杏吧原创

Using the space-time continuum to make it rain and other odd claims

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

Take a rain cheque

Storm clouds are brewing in Australia between a consumer affairs body and an inventor who claims he can control the weather. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission accused David Miles of while the inventor hit back that 鈥渋f we don鈥檛 deliver rain we don鈥檛 get paid鈥.

Farmers seeking a slice of personalised climate change are invited to sign up to three-month contracts, with Miles set to receive A$50,000 in the event of rain. According to Miles鈥檚 website, the , allowing him to direct future weather.

Nobody has yet seen the device that generates this temporal tunnel, although we are told it relies on 鈥渉igh-resolution supercomputing鈥. According to , or even see it weaponised by the military.

Still, even with the best buzzwords hyphens can string together, the weather is a fickle beast and controlling it is never simple. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not perfect,鈥 Miles told reporters at . 鈥淲e have been able to achieve about 80 per cent.鈥 Feedback is convinced he is being much too harsh on himself. Our suspicion is he can make it rain just fine.

Plug and pay

More environmental adaptation: tech company Blushield claims to be the world鈥檚 number one in 鈥淓MF Protection鈥, offering 鈥渁 long term solution to a wide range of incoherent signals within our environment鈥 that cause fatigue, imbalance and other .

Experiencing some of that incoherence first-hand is Barry Cash, who has been reading up on the plug-in device. 鈥淚t seems it works by producing its own frequency, which resonates with all the EMF in your home,鈥 he says.

But how the socket-mounted signal jammer knows which bits of the electromagnetic field to neutralise, and which to leave alone, is a mystery. Does turning it on filter out the waves produced by your television, that carry images of the latest Hollywood blockbuster to your eyes? Or perhaps it works by destructive interference? In that case, says Barry, 鈥渟urely it is producing the EMF pollution that it claims to reduce?鈥

At 鈧799 for the Tesla Gold Premium Large Area protector, it will certainly reduce your bank balance. Those looking to rid their homes of EMF signals on a budget can try a different approach: simply walk to the fusebox and throw the master switch to OFF.

Flower power

The appropriately named Phil Bush has been taking an interest in Bach Flower Remedies 鈥 a preparation of water and brandy 鈥 and in particular, a product called Bach Rescue Sleep. This, we are told, contains the memory of ingredients such as white chestnut (for relief from repetitive thoughts), rock rose (for courage and presence of mind) and clematis (to provide focus when ungrounded 鈥 or should that be uprooted?).

Of all the ingredients, says Phil, 鈥渕y favourite is the impatiens, that promises patience鈥. After flicking through the company鈥檚 online catalogue, Feedback could use a bucketful.

Erratic chromatics

. The unusual colouring was traced to the presence of tryptophan in her diet, allied with the presence of Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria and an elevated urine pH. Combined, these can result in aubergine-coloured urine appearing in the catheter bag. The condition is benign, and so common that medics even have a name for it: PUBS, or purple urinary bag syndrome. Well, we didn鈥檛 say it was a particularly clever name (PCN), did we.

Speaking of errant colours, in Germany, Joanna Justice was shocked to discover one of the nine puppies born to her golden retriever had a distinct greenish hue. It is thought that the puppy, christened Mojito, was exposed to bile from the placenta in utero, staining its fur mint green.

Word map

In a quiet corner of the internet, people with more internet access than air miles have discovered a new pastime: mystery tours organised by the what 3 words mapping service. To book your virtual voyage into the unknown, type any three-word phrase into and see where on our planet鈥檚 surface the website takes you.

For example, writes our anonymous source 鈥 no doubt keeping a watchful eye on Brexit negotiations from behind the sofa 鈥 exit.without.deal lands you in the middle of China, while exit.with.deal sees you stranded in Coxsackie, New York. Want politics to become.normal.again? Then it鈥檚 a one-way ticket to the Californian town of Del Rey Oaks for you (and just about everyone else on the planet).

鈥淭here are 57 million 3-metre squares to explore in the hope of finding one that really has deep meaning,鈥 writes our correspondent.

We鈥檙e sure readers can find some especially suitable ones.

You can send stories to Feedback by email at feedback@newscientist.com. Please include your home address.

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