Falling flat
Graphene, you may not have heard, is a wonder material. That鈥檚 right: gram for gram, no other substance can generate such great volumes of publicity. In the 16 years since it was first isolated, this two-dimensional arrangement of carbon atoms has been touted as a solution to problems ranging from water filtration to shoe design. But those glory days may be behind us.
In a recent paper by Lu Wang at the University of Toronto, Canada, and his colleagues, they state 鈥渋t has become almost a paradigm that the once fantastic graphene鈥� is not so fantastic anymore and that we need to add something to it鈥�. It鈥檚 a good point, one that Feedback feels they made more effectively in the paper鈥檚 title. Namely, 鈥淲ill any crap we put into graphene increase its electrocatalytic effect?鈥�.
The answer, it seems, is yes. Graphene doped with guano (Craphene鈩� patent pending) will indeed perform outstandingly well under a range of tests. It seems that legendarily caustic physicist Wolfgang Pauli, who once described solid-state physics as the physics of dirt, was right once again.
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Bear jokes
The other week, ITV News obtained footage of an animal never before captured on film. The elusive drop bear, allegedly one of Australia鈥檚 deadliest creatures, is physically indistinguishable from its distant cousin, the koala. This fearsome beast targets its prey by dropping on them like a ton of koala-shaped bricks before sinking its fangs into their necks. It is, according to the earnest-seeming staff at a wildlife park in South Australia, the third most common cause of injury to tourists.
It is also, we should point out, entirely fictional. If something looks like a koala and stinks of eucalyptus like a koala, then it is either some elaborate eucalyptus topiary or a koala.
None of this was apparently known to Debi Edward, an ITV correspondent who was tricked into wearing body armour from head-to-toe before being allowed to gingerly hold the animal she was told was a drop bear.
In the popular imagination, of course, Australia is the land of the venomous beast. There, you can鈥檛 lift a deadly taipan snake without finding a funnel-web spider underneath it, or so the story goes. It is about time our northern hemisphere prejudices were given a good fanging.
Dog whistle
Dogs and their owners have a special bond, so being separated from one鈥檚 beloved companion for long periods of time is a wrench for owners and, we presume, for dogs too. To alleviate pets鈥� distress, or possibly just owners鈥� guilt, streaming service Spotify has released My Dog鈥檚 Favourite Podcast, some 600 minutes of soothing speech, specially composed music and background sounds, such as a washing machine.
The producers have been advised by Alex Benjamin, a psychologist at the University of York in the UK. She specialises in, well, talking to dogs, but in a science-y way. In 2018, she published a study showing that in humans when they speak in that special tone of voice reserved for conversing with pets (鈥渨ho鈥檚 a good boy?鈥� 鈥渟it鈥� or 鈥渇or Christ鈥檚 sake, Trevor, not on the piano鈥�), but also pay more attention when words being spoken are relevant to dogs (鈥渄og鈥�, 鈥渄og鈥� or 鈥渄og鈥�).
Thanks to this research, the podcast features actors Jessica Raine and Ralph Ineson talking in soft, mellifluous tones intended to encourage pooches to relax. 鈥淭he spirit of the wolf has stayed strong in your heart,鈥� says Raine, which might relax a puppy but could scare the daylights out of its owner.
Being but a page in a magazine with no human form, Feedback has no pets of its own, so we asked regular reader Geoff to see what his pup, Kevin, made of it. But Geoff soon got distracted. 鈥淪he does have a soothing voice. I鈥檇 like to listen to her if I were in a cage,鈥� said the only one of the pair capable of saying anything. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e obviously put lots of thought into the script, but dogs only really learn like five words, so it feels a bit absurd.鈥� Though he perked up at the sound of chirping birds, the truth is Kevin doesn鈥檛 have a clue what鈥檚 going on, said Geoff.
More research is needed to determine whether dogs are more content if left alone with a podcast on than without. But for fairness, we should test other podcasts too, including the soon-to-launch New 杏吧原创 podcast. While not specifically made with dogs in mind, we welcome listeners of all stripes (and spots). If any readers would like to run this experiment, Feedback is all ears.
Unheard herd
Perhaps we were too quick to dismiss Kevin鈥檚 linguistic abilities. Emerging research suggests that communication skills may be more widespread among animals than we thought. A study by Alexandra Green at the University of Sydney and her colleagues found that cows .
Green hopes to help farmers understand these moos, which can apparently express arousal, excitement and distress. 鈥淚t is like she is building a Google translate for cows,鈥� team member Cameron Clark told The Independent.
For now, we can only imagine what cows discuss when chewing the fat. 鈥淎wful weather today鈥�, 鈥渓ovely bit of grass over here鈥� or perhaps 鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to hear the New 杏吧原创 辫辞诲肠补蝉迟鈥�.
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