杏吧原创

Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more

Mars attacks sore throats

FEEDBACK was rather surprised, on opening a entitled 鈥淢ysterious rock on Mars identified鈥�, to discover a new interpretation of a 鈥渄oughnut-like鈥� rock that appeared in front of the rover Opportunity. It was, we were informed, actually 鈥渁 discarded bag of鈥� Throat Drops鈥� and referred us to 鈥渢win scientists鈥� who had made the identification.

After a famous web search engine could find no trace of said researchers, we emailed the manufacturer of the throat drops. The company chair confirmed that they had issued the press release 鈥� 鈥渨ritten at the behest of my 6-year-old twins, budding scientists who thought the recent rover image looked like [our] bag鈥�.

Feedback has anonymised this exchange. We do this not only because the other end of the office frowns on our succumbing to ploys that get free advertising, but to save this company chair from parricide when the twins spot this item online in a few years鈥� time.

A sign in Sharon Howard鈥檚 local shopping centre reads 鈥淔emale Ambulant Toilet鈥�. Should we worry whether there is a male one out there, or if they walk out together?

Aversive auction attempt

SEARCHING for images of the aforementioned throat drops, Feedback was disturbed to find three instances of them offered on auction site eBay as 鈥渦sed鈥�.

District Court for Mars

PUZZLEMENT over the object by Opportunity鈥檚 cameras, mentioned above, only increases after reading a report that a person who describes as 鈥渟elf-described scientist and author Rhawn Joseph鈥� has filed a lawsuit () in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. Apparently Joseph is 鈥渃laiming the white rock was a living thing鈥� and seeking an order forcing NASA to investigate (mentioned on 8 February, p 7).

Joseph doesn鈥檛 mention this, as far as we can see, on his own website , where he complains that 鈥淣ASA鈥檚 Mars rover project directors鈥� ignored and refused this author鈥檚 demands to take close-up photos or any photos down into and inside the 鈥榖owl鈥� of the structure.鈥� We鈥檙e now trying to get hold of the court papers, for more insight into this striking approach to independent scientific investigation.

Signs and portents

SIGNS and portents abound, apparently. Peter Scott writes to ask whether he is 鈥渢he only person who sees a vaguely demonic cat鈥� in the photo of lightning over a volcano that accompanied our story about researchers mimicking the phenomenon in the laboratory (4 January, p 14).

Well鈥� on the day the letter arrived Feedback could see only a volcano and lightning. We wondered if a pint of refreshment might help. Then the next day our head-cold got worse, and we could see the cat, too. What it portends, beyond sneezing, we have no idea.

Global loaf

THE nutritional information on a packet of bread mix from Wrights startled Richard Lawson by giving the energy supplied by 100 grams, about two slices, as 鈥�987g鈥�.

Assuming that they did mean this as a measure of energy in grams, and applying the infamous equation 鈥�E = mc²鈥� to convert mass to energy, by Richard鈥檚 calculation his breakfast should supply 9 x 10¹⁶ joules: enough to power a tenth of the world for the rest of the day.

Just our little joke

REPAIRS to footpaths in Margate, Tasmania, prompted signs on both sides of the road, each saying 鈥淧edestrians use other footpath鈥�. Martin Greenwood trusts that we will agree that 鈥渋t is fortunate that most humans are not entirely rational beings鈥�.

Feedback was about to contemplate the possibilities open to quantum pedestrians confronted with these signs, but then we opened a message from Keith Morgan suggesting that such quantum jokes constitute 鈥渢he smallest quantity of humour鈥�. So we shan鈥檛.

A pedestrian manual

WE WILL, however, marvel at the thoroughness of the authorities in Vancouver, Canada. Mark Stoakes sends a photo of a sign beside a pedestrian crossing. Next to an image of a person walking are the words 鈥淪TART CROSSING watch for vehicles鈥�. A red hand above the word 鈥渇lashing鈥� is labelled 鈥淒ON鈥橳 START finish crossing if started鈥� and a steady red hand is explained: 鈥淒ON鈥橳 CROSS鈥�.

This seems to be an extreme example of North American mistrust of ideographic signs. Europeans are expected to understand these images without explanation 鈥� perhaps because in many countries the alternative is giving written instructions in several languages鈥� how do they manage in bilingual and trilingual parts of Canada?

By any means necessary

FINALLY, as is his custom, Ben Garrod recently went to buy 鈥渕y weekly hit of all things science鈥� from a W. H. Smith shop in Cambridge, UK. 鈥淲hen I left the store,鈥� he reports, 鈥�(after paying, I might add), I beeped at the door.鈥� After staff had checked through various bags, they discovered that his copy of New 杏吧原创 had a pink stick-on security tag on the Feedback page.

Staff said all of their New 杏吧原创 copies are tagged and they still frequently 鈥済o missing鈥�. Ben, being at a loose end, checked: the New 杏吧原创s, and no other magazines, were indeed tagged. This leads him to two distressing conclusions: first that the scientific world is a den of thieves, and, worse, that some of us 鈥渃an be out-foxed by a sticker鈥�.