Eating robots, Sliceable ketchup, Ketchup on glass, Financial smirks

This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has four segments. Here are bits of each of them: Who eats whom? — Will robots eat us? Or will we eat robots? Both technophiles and -phobes have hungered to learn which will happen first. The answer has now arrived, in a report from a team at […]

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 […]

Improbable Research