Does “the earthquake chewed my data” trump “the dog ate my homework”?

This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has five segments. Here are the beginnings of each of them: Earthquake snack — The traditional excuse “the dog ate my homework” has a new counterpart: “the earthquake chewed my data.” … Strained fishy pun — Andrew Knapp and colleagues have added to the history of […]

Grape-y odor (food metaphors in medical terminology)

We continue our journey in the tasteful world of culinary medical metaphors. The ends of nerve cells are shaped like grapes. Infection with the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa can result in a grape-like odor. A malignant tumor – sarcoma botryoides – resembles a bunch of grapes in appearance. In fact several medical entities in look (and […]