HOLD the front page! Richard Taylor alerts us to a by an American physics student in England last year at about a 1994 paper by M. M. Tai entitled: 鈥淎 mathematical model for the determination of total area under glucose tolerance and other metabolic curves鈥� ().
Just what is it about Tai鈥檚 finding that has made it worth a mention after all this time? As Flip Tomato suggests, let鈥檚 substitute a variable in the title: 鈥淎 mathematical model for the determination of total area under x curves鈥�. Now, anyone who persisted with mathematics into their late teens may recognise that Tai has reinvented integration. That would be the mathematics of finding areas under curves, as originally devised by Isaac Newton and/or Gottfried Leibnitz 鈥� in the 1670s.
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To be fair to Diabetes Care鈥檚 readers, some of those commenting on the article noted this. Even so, Flip Tomato found 75 papers citing what Tai calls 鈥渢he Tai method鈥�, and when Feedback looked there appeared be .
That so many still cite a paper that 鈥渄iscovers鈥� something mathematicians have known for three centuries makes the case, as Flip Tomato notes, for 鈥渢he importance of interdisciplinary communication鈥�.
鈥淭he instructions supplied with Bryan Carter鈥檚 Sonic Plakaway toothbrush include a warning: 鈥淣ever use while sleeping鈥濃��
MEGAN, a border collie belonging to a colleague of Gerald Legge, was recently taken to the local vet because she was suffering from skin irritation, Legge tells us. To help calm her agitated response to the condition, the vet prescribed some Tavegil antihistamine tablets. The medicine came with the instructions: 鈥淭ake two tablets as a single dose. Give in the evening. FOR ANIMAL USE ONLY. May cause drowsiness: if so do not operate machinery or drive. Avoid alcohol.鈥�
READER Joe Hardman was browsing Nature鈥榮 website when he stumbled across an abstract for a paper called 鈥淭he Nubble constant and Virgo cluster distance from observations of Cepheid variables鈥� by Michael Pierce and colleagues.
鈥淧lease tell me this is some real constant and not a horrendous blooper,鈥� Hardman begged Feedback. Concerned that the ghost of Edwin Hubble might not take too kindly to his constant being usurped by Dr Nubble, we decided to investigate. Typing 鈥淣ubble鈥� into the search box at revealed things to be far worse for the American astronomer than we thought. Nature listed more than 20 articles about the Nubble constant, as well as Nubble diagrams and references to the Nubble Space Telescope.
In the journal鈥檚 defence, it must be said that the typo only appears online; Hubble鈥檚 name is shown correctly in the printed magazine. An insider tells us that gremlins crept into the optical character recognition software used to scan in abstracts from old Nature papers.
Nature has now corrected the errors.They had to do it, of course, but we鈥檙e left with a slight pang of sorrow. We had developed rather a soft spot for the Nubble Space Telescope.
AFTER he had ordered some goods online, Derek Woodruffe was offered a link to the UK Post Office鈥檚 鈥渢rack and trace鈥� service. He is not always in his office, so he thought it would be helpful to be told roughly when the parcel would be delivered there. He duly typed his 13-digit reference number into the Post Office website , whereupon he got this answer: 鈥溾�楻ecorded Signed For鈥� items are only tracked after the item has been delivered. Depending on whether the item was sent first or second class, this may be a few days after posting. Please try again later.鈥�
Woodruffe is puzzled about the usefulness of this. He assumes that after the item has been delivered he will know where it is and won鈥檛 need to have it tracked. On the other hand, it occurs to him that if he subsequently loses it he will be able to contact the Post Office to locate it for him.
ON HIS return from a four-day holiday abroad, Phil Keeling received this emailed request from his travel agent: 鈥淲elcome home! Dear Mr Keeling, we hope you enjoyed your trip and stay at Liverpool On Airport Parking. We would really appreciate it if you could take 2 minutes to rate Holiday Extras so we can improve our service and in return we鈥檒l enter you into a draw to win a London Shortbreak for 2!鈥�
Keeling was tempted to fill in the form. Who knows the joy of a couple of nights鈥� stay in the car park at London Heathrow airport?
FINALLY, in the email Jacqueline Teng received from Seagate offering holiday specials, there was the offer: 鈥淔ree tunes! Download a free mp3 鈥� holiday goodness from us to you. Don鈥檛 delay, downloads are available only while supplies last!鈥� Teng is curious to know just what it is that limits the supply of downloads.
