Climate change deniers high and dry
DRAMATIC scenes are emerging from Louisiana, where residents are once again battling torrential rains and flooding. How are legislators responding to this latest crisis, given Louisiana鈥檚 reputation as a state besieged both by rising sea levels and climate change denialism?
Louisiana senator John Fleming has previously gone on record to say that 鈥済lobal warming, to the extent that it ever existed, halted 16 years ago鈥�. While we wait for his response to the latest bout of flooding, Feedback turns the clock back to March, when he railed against the Obama administration for diverting military funding to tackle climate change.
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Just two days later, Fleming proved the necessity of that military spending, when he hitched a ride on the Coast Guard鈥檚 black hawk helicopter 鈥� to survey the damage caused by the March floods.
鈥淭he Associated Press reports that 鈥淕iant tarpaulins are being installed in the Italian Alps to help prevent glaciers from melting. Researchers say they can reduce the sun鈥檚 temperature by as much as 90 per cent.鈥� Should we be worried?鈥�
Killing the vibe
PROVING once again that the Internet of Things is also the Internet of Things That Strangers Can Hack Their Way Into, security researchers have uncovered vulnerabilities in web-connected sex toys intended to let distant lovers share a buzz.
The results were unveiled at the Def Con conference in Las Vegas, where hackers demonstrated their ability to siphon off information enabling them to see when the device, at least, was turned on. Feedback thinks that the need for encrypted channels takes safe sex to an entirely new level.
Losing one鈥檚 hits
IN SCIENCE, it鈥檚 important to know your鈥� stuff, but that might be difficult if everyone鈥檚 referring to it by a different name.
Our friends at Improbable Research are alerted by Tony Tweedale to a study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, which identifies a lack of 鈥渟emantic standards鈥� when it comes to presenting data on microbiome samples.
The origin of the microbes was variously described as feces, faeces, odure, manure, excreta and stool, meaning that searching any one term was unlikely to flush out all of the material available.
Feedback hopes that the finding prompts researchers to get their, er, act together, and settle on a definitive term for dung once and for all.
Keeping up to speed
IN HIS latest contract with cellphone operator Orange, Steefaan van Ryssen is restricted to sending no more than 16,666,666 text messages a month. To stay within his contract, he calculates he must limit himself to just one text every 0.16 seconds, morning, noon and night.
鈥淚 am only human and I need to sleep some hours,鈥� says Steefaan, so in practice he would have to tap out messages a little faster than that during his waking hours.
鈥淚t is appropriate that the contract is called Dolphin, since these intelligent animals can turn off half of their brain to take a nap,鈥� says Steefaan. If only they had thumbs.
Tell no tails
RICHARD LAMBLEY spotted a bag of 鈥済uinea pig crunch鈥� which boasts that it will make your pet 鈥渉ealthy from nose to tail鈥�. 鈥淐avia porcellus is well known to science and, beyond that, to a wider animal-loving public,鈥� says Richard. 鈥淪o I was surprised to see the maker appears ignorant of a very distinctive feature, or non-feature, of the little rodent鈥檚 anatomy.鈥�
Days off
ALAN WELLS reports that while logging in to pay his taxes online, he is required to provide details such as his birth date. That鈥檚 when he noticed that 鈥渢he days field allows the entry of negative days鈥�.
Feedback suspects it鈥檚 not the only time people will try to offer imaginary numbers when asked their age.
Previous day delivery
CHINA has launched what it claims is the world鈥檚 first hack-proof satellite, powered by quantum computers. The Guardian, quoting state broadcaster Xinhau, reports that the quantum satellite would allow messages to be sent 鈥渇aster than light鈥�.
If true, this would let someone receive a reply before they鈥檇 sent the question 鈥� which is certainly one way of hiding your communications from prying eyes.
Goldrush
AS THE Rio Olympics come to a close, Team GB鈥檚 carry-on luggage is groaning under the weight of metalware. With 27 gold medals collected, it strikes Feedback that in these economically perilous times, the athletes may be under instructions to replenish the nation鈥檚 gold reserves.
Just how many medals would it take to recover the 395 tonnes of gold sold off in the late 1990s? Unfortunately, even the top award at Rio only contains 6 grams of gold, plated over a silver sovereign. This places Team GB鈥檚 haul just 6,583,312 medals shy of the requisite number.
We recommend focusing on team sports at the forthcoming 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, which offer the best return on bullion per win.