56 | NewScientist | 3 November 2018A MISSION to the far side of the moon,
set to launch later this year, isn’t the
only ambitious lunar project being
planned in China. According to the
People’s Daily news site, the (deep
breath) Chengdu Aerospace Science
and Technology Microelectronics
System Research Institute wants to
launch an artificial moon to illuminate
the city of Chengdu at night.
Chairman Wu Chunfeng reportedly
made the claim at an innovation and
entrepreneurship event, saying the
fake moon would be eight times as
bright as the real moon (whether this
would be enough to pierce Chengdu’s
notorious smog remains to be seen).
Lighting up the night sky is
something of a trend in the private
space industry: cosmic mirrorball
Humanity Star was lobbed into orbit
by New Zealand-based aerospace firm
Rocket Lab earlier this year (much to
the chagrin of astronomers), and
artist Trevor Paglen is crowdfunding a
similar satellite, the Orbital Reflector.
If nobody puts a stop to this craze,before long the sky will be sequinned
with so many glittering vanity projects
that it will outshine Times Square.
Feedback is starting its own
crowdfunding project: help us launch
a set of curtains into space, to shut out
these bothersome baubles.TEAR up your physics textbooks,
it seems that the latent heat
required to melt ice is directly
related to the price one pays for it.
So discovered Brian Darvell when
browsing an article in the UK’s
Daily Telegraph, which warns of
the dangers posed by balloon-
shaped gin glasses (to wit: cold
hands, warm gin).
And that’s not all. “The current
problem with these glasses,”
says mixologist Daniel Warren,
“is when the drink is made with
cheap ice that melts quickly,
it waters down both the drink
and the flavour of the gin.”
“It looks like we really do
have to spend a lot of money tosave Antarctica and the Greenland
ice sheets,” says Brian.COSMIC kernels: Robert Scopes spies
a unit for extreme energy big enough
to satisfy the largest of appetites.
Melbourne newspaper The Age tells
him that fast radio bursts from space
contain so much energy that, if our
own dear sun were to issue them, “it
would be enough to instantaneously
microwave enough popcorn to fill out
to the far-flung planet Neptune”.
Feedback wonders if there is
enough matter in the region to season
this planetary cornucopia. How would
you measure its size? In cornsecs?
We’re sure you can do better.OUR recent story about the
$100,000 doorstop from space
(20 October) reminded Manek
Dubash of a shop in Lewes, “in the
habit of selling doorstops for
around £70. They consisted of
thick string coiled around
something heavy – I presume
some sort of rock.” Manek says:
“I ridiculed them at the time as
overpriced gew-gaws, but maybe
there was something valuable
inside and I missed a trick.”AS IF freezing temperatures, six
months of darkness and unmatched
isolation weren’t enough, Antarctic
residents must also deal with the
knowledge that the Ross ice shelf
is emitting a spooky moan.
Geophysicist Julien Chaput buried
seismic sensors in the ice shelf in an
attempt to learn about seasonal
changes to its mass. But when he
looked at the recordings, he realised
he had also captured the vibrations
created by wind blowing across the
snow dunes on the ice.
When the frequency of the sound
is adjusted into our hearing range, it
becomes a series of eerie hums and
ghastly groans that wouldn’t be out of
place in a horror film. Could it be that
the doomed ice shelf is crying for
help – or wailing in anguish that it isn’t
melting into a premium quality gin?PREVIOUSLY Feedback reported
on the roadside assistance offered
by British and Germanspiritualists, who say
supernatural beings are causing
traffic collisions (22 September).
“This reminded me of a similar
story from my time in Brunei,”
says Ronald Watts. “There was a
roundabout near the airport in
Bandar Seri Begawan where
accidents were frequent, and the
theory that carried weight with
authorities was that evil spirits
would hide in the surrounding
trees and leap out at night to
distract drivers.”
Local opinion held that the real
cause of the accidents was spirits
of a different nature, says Ronald.
But given the sale of alcohol is
illegal in Brunei, such an
explanation was inconceivable,
and local authorities took the
necessary steps of chopping down
all the trees. Strangely enough,
the accidents continued.PLANNING well ahead, Carl Zetie,
notes that a box of sugar in his pantry
is marked “Best Before July 2nd 2387”.
“This raises important and profound
questions,” says Carl. “For example:
How do they know?” And what
happens on 3 July 2387, Feedback
wonders. “On the plus side,” says Carl,
“it’s reassuring to know that after
civilisation collapses due to water
wars or climate change, at least we’ll
have something to sweeten the pill.”For more feedback, visit newscientist.com/feedback
FEEDBACKYou can send stories to Feedback by
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This week’s and past Feedbacks can
be seen on our website.“It is a fungus that grows on the exoskeleton and
obviously we don’t have one of these. And we
don’t have sex with ladybirds.” Max Barclay at
London’s Natural History Museum dispels fears
of people catching an STI from the insectsPAUL MCDEVIT T