31 August 2019 | New Scientist | 53The back pages Feedback
Taking a liking to lichen
If you happen to be in New Zealand
and are unnerved by that man
over there apparently licking
the pavement, don’t be alarmed.
He is probably just after his fill of
Xanthoparmelia scabrosa, a grey,
leafy lichen commonly found
on Kiwi roads and sidewalks.
It contains a chemical somewhat
similar to the active ingredient in
Viagra, gaining it the soubriquet
“sexy pavement lichen”.
Online marketplaces have taken
to selling X. scabrosa by the kilo as
a herbal alternative to the little
blue pills. Now Kiwi news outlet
Newsroom relays warnings from
local researchers against likin’ the
lichen. Those hoping it will give
them more lead in their pencil may
get more than they bargain for: the
urban pavements where the lichen
grow infuse them with high levels
of lead and other heavy metals,
including cadmium, mercury and
arsenic.
Perhaps it is fortunate, then,
that an investigation by the US Food
and Drugs Administration into one
online batch of X. scabrosa found it
was 20 per cent grass clippings and
80 per cent ground-up Viagra. What
dodgy online herbal remedies lack
in authenticity, they may make up
for in efficacy. Besides, nothing
quite kills the mood like popping
out to lick the street.
Deus Ex Machina
A 400-year-old temple in Japan
has unveiled its latest priest:
a robot modelled on Kannon
Bodhisattva, the Buddhist deity
of mercy. The $1 million android,
named Mindar, leads services at
Kodaiji temple in Kyoto, relaying
and explaining wisdoms
contained in the Heart Sutra.
It isn’t the first time holy words
have come from robot mouths.
Readers may recall that Pepper –
a child-sized android that has held
down more jobs than Barbie – also
had a stint presiding over
Buddhist funerals back in 2018.
What should we draw from this
about the essence of Buddhism,
Noms de flume
Such themes lead us, with terrible
inevitability, to this week’s dose
of nominative determinism. In
Adelaide, Australia, Alan Moskwa
reveals that a story in The Advertiser
on the city’s expanding waistlines
has provoked a letter in reply
suggesting “toilet bowls and seats
should be strengthened, enlarged”
and generally made taller and
wider. The correspondent’s name?
Neil Longbottom.
Meanwhile, Peter Jung is
delighted to discover that the
head of coastal research at Monash
University in Melbourne is none
other than Ruth Reef.Wonder weed
Visiting a chiropodist’s surgery in
Greenock, UK, Bill McMillan spies
a poster proclaiming that cannabis
oil can help with PTSD, epilepsy,
Crohn’s disease, cancer, psoriasis,
Dravet syndrome “and many
more conditions”.
Only two weeks ago, this
esteemed organ raised an eyebrow
at the wondrous variety of claims
made for weed’s curative powers
(17 August, p 20). But Bill is most
perplexed by an omission. “It
seems the oil can cure anything
except foot and toenail issues,”
he says. Well, the chiropodists
wouldn’t tell you if it did. ❚except that creeping automation
comes for all, and the holy men
won’t be spared? If you pass a
saffron-robed man on the street,
begging bowl in hand, be kind.
He might not even have a job
any more.Rabbit run
Further to the question of
whether nematode worms read
New Scientist (10 August), Peter
Duffell writes: “On a recent trip
to Northumberland we saw a sign
in one of the gardens we visited
that read ‘RABBITS & HARES KEEP
THIS GATE SHUT’.”
“If only rabbits and hares are
required to shut the gate, what
do the rest of us do?” asks Peter.
“If we leave them open, do the
rabbits and hares get the blame?”
Feedback is unsure: rabbits
that can read signs can probably
type, too. You wouldn’t want
to risk online shaming by
Northumberland’s literate
lagomorphs.Double trouble
Let it not be said that Brazil’s
president Jair Bolsonaro isn’t
environmentally conscious.
Yes, he has threatened protections
of indigenous land rights and
opened up the Amazon to logging
and mining. Yes, he fired the
director of Brazil’s National Space
and Research Institute after it
revealed the extent of recent
deforestation.
But he has a plan. Questioned
on his environmental record, he
replied: “It’s enough to eat a little
less. You talk about environmental
pollution. It’s enough to poop
every other day. That will be better
for the whole world.”
As green policies go, two days
between number twos is a novel
one. We’ll resist the temptation
to say it’s all going down the pan.
Given the boost Bolsonaro’s
policies are giving to consumption
and exploitation, Feedback thinks
Brazil’s green activists can be
forgiven for thinking he is the
one full of crap.Got a story for Feedback?
Send it to New Scientist, 25 Bedford Street,
London WC2E 9ES or you can email us at
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