So, how would you like a mirror in your home that lectures you about the dire consequences of your unhealthy lifestyle, advising you on a diet and exercise regime to ditch that spare tyre, and showing you pictures of yourself as you might be if you carry on your current alcohol-and-cigarettes intake? It doesn’t grab me, that’s for certain – but then it’s being touted by Accenture, a company that also makes video monitoring systems to watch for subjects displaying ‘abnormal behaviour patterns’ in the workplace. They sound like a really people-friendly outfit, and no mistake. Maybe they should consider letting the R&D boys out of the clean rooms for a few hours a year.
All posts by Paul Raven
Wobbling Towards Extinction?
Another potential solution to the mystery of mammalian extinctions has been proposed – they may have been caused by perturbations in the Earth’s orbit and axial tilt. The theory is that these changes of position relative to the sun would have caused climatic changes that would have thrown previously stable habitats into fiercely competitive environments. I’m no scientist, but I’m always a bit leery of single-cause explanations for events of this magnitude, and so I am encouraged to see the researcher in question describe this as “a crucial missing piece in the puzzle”.
Toxoplasma Needs More Boys
Readers with long memories may recall us mentioning research on the cat parasite toxoplasma that suggested it could be influencing human behaviour. You probably dismissed it as a classic silly-season science story straight out of the pulp age of science fiction, too. Well, don’t rest too comfortably, for new research indicates that toxoplasma may also be influencing the gender of human children! Who knows how else this insidious parasite may be affecting civilisation as we know it?
The Real Deal
More good news for exoplanet fans – researchers have announced their confirmation that perturbations of the light from the star Epsilon Eridani are, as predicted, caused by a planet. The body in question is one and a half times as massive as our own Jupiter and orbits its parent star in a little less than seven (Earth) years. The extra-exciting bit for space buffs is that next year we have a good chance of getting a closer look at it, using a whole selection of telescopes including the (recently rebooted) Hubble.
Snake Oil On Tap?
Yet another dubious alternative power source – this has been a good year for them so far. The latest arrival is a variation on the old ‘splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen and using them for combustion’ idea, allegedly from a company called Xogen. My skepticism is somewhat enhanced by the fact the the link to their ‘corporate site’ actually leads to a domain that’s up for sale. Obviously I’d be overjoyed to be proved wrong, but I’m confident I won’t be, at least not this century.