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 […]
“In this study, we introduce a novel form of sound production in caterpillars – whistling. While most insects and caterpillars that generate sound do so by rubbing body parts together or against a substrate, few generate sound through using air expulsion. The walnut sphinx Amorpha juglandis caterpillar is a cryptic species found throughout much of […]
Travellers on the New York and Boston subway systems might allow themselves a sigh of relief – Yersinia pestis (the causative agent of plague) and Bacillus anthracis (the causative agent of anthrax) might not be living in the subway systems after all. This is the finding of a new investigation published in the journal mSystems™, […]
In a new (07 July 2015) US patent, inventor Lucy D. Thomas of Fontana, California, describes ‘Solar Powered Owl Systems‘. It features not only yellow LED eyes, and a 360 degree rotatable head, but also has ultrasonic screech capabilities. Note: Patent documents are sometimes inclined towards using quite long sentences. Bonus Question: Why? “A pest […]
A new study looks at a plethora of glancing looks at cause and effect. The study is: “Is everything we eat associated with cancer? A systematic cookbook review,” Jonathan D Schoenfeld and John PA Ioannidis, Amercian Journal of Clinical Nutrition, epub November 28, 2012. The authors report: Objective: We aimed to examine the conclusions, statistical […]
Daniel Look [pictured here], now an assistant professor of mathematics at St. Lawrence University, once created a web page called “Mathematicians That Scare Me“. (A non-mathematician might have phrased it differently: “Mathematicians Who Scare Me”. The link is now dead, alas — was it too scary? Perhaps someone will ask Professor Look to resurrect it. […]