Scientific Gossip (38-1b)
Contains 100% gossip from concentrate
Send Dogs to Fred
A very few individuals suffer the autistic condition known as “idiot savantism.” They are unable to perform most simple mental tasks, yet display some particular talent — typically at mathematics or music — that is extraordinarily well developed. True idiots savant are so rare that researchers have had difficulty studying them. Thomas Kreucez of the University of Bellamie is exploring the nature of idiot savantism in various animals, with the idea that it may model the analagous condition in humans. He is collecting autistic dogs. Anyone with an autistic dog is urged to contact him.
Oral Alternatives
A leading chewing gum manufacturer is running TV commercials in several countries in which an actor says, “When I can't smoke, I chew gum.” A leading tobacco manufacturer is running TV commercials in several countries in which an actor says, “When I can't chew gum, I smoke.” Both commercials were inspired by a series of experiments performed in 1989 at Houghton University. In the experiments, chimpanzees were forced to alternately smoke cigarettes and chew gum. A book to be published next month will tell all, or so they say.
The Sub-Nothing Diet
The principles underlying a controversial style of medicine are being used as the basis for a radically new kind of weight-loss diet. Homeopathic medicine is based on the principle that diseases can be cured by ingesting minute doses of any substance that, if consumed in larger amounts, would cause similar symptoms. Critics have pointed out that the dosages recommended by homeopathic practitioners are so very low that for all practical purposes they consist of nothing but water. Now Dr. Robert Mishkin of the Shaw Institute is pursuing a form of diet in which patients consume nothing but trace amounts of all nutrients. Skeptics are referring to this as the "hydraulic diet," but Dr. Mishkin is conducting clinical trials with 200 intensely obese patients. A book to be published next month will tell all, or so they say.
Food From Thought
The placebo effect — the effect of a patient's believing that she or he is taking powerful medication when in fact the medicine is a sham — may someday provide nutritive sustenance. So, at least, is the idea behind Xiao Bizi's research project at the Research Institute #14 in Hangchou, China. Xiao plans to feed volunteers a diet in which food is sometimes alternated with placebo material of identical appearance, taste and texture. Xiao claims to have had some success in preliminary tests with bats and monkeys. A book to be published next month will tell all, or so they say.
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