep of Toilets鈥�. This includes the following: 鈥�(1) a lady and two young children were recently locked in the toilets for over an hour, (2) a meeting with the engineer has taken place which identified that the software needs to be updated鈥︹��
Approximate precision
HOPING to go for a walk along the coast of Northumberland in north-east England, Alan Robinson checked out the 鈥淲alking Britain鈥� website. The description of the scenic there gives the starting point of the walk as 鈥淥S grid reference NU256197 Lat 55.4704199170077 + Long -1.59455186840724 Postcode NE 66 3TW鈥�.
Alan reckons this corresponds to a precision of something like 卤0.1 micrometres 鈥� but the site adds that this is the 鈥渁pprox. location only鈥�. Alan wants to know: 鈥淲hat would they regard as sufficiently precise?鈥�
6 billion sandwiches
SEVERAL Australian readers have gleefully told us about what Neil Speirs calls 鈥渁 major attempt to boost your catalogue of unusual units鈥�. A press release from the country鈥檚 Clean Energy Council on 3 September celebrates . It tells us: 鈥淎ustralia鈥檚 wind farms generated 1024 gigawatt-hours in August, enough to make more than 6 billion (6,144,000,000) toasted sandwiches using an average sandwich press.鈥�
A stack of these sandwiches, the press release goes on, 鈥渨ould go around the Earth more than three times鈥�. What鈥檚 that in blue whales?
Hot or cold?
THE Tesco voucher that Flavio Antonietti sent to us promised him 鈥溌�2 off when you spend 拢5 or more on hot pies in chilled ready meals鈥�.
This set off an argument between Flavio and his 6-year-old son Andrew over whether this food would be hot or cold.
Spooky ice cream
WHEN Richard King visited the ruins of Hailes Abbey in Gloucestershire, UK, the shop there was selling 鈥淪upernatural Ice Cream鈥�. He tried to work out how you would make this, and came up with an answer involving seances and frozen ectoplasm that we would rather not dwell on. 鈥淢aybe other readers can work out a better way,鈥� he concludes hopefully.
Warm and sunny night
FINALLY, Rachel Burton sends us a screenshot of a BBC weather page during the first week of August. The forecast for the night ahead on the first day of the week reads: 鈥淯K overnight. Very warm and sunny for many. Cloudier in northern Scotland.鈥�
鈥淒o they know something we don鈥檛?鈥� asks Rachel.