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The Royal Statistical Society has initiated a £500 prize for
‘outstanding original contributions to statistical theory or application’.
Who wins presumably depends on how ‘original’ judges want the work to be.
If they want truly radical reinterpretations of statistical objectives they
may have a hard time choosing between the Department of Employment (unemployment
figures altered more than 30 times since 1979); the Treas-ury (relevant
measure of inflation determined by which one is going up slowest); and the
Central Statistical Office (new Chief Statistician need not be a statistician).

They could always try the Department of Education and Science. Last
week it published a report showing that, contrary to its own estimates,
schools still suffer urgent shortages of teachers for some science subjects.
The press release, based on comments by junior minister Tim Eggar, was headlined
‘Problems of Teacher Supply Overstated’. Certainly not by Eggar.

* * *

Å®ÉúСÊÓƵs with the CSIRO, Australia’s top research organisation, can
do virtually anything with wool. They can take the prickle out of itchy
wool sweaters and scarves, and turn fluffy fleeces into downy quilts. They
also have a terrific recipe for wool biscuits.

But contrary to rumours making the rounds at the Division of Wool Technology
near Melbourne, the researchers do not plan to ship boxes of flannel-tasting
biscuits off to the impoverished masses as a protein supplement. The high-fibre
confections are used to feed colonies of wool beetles and moths kept on
hand for testing purposes. The word is that the beetles take their bikkies
straight, while the finicky moths insist on a generous topping of pure cholesterol.

* * *

The Mail on Sunday newspaper told recently how a schoolboy project is
causing ‘fury’ in Britain’s battery industry. Thereby hangs quite a tale.

Alan Tong wrote an article in the specialist magazine Everyday Electronics
(Sep-tember 1991) wondering why 20 billion dry cell batteries must be thrown
away every year. The makers warn of explosions if any attempt is made at
recharging. But Tong told how dry cells can safely be recharged up to 20
times with a circuit made from parts costing under £10.

Expensive nickel cadmium batteries are designed to be recharged. Readily
available chargers simply force DC through them to recompose the decomposed
chemicals. But if the same charger is used for dry cells, which are not
intended to be recharged, recomposition produces a chemical sponge which
holds no charge and expands to make the case leak. Tong’s trick is to recharge
a dry cell with a current which repeatedly, but briefly, reverses direction.
On average more current flows in than out and the chemicals recompose in
orderly fashion. Not surprisingly, this idea has upset the firms which make
money from throwaway batteries.

We hate to be spoilsports, but 10 years ago a British company, Fidelity
Radio of north London, launched the Battery Saver. This was a portable radio
with a built-in cir-cuit which, like Tong’s, automatically recharged dry
cells. Yet despite being launched as ‘a British technology breakthrough
which could revolutionise the design of many battery powered home electronic
products’, Fidelity’s Battery Saver soon sank without trace. So the battery
makers won a reprieve.

The sting on the tale is that Amstrad now owns Fidelity’s name and rights.
Alan Sugar is not a man to worry about upsetting the battery industry if
the battery makers’ outrage at the idea of charging dry cells gives him
the idea of pulling his Fidelity charger out of cold storage.

* * *

For those waiting breathlessly for the answer to this burning biological
question, yes, it is true. Kangaroos can swim. But how do they do it? After
all, when the mighty marsupials hop, they use their legs in tandem, much
like a pair of pogo sticks or a couple of booster rockets.

George Wilson of the Australian Department of Primary Industries has
the answer. After encouraging a few kangaroos to take a dip in a swimming
pool and filming the results from underwater, he discovered that they use
their legs independently. And for extra propulsion they use their tails
like a giant flipper. So much for their legs, but what about their arms?
What is the kangaroo’s preferred stroke? The Australian crawl?

* * *

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York has come out with
a new volume entitled Life – How Did it Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation?.
Claiming the book is a ‘thoroughly researched examination’ of the issue,
the publishers hope that readers will consider its contents with an open
mind.

The book is enriched by three quotations from New Å®ÉúСÊÓƵ which appear
to sup-port the case of the so-called ‘scientific creationists’. The quotations,
which mainly concern a supposed lack of evidence in the fossil record for
the theory of evolution, are introduced by phrases such as ‘New Å®ÉúСÊÓƵ
commented . . .’ and ‘New Å®ÉúСÊÓƵ reported . . .’. But for those who know
they are right, this kind of ‘open mind’ simply proves you are wrong (leaving
aside the fact that one of these quotations was from a letter to the editor
and one was the personal opinion of a book reviewer).

* * *

Only a handful of entries (to be truthful, even fewer than that) so
far for Feedback’s summer competition – you remember, writing acknowledgements.
Samples given included ‘Einstein – I would like to thank my relatives’,
and similar. Whatever the state of entries, the competition will close on
Tuesday 17 September. So get acknowledging, or not, as the case may be.