This week’s New Scientist feedback column (written by me) has four segments. Here are some excerpts from each:
Hair Pulling — Yes, when someone pulls your hair, it hurts if it’s long enough to be pulled. But the truth about why it happens, to what extent and how has only come to light recently, thanks to a team of researchers spread across several countries… To be honest? — If you want to know the truth about cheating, good luck. That seems to be the underlying message of František Bartoš of the University of Amsterdam. In his study “Unreliable Evidence in Cheating Research”, he reviews a lot of evidence. And then he sighs: “The conclusion is that we should be careful when relying on or applying the existing literature on cheating.”… Self-Destructing Satellites — Very few people want a satellite to go out of orbit and fall further and further down, crashing into them. That’s why a team of researchers is working on how to make self-destructing satellites. They could make parts of the satellite out of materials that automatically disintegrate when they enter the atmosphere, turning large solid pieces into smaller pieces that burn up and almost disappear… Coconuts and self-colonoscopy — Feedback’s research collection has been joined by two papers with titles that help start or end a conversation: “Falling Coconut Injuries,” published in The Journal of Trauma in 1984, and “Sitting Colonoscopy: Lessons Learned from Self-Colonoscopy with a Small-Caliber, Variable-Stiffness Colonoscope,” published in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy in 2006.
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