Archive for January, 2007
Apologies for the lack of submissions lately, I’ve been hard at work completing another issue of the quite excellent Korovian magazine. In addition, the Dark Lords of the Sith who control my workplace internet access have discovered, and blocked, my unrestricted access, meaning I can no longer log on to my host during my most productive hours. Such is life as a lowly datamonkey.
Winners never quit, and I hope to overcome these trials soon.
January 29th, 2007
Melanin is quite a notable substance. A biopolymer and neuropeptide, it is found not only in the skin, but also in the inner ear and the “substantia nigra” of the brain. It also has some very interesting properties. In the 1960s, scientists showed a high electrical conductivity in iodine-doped and oxidised polypyrrole “Black”, a certain type of melanin. Ten years later another research team showed similar properties in another melanin. These findings were largely forgotten over time, until in 2000, when the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists who rediscovered melanin’s properties. Melanin also shows negative resistance, electroluminescence (emitting a flash of light when a charge is put through it) and is the best sound-absorbing material known to science. Currently it is the subject of intense interest in biotechnology. In the brain, neural activity is mediated by melanin, and the substance is also a good conductor of radiation, light, heat and kinetic energy, opening possibilities for application in “plastic electronics” and nanotechnology.All this makes melanin ripe for adoption into bad science. I am talking here of the little-known pseudoscience of Melanin Theory. In a nutshell, black supremacists claim that the higher levels of melanin in dark skin are responsible for enhanced intelligence and physical ability, as well as increased emotional, psychic and spiritual sensitivity. In addition, melanin’s activity as a neuropeptide means that nerve impulses are transmitted faster through the body, resulting in increased athletic prowess.
Wade Nobles even went as far to invent a secondary nervous system, the Essential Melanic System, arguing that without this, a person could not be described as human. Writer and psychiatrist Francis Cress Welsing asserts that melanin exchanges “black photons” with other electrons, picking up the negative energy vibrations from white people. This, he claims, is the root cause of the prevalence of high blood pressure among African Americans. He also states, “Melanin gives humans the ability to FEEL because it is the absorber of all frequencies of energy.”
All of which leads us to perhaps the most wonderful paragraph in the whole of Wikipedia:
Believers in melanin theory claim that the greater concentration of cutaneous melanin functions as a superconductor of sound and heat energy. Some assert that it can absorb electromagnetic radiation, others that it can convert light and magnetic fields to sound; that it can process information without reporting to the brain; and, further, that it is the chemical basis for what is commonly called “soul”.
So there you have it - the science of soul.
January 23rd, 2007
Intrepid investigative reporter and sandwich connoisseur Keith Thomason has sent us further evidence regarding Tesco’s bizarre pricing scheme.
Keith says:
Looks like Tesco’s have introduced a new sandwich to compete with its “Just ham…” sandwich.
Although in calculation terms we now know:
Ham + mustard < Just ham... (1)
Ham + egg + tomato = Just ham… (2)
Keep your eyes peeled for a Just egg… or Just tomato… and I sense we could be one step closer to a final solution for Tesco’s pricing strategy.
If you’d like to suggest an equation to solve this pricing conundrum, please leave a comment below.
January 19th, 2007
It seems that there’s no limit to what these wonderful creatures are capable of. Deep in the archives of the award-winning Pharyngula, PZ Meyers has posted some incredible footage of an octopus displaying dynamic camouflage - at one moment mimicing a flatfish, the next, a sea snake. Awesome!
See the Video!
Thanks to Nivose at the Bad Science Forums
January 17th, 2007
Colgate has been issued a warning by the Advertising Standards Authority over its claim that “80% of dentists recommend Colgate”. They discovered that the survey in question had found Colgate to be recommended no more often than a rival product. I like that I live in a world where a million dollar marketing campaign can be derailed by a couple of cats shouting “the emperor is naked!”.
the ASA ruled that the poster advert for Colgate’s Total Advanced Fresh toothpaste had breached the industry code’s clauses relating to substantiation, truthfulness, testimonials and endorsement of medicines, and upheld the two complaints it had received.
Truth be told, I’m a little piqued because only last week someone was telling me it couldn’t be true, and that I should investigate it. Oh well, that’s procrastination for you.
Link to the BBC News story.
January 17th, 2007
Various news outlets have reported the death of 28 year old mother of three Jennifer Strange, who died of water intoxication following a competition to win a games console. Californian radio station KDND 107.9 held the contest, entitled “Hold your wee for a Wii”, where participants were encouraged to drink half a pint of water every 15 minutes, with the participant who resisted their bladder longest declared the winner.
Quite how any of the event organisers thought this was safe is beyond comprehension. Nevertheless, Strange was allowed to leave whilst complaining of a severe headache (an obvious symptom of water intoxication) without being given medical attention. The excessive water consumption had overloaded her kidneys and diluted her blood enough that water was entering her body cells, causing them to swell. The swelling of her brain (cerebral edema) was the cause of the headache, and would eventually lead to her death.
The most famous case of death by water intoxication is that of Leah Betts (though invariably reported as due to Ecstasy).
January 15th, 2007
The National Post, along with most other papers this weekend, reported the case of German breeder Karl Szmolinsky, who has sold a number of his freakisly large rabbits to North Korea, believing that they will be used to solve a food shortage in the beleaguered state.
Quite frankly, how these behemoth bunnies can not be considered a dual-use technology and fall under “sanctioned goods” is beyond me. Has nobody at the UN seen Watership Down? Those rascally North Koreans are clearly intent on building an army of war-rabbits.
Oh, those South Koreans think they’re safe behind the largest minefield in the world, but what do rabbits do? Jump! And burrow! Please, won’t somebody intervene, before Kim Jong-Il appears at the Demilitarised Zone astride a 12-ft kriegkanninchen named General Woundwart?
Thanks to Jen for submitting this!
January 15th, 2007
Brazilian scientists have recreated one of the most freaking awesome of natural phenomena, ball lightning, under lab conditions. New Scientist reports that the researchers theorised:
ball lightning forms when lightning strikes soil, turning any silica in the soil into pure silicon vapor. As the vapor cools, the silicon condenses into a floating aerosol bound into a ball by charges that gather on its surface, and it glows with the heat of silicon recombining with oxygen. To test this idea, a [Brazilian] team… took wafers of silicon just 350 micrometers thick, placed them between two electrodes and zapped them with currents of up to 140 amps. Then… they moved the electrodes slightly apart, creating an electrical arc that vaporised the silicon. The arc spat out glowing fragments of silicon but also, sometimes, luminous orbs the size of ping-pong balls that persisted for up to 8 seconds.
There is a video of the phenomenon here.
January 15th, 2007
Popular Science has posted a nice little series entitled “Science Mysteries, Explained“. If you’ve ever laid awake at night pondering questions such as “Do you use up more energy when you’re thinking really hard?” or “Can men produce breastmilk?”, this is exactly the lunchtime reading you need. Personally, I’ve never really wondered what the most powerful laser in the world is, but I’m glad to discover the National Ignition Facility beamline is capable of generating thermonuclear detonations. Awesome.
January 15th, 2007
If you, like me, have trouble seeing auras, it could be because they don’t exist. Or, maybe, we’re just not trying hard enough. Luckily, as with so many areas in life, there is someone willing to sell us a solution. Step forward Wendy L. Lambert, creator and distributor of AURA GOGGLES.
Wow! Who knew that the technology needed to visualise a person’s energy field thing could be reduced down to a strip of card and plastic? And it doesn’t need batteries or anything! Wendy sure is clever.
A few years ago I purchased a pair of aura goggles and had success in increasing my aura viewing abilities. Then I discovered an indigo filter that, when held to the eye, allowed me to see auras just as the aura goggles did.
Clearly Wendy’s been doing some serious R&D. She also hatched the cunning marketing strategy to sell the glasses with a nonsense pamphlet an instruction manual, the result of which was that:
“Aura Glasses: You Can see Auras” rapidly became a best seller in Canada at first printing in 1996 (over 2,000 copies sold in the first year), and can now be found around the world.
At a guess, I’d say with bestsellers in Canada typically selling several million copies, either there is a very steep dropoff outside the top ten, or Wendy is guilty of some serious hyperbole. But what do I know? The market in gimmicky New Age books boasting free aura goggles can’t be that crowded.
The Aura Goggles (and associated book) can be yours for just USD$24.95. Frankly, that a little much for me to pay just to find out what exactly these are. I’m gonna stick my neck out and say Wendy L. Lambert’s Aura Goggles are in fact no more than a piece of card with some holographic film stuck to it. You know, the kind you used to wear as a kid which covered everything with trippy rainbows. Unless Wendy is willing to send me a free sample, or explain the technology behind the Aura Goggles, I’ll stick with HoloSpex, sold at a fraction of the price and with none of the bullshit.
January 10th, 2007
Fans of the quite excellent xkcd comic strip might like to check out the equally excellent series of Flash cartoons entitled Jokes With Einstein. Not only are they so funny that I spilled coffee all over my face, there are also some neat Flash tricks added in. I watched them all in one gluttonous sitting, and I recommend you do the same.
January 10th, 2007
It’s always fun when the propagators of bad science reply - I wouldn’t have much of a website without it. So share in my delight at the wonderful exchange between journalist Sarah Ewing and Broken Hut’s resident blogger, Ithika. Not only has Ewing bought into the whole “chemicals = bad” nonsense, she also seems to believe acetyl hydroxide (a.k.a vinegar) is somehow not a chemical.
You can watch Ewing dig herself into a hole here.
January 9th, 2007
Just before Christmas I promised you a trio of resonance videos, and accordingly here is the final installment. Acoustic levitation is not purely about resonance, but resonance does play a part in the process. By directing sound waves in a specific manner, scientists can levitate objects up to a few kilograms(!), and even turn them about different axes (plural of axis, anyone?). Acoustic levitation chambers are used for handling highly corrosive materials and for microgravity research. Cool!
See the Video!
Not to be outdone, scientists at the Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi’an, China, had been working on acoustic levitation, directing ultrasound at metals. As boys with expensive toys are prone to do, they started wondering what else they could levitate, and so ants, spiders, beetles and bees all ended up joyriding in the levitation chamber (link).
January 8th, 2007
Lord Taverne’s posse, Sense About Science, have recently flyposted the hottest bars and coolest clubs on the scene in an attempt to convince celebrities to pause for thought before lending their star power to the latest hot topic campaign. Worried about celebrity endorsement of flaky science, SAS are trying to persuade glitterati to check the facts before getting involved, providing contact details to get in touch with SAS’s legion of knowledgeable scientists. Initial reports suggest the flyers also make excellent cocaine flutes. (link)
By way of coincidence, BoingBoing today laid into the media’s sloppy fact checking, highlighting the dubious figures surrounding the US porn industry. Xeni Jardin eloquently reports that the profit margins on typical gonzo films are thinner than the plots, and argues the industry oft-quoted as being worth “$13 billion a year” is in fact worth as little as $400 million annually (link).
January 5th, 2007
Tired of making potato clocks? How about a light bulb made from a gherkin? Simply attach a tasty pickle of your choice to the mains power, and bathe in the splendid soft glow of your own electric food.
See the Video!
January 5th, 2007
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