Some people have strange beliefs about the ear and its malformations. If you are one of those people, and you are curious about what some people in other times and places may have believed, listen to the authors of this study: “The Ear and its Malformations: Strange Beliefs and Misconceptions,” Irene E. Gamatsi, Thomas P. […]
Tag: ear
Double Standards Days / Non-AI Sheep-counting / Science vs. Judiciary Laws
This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has four segments. Here are bits of each of them: Double standards— World Standards Day 2023 will arrive soon, two days after it arrives. As Feedback noted last year (17 September 2022), having double Standards Days is standard behaviour. This year, most of the world will officially celebrate […]
Surfer’s ears – and what can be done about them [new study]
“External auditory exostoses, also known as surfer’s ear, are benign tumours of the external auditory canal. They form primarily as a result of environmental factors, including recurrent exposure to cold water (below 19°C) or cold air, with a prevalence in surfers ranging from 38% to 73.5%. The prevalence and severity of exostoses are dependent on […]
The Gendering of the Ear in Early Modern England (new study)
“While critics discuss the link between female speech and sexual looseness, and silence and chastity, many have overlooked the prerequisite for obedience – hearing and its agent, the ear. The link between the ear and vagina is often ignored because of the proneness to perceive ears as passive orifices (Kilgour 131; Woodbridge 256). However, ears […]

