Spare parts
Crisis in the stationery cupboard as our veteran laptop鈥檚 power plug finally expires. Now who will sell us a legacy LAVAFLO charging cable from 2003 (2nd edition)?
Seventy-eight per cent battery charge might just last us until we reach Uttoxeter (just off the UK鈥檚 A50 road) and JCB鈥檚 promising-sounding 鈥淲orld Parts Centre鈥�. Reader Paul Ticher finds comfort in its recent arrival, given 鈥渁ll the damage we are currently doing to our planet鈥�. (But you can see how his mind works: on the sad occasion of his father鈥檚 passing, Paul tells us he called on the services of a local undertaker in Donegal, Ireland, called .)
Advertisement
A chance, on this journey, to catch up on that never-diminishing pile of nominatively determined names, as spotted by our Valued Readers. Peter Slessenger kindly informs us that the UK鈥檚 Nuclear Innovation Research Advisory Board was once chaired by .
Jeux avec Fronti猫res
Down with this sort of thing! (Sixty-six per cent charge remaining鈥�) This, anyway, was the tenor of the 30 May pronouncement of the Acad茅mie Fran莽aise, which has been defending the French language against all comers (but mostly the English) since 1635. Fighting off the linguistic incursions of the gaming industry is : 鈥減ro-gamer鈥� has become 鈥�joueur professionnel鈥�, and don鈥檛 say 鈥渟treamer鈥�, say 鈥�joueur-animateur en direct鈥�. You may well consider this to be a quixotic effort by the Acad茅mie, unsuited to our globalised age. Feedback couldn鈥檛 possibly comment 鈥� and has nothing but respect, in any event, for an organisation whose new appointees are given actual swords.
War games
More games news. Remember the ? Or how, three months later, a ? It seems that the game鈥檚 popularity now extends to China, and more particularly . On 31 May this year, the forum boasted a (swiftly deleted) picture of a Chinese DTC10-125 tungsten armour-piercing round, sitting atop a really quite revealing spec sheet. Now that is realism.
Inexpert opinion
Philippa Sandall鈥檚 request for a word for anti-expert (4 June) throws up yet another real-world contender, this week from Simon Rundle: 鈥渟ciolist鈥�, from the Late Latin sciolus, means 鈥渟matterer鈥� (or, following Merriam-Webster, 鈥渙ne who speaks with spotty or superficial knowledge鈥�). But why use an old word when a new one will do? Alan Carter鈥檚 鈥渋gnert鈥� proved especially welcome here, as did Mike Newman鈥檚 suggestion that we combine 鈥渧acuous鈥� and 鈥渙rator鈥� to give 鈥渧acuator鈥�.
But are there doughnuts?
Should the Franklin Marble be listed under the Baltimore Gneiss? And has a variant of the Franklin Marble been misidentified in the Reading Prong region?
Answers to these and other questions are sought in an upcoming 鈥渞egarding the process of updating Pennsylvania鈥檚 geologic stratigraphic correlation chart!鈥�
It certainly isn鈥檛 our business to prick the enthusiasm packed into that charming exclamation mark, and Richard Bready, who brought this to our attention, has already nabbed his seat 鈥� who wouldn鈥檛 on learning that each forum 鈥渨ill last around 4 hours with breaks鈥�? Our guess is the is like that diner in Twin Peaks, and serves 鈥� excuse me 鈥� a damn fine cup of coffee.
鈥楢 tiny thing鈥�
Eighteen per cent battery life left, and we are only now getting to the Kentish phallus. (Stay calm: one expert opines that it isn鈥檛 鈥渁n erect one鈥�.)
This is, to be serious for a second, a wonderful find: a silver Roman penis pendant, with stylised pubic hair, unearthed on New Year鈥檚 Eve 2020 by metal detectorist Wendy Thompson on a farm in Kent, UK. (鈥淚 thought it was about 2,000 years old,鈥� she told , 鈥渁nd it was.鈥�)
The pendant, now officially declared treasure, might only be 3 centimetres long (鈥淚t was only a tiny thing really,鈥� said Thompson), but its antiquity is impressive, and the material from which it is made even more so: almost all Roman penises are made of copper.
Well, such necklaces were often given to children as lucky charms, and you don鈥檛 want to give the little darlings anything too expensive, do you? It is a bit like figuring out how expensive a child鈥檚 first mobile phone should be. Only, you know, with penises.
Under the wire
Five per cent battery left! Just enough to tell you about the that, by late 2024, all small and medium-sized portable electronic devices must (4 per cent) come with USB Type-C charging ports. It is partly to reduce the 11 million kilograms of e-waste cluttering up Europe each year (3鈥�), partly, we suspect, to annoy Apple (the company has already protested), but (2鈥�) mostly to save Feedback鈥檚 (1鈥�) bacon when
Got a story for Feedback?
You can send stories to Feedback by email at feedback@newscientist.com. Please include your home address. This week鈥檚 and past Feedbacks can be seen on our website.
