Warning and advice (for humans) about magpie swooping

“Magpies swoop bald men more often, eight-year-old’s viral survey finds,” says an Australian Broadcasting Corporation report. Some years ago, Australia’s Department for Environment and Water offered this advice: “Magpie swooping season is here! Find out why they swoop and how you can try and avoid them”. And this suggestion: “Carry an open umbrella above your […]

Gift mice, Politicians’ food and pee, Tarantula sucking, Tender youth, Cat dependence

This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has five segments. Here are bits of each of them: Time for love — Valentine’s Day celebrates coupling. Alan McWilliam tells Feedback about an offer he received, before the most recent Valentine’s Day, from a US-based biotechnology company. It couples charm with other qualities. Alan says: “I […]

Intentional cattiness, Yarnlike supercapacitors, Measuring fingers and addiction, The Denver sniff test

This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has four segments. Here are bits of each of them: Intentional cattiness — When cats are forced to endure a crush of mass attention from an adoring public, do they continue to behave in their famous, endearing, imperious “cat-like” ways? Simona Cannas and her colleagues at the […]

Almost everyone dies / Mindfulness and electroshock therapy / Mindfulness and dishwashing

This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has six segments. Here are bits of each of them: Sweet or not, the end — Almost everyone who gets old dies. In a gross way, that brief sentence could sum up a Dutch/Danish/British study called “Use of sugar in coffee and tea and long-term risk of […]

Improbable Dramatic Readings at Boskone

This photo shows the performers in the Improbable Dramatic Readings session we (Improbable Research) did at Boskone (the scifi convention in Boston, Massachusetts), on February 10, 2024. The performers include: Sara Dion, James Bacon, Geri Sullivan, Roksi Freeman, Amy Kucharik, Robin Abrahams, Gary Dryfoos, and three timekeepers. The event was emceed by Marc Abrahams, with […]