Al’s AI ailment, Tooth charcoal, Orthodontist and Éclairs, Lambe to slaughter

This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has four segments. Here are bits of each of them: Al’s AI ailment — AI spells trouble for all the Alanas, Alannas, Alannahs, Alainnas, Alans, Alains, Allans, Allens, Alens, Alins, Aluns and other persons whose names begin with the letter pair “A then L” or the pair […]

Coca-Cola in a Cat

This month’s selected study about Coca-Cola in a cat is: “Endoscopic administration of Coca-Cola for medical management of a wedged intestinal trichobezoar in a cat,” Savanah Wilson, Devin Dobbins, Lukas Kawalilak, and Joseph C Parambeth, The Canadian Veterinary Journal, vol. 64, no. 8, 2023, pp. 747-752.  

Suspicious eyes, Dad’s superpower, Poo proofs, Apple-a-day

This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has four segments. Here are bits of each of them: Suspicious eyes — In the year 2001, US president George W. Bush foreshadowed a hope that decades later would pervade the robotics industry. Bush stood next to Russian president Vladimir Putin at a press conference in Slovenia […]

Sheepish Fears, Tooth Diversity, Crepitus, 4-Leaf Clovers

This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has four segments. Here are bits of each of them: Sheepish fears — … They performed experiments exposing sheep to a dog sitting in a window, and to the window without the dog. They tried giving the sheep drugs to reduce anxiety and giving them drugs to […]

The Future is Now: Machine Learning Approach for Muscovy Duck Semen

One hundred years ago this study, had it existed, might have been regarded as science fiction: “Machine Learning Approach for Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata) Semen Quality Assessment,” Desislava Abadjieva, Boyko Georgiev, Vasko Gerzilov, Ilka Tsvetkova, Paulina Taushanova, Krassimira Todorova, and Soren Hayrabedyan, Animals, vol. 13, no. 10, 2023, article 1596.

Multi-frightening birds; Two more trivial superpowers; AI sheep-counting

This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has four segments. Here are bits of each of them: Multi-scare the birds — …Their report advises that: “At present, there is no bird control technique that provides maximum protection for crops, so it is recommended to use a combination of scaring methods at the same […]

Politicians’ Big (Prize-winning) Influence on Life and Death (new data)

The results in a new medical study bolster the reputations of the nine national leaders who shared the 2020 Ig Nobel Prize for Medical Education. That prize was awarded to Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, Narendra Modi of India, Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Donald […]

The Seminal Book Question

We invite you to participate in The Seminal Study (also known as “The Seminal Book Question“). The Seminal Study is simple. It asks this one question: Should libraries and bookstores be required to clearly label every seminal book, with a large, easily-readable label that says “SEMINAL”? Please note that: (1) there are many seminal books, […]