True-life Time Travel
A refreshingly honest look at time travel from Buttersafe. Be sure to follow the link for the punchline.
Add comment February 29th, 2008
Archive for February, 2008
My Sweet Ant Farm
Part of the the haul of sweet birthday loot I received last week was this neat ant farm - funnily enough, I was about to buy myself one. It’s one of those filled with “space age gel”, which I suspect is really just blue agar, but perhaps some ant farmer reading this can tell me.
The little strings of bubbles in the above image show where I’ve poked a few starter tunnels in the gel for my future pets. I’m tremendously excited to get the ant farm up and running (’farm’ is really a misnomer, because I don’t think my ants will produce any commercially viable products). The problem is, I don’t have any ants. So I built myself this crude jam-filled ant trap, and stuck it by my outdoor bin. Err… it hasn’t caught any ants yet.
Still, I live in hope. Apparently you can buy ants online, but come on. The damn things outnumber humans a million to one. How hard can it be to find some ants? Anyway, the instructions that came with my super-deluxe space age gel ant farm also warned me:
Sounds like a challenge!
13 comments February 26th, 2008
The bionic ‘Luke’ arm for amputees
When I read the blurb that Dean Kamen (who invented the Segway) had been inspired by Star Wars to produce a robotic limb for amputees, I thought ‘yeah, right, it probably weighs 50lbs and is little more than a glorified claw’. Oh, how wrong I was. Kamen’s team have created a bionic limb that is lightweight, modular, and highly dexterous - controlled by pressure pads or even by muscle impulses, his limb is far and beyond anything I thought I’d see in my lifetime. The video is mind-blowing.
30 comments February 20th, 2008
Kinoki Detox Pads put to the test
It brings me a ridiculous amount of pleasure to find out that the cats behind the MockDock blog are putting Kinoki detox footpads to the test! Having finally received the footpads six weeks after ordering them (lets hope the detox action is a bit more speedy), the first night’s results are in. MockDock will be keeping a running commentary of the thrilling detox program - will the pads get cleaner over time? Or is it all just a big fat money-making scam?
2 comments February 18th, 2008
RISE, the wall-climbing robot (video)
Pushing us forward into the awesome robotic future that Hollywood has been promising us, RISE is a small six-legged robot that can climb a variety of surfaces using sticky pads, claws, or “micro-claws”. It’s not slow either - the little guy can shift its 2kg body upwards at 0.3m/s. The question is - what’s it trying to get to?
Add comment February 18th, 2008
Champneys Detox Pads - the clinical trial
OK, so I’ve read a lot of the comments on the recent Champneys Detox Pads debunking articles, and I felt I should address them. Thanks everyone for your input, those who weren’t smart were at least funny, so it’s all entertaining.
A lot of you have mentioned that I should have used distilled water instead of tap water. That’s kind of a flawed logic, because it makes the assumption that there are toxins in tap water and these are exactly the same as the ones in you body but nevertheless, I’ll pick up a bottle of distilled water next time I’m in Tesco and do it all again, just for you.
A lot of you mentioned that these pads were being advertised heavily in the States. For all who haven’t experienced the mind-boggling bullshittery of Kinoki pads, here it is:
Someone mentioned that I should have done a chemical analysis of the used pad to see what it had absorbed. That’s not going to happen, because I don’t have a mass spectrometer. Anyway, isn’t it up to the makers of these pads to prove that they work as advertised? After all, Champneys are proud of the fact that their pads are ‘tested and approved’:
So, I guess this means that Champneys, or manufacturers Trading Angels must have some gee-whiz super-duper Scientific Studies, right? The answer is: Yes, and No. Through my fiendish network of science punks I was able to get my hands on this, the clinical so-called proof that these pads work:
This is the study undertaken by Midwest Clinical Trials to investigate what exactly is behind these pads. The first shock to you fellow sceptics - unlike many ‘trials’ for dodgy products, this doesn’t rely on self-reporting of improvements. No, this uses proper scientific measurements! Before you get too excited though, let’s look at what it is they’ll be measuring.
But what about the toxin-sucking powers of these pads?
Chemistry of the absorbed moisture is not a part of this study
Say what? How on earth does anyone know if these pads work if no-one has actually studied their detoxification powers? Champneys have some serious explaining to do. Anyway, there was a small increase in the amount of moisture absorbed on Day 10 compared to Day 1. So rather than the pads getting cleaner over time (and therefore allegedly less full of toxins), the opposite is true! Although with a trial consisting of just 30 volunteers, it’s difficult to say whether this rise is even statistically significant.
So there you have it - clinical proof that Champneys Detox Pads definitely absorb moisture. That is all.
10 comments February 16th, 2008
Champneys Detox Pad - Dissection
Some time ago I posted an article about Champneys Detox Pads, showing how the icky brown ‘toxins’ that supposedly come from your feet can be elicited by adding clean water to the pad. I suspect this is because the pads contain wood vinegar (pyroligneous acid), a marvellous substance that is a white powder when dry, but turns brown and smelly when water is added. Is this the secret of the detox pads? Only one way to find out - dissection time!
I’ll be carefully opening a single detox pad. I hypothesise that the pad will contain some kind of powder which will turn brown when mixed with water. I also expect that there will be some kind of absorbent material in the pad to hold the moisture in. OK, enough talk, let’s go!
Here is the pad, as it comes. Notice the protective cover… possibly to keep out moisture?
Anyway, it has to come off, and for that we turn to my trusty dissection kit. Every boy should have one.
One small incision… Notice the foil backing of the pad. Could this be designed to make your foot a bit sweaty when you wear it?
The naked pad in all its virginal glory. Let’s see what secrets lie beneath.
The first surprise of the day - nothing but powder! There’s no absorbent pad in sight.
Here’s a blurry close-up. It looks like ground up kitty litter (hint). Now it’s time to introduce my lovely assistant.
This is Tara. When her mum told her that the pads could draw out all the red wine and cigarette nasties in someone’s body, Tara shot her the most withering look imaginable. She is five years old. We thought we’d mess around with the powder a little. I gave Tara a glass of water and told her to mix in some powder.
The effect wasn’t really noticeable. Too much water.
Attempt #2 -Tara added a little water to the powder.
Result = it turns brown and sludgy! (and smelly)
The sludginess got my interest. Perhaps the detox pads do not have an absorbent material because they use another mechanism. Here’s what happens when you increase the powder to water ratio:
Yep, it looks to me like Champneys (or rather Trading Angels, the people who make these pads) add some kind of thickener to the powder to lock in that moisture. My guess is some form of starch, like the cellulose pulp used in disposable diapers, or expanded clay, as used in cat litter (told you it was a clue!). In fact, the ingredients listed on the box include purified silica (also used in cat litter), tourmaline (another silicate), chitosan (another gelling agent), ‘polyolic acid’ (ditto), and … wait for it… starch! In fairness to Champneys, almost all these products are listed “helps to retain moisture” - the joke being that they retain moisture in the pad, not in your body.
So there you have it. Champneys detox pads contain a powder that turns brown, sticky and smelly when wet. Which means none of these things are a result of ‘toxins’ exiting the body. It’s almost as if they’re added to make it look like something nasty came out…
NEW! More slamming science in:
Champneys Detox Pads - the clinical trial
NEW! Even more science punkery in:
Scientific Study on Detox Pads
47 comments February 13th, 2008
SciencePunk in print
In a muddying of the waters that separate my full-time job and this self-indulgent hobby, I’ve appeared in print as the ‘founder of SciencePunk.com’ (as well as the somewhat dubious title ’science commentator’) in the Student and Young Professional Magazine (paywalled) published by the Institute of Engineering and Technology. I get to talk about the investigation of advertiser’s claims that I worked on last year at Sense About Science. Yay me.
3 comments February 12th, 2008
Confused minds shoot deadly beams
From last week’s Metro:
“IT’S EUREKA: Solving problems really is down to keeping an open mind. Brain scans showed that volunteers who hit a mental block during verbal tests gave off strong gamma rays, which are linked with being focussed and alert. However, those with high alpha rhythms - which are linked to a relaxed brain - were more likely to hit on the correct solution, researchers at the University of London discovered, the journal PloS ONE reports”
Yikes! I hope the researchers took adequate safety precautions. I think this calls for the introduction of lead-lined thinking caps.
1 comment February 12th, 2008
Giant, bat-killing centipede! (video)
Ratcheting up the freaky-meter is this video of a giant centipede, which as well as being highly poisonous and strong as a small snake, can catch and kill bats, straight out of the air.
22 comments February 11th, 2008
Incredible Memory Metal
Nitinol is an awesome alloy of nickel and titanium that can be made to return to a fixed shape no matter how twist or bent it becomes. We should definitely start making cars out of this stuff - then a pot of hot water would be enough to fix even the most crumpled wreck!
Hat tip to Hayden at It’s Alive!
39 comments February 6th, 2008
Proof of semi-intelligent life on Mars
Looks like Mars is inhabited by a bunch of hippy stoners:
I guess we should have let Phish put music on the Mars lander instead of Blur.
Via The Planetary Society. Thanks to Lisa!
1 comment February 5th, 2008
Parasite Pals - supremely weird kitsch
Feast your eyes on the sheer weirdness that is Parasite Pals Super Fun Site - a website devoted to one slightly unclean girl and her menagerie of loving parasites. Upon finding out that she has been inhabited by a headlouse, a tapeworm, an eyebrow eyelash mite and a bed bug, Holly refuses the doctor’s advice to bathe in pure TCP and instead decides to make friends with her new-found hijackers. As the site says:
“some irritation she finds with them, but much love and fun is to be shared!”
Quite. Aside from the general madness of marketing cutesy plush toys and stickers modelled on human parasites (hey, it’s not a new idea), the biology on display here is pretty appalling. I’m not going to be pedantic and point out that head lice don’t really use pneumatic drills. I am, however, going to point out that tapeworms do not live in your stomach, but in your intestinal tract. I’m also going to point out that bed bugs live in beds, not on humans, but Parasite Pals Super Fun Site is a little bit vague on where exactly Zzeezz the bed bug lives. I guess Holly should be happy she doesn’t have body louse too, what with their capacity to transmit trench fever. With friends like these, Holly will never need any other friends - and never have any either!
6 comments February 5th, 2008
LSD being tested on British troops (video)
There’s something so incongruous about the way this narrator describes the steadily-increasing mayhem of a group of trippy British soldiers that makes compulsive viewing. Im not sure how the military thought that LSD could be of any practical use in a battlefield, but I guess someone had to find that out.
20 comments February 4th, 2008
PCSOs and plastic flamingoes, cont.
From the Telegraph:
Two community support officers resorted to locking themselves in a room when confronted by an aggressive 13-year-old, before calling the police to rescue them, it has emerged.
The part-time Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) were summoned to a disturbance in a referral centre for juveniles, but instead of taking the situation in hand they were forced to hide when the teenager became abusive.
For more on why PCSOs are like plastic flamingoes, see my article: “Flamingoes, police, and the illusion of safety“.
Add comment February 1st, 2008