Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more

Scratch that

When news editor Alexandra Thompson sent Feedback some research about the social science of long fingernails, a paper that runs to 20 pages, we knew we had to read it. Never mind Alex鈥檚 remark 鈥� 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think long fingernails is that deep鈥� 鈥� Feedback was delving in.

The has the delightfully verbose title 鈥淔rom status symbol to polysemous sign: Interpreting the meaning of artificially extended fingernails鈥�. Wondering why people sometimes wear 鈥渁rtificially elongated fingernails鈥� and how this behaviour is interpreted by the rest of society, the authors examined 45 newspaper articles and identified 鈥渆ight interpretive frames鈥� through which we can understand the trend for super-long nails.

Some of what is happening can be traced back to Thorstein Veblen鈥檚 classic analysis The theory of the leisure class: An economic study of institutions (1899). Veblen posited that the ruling class are engaged in 鈥渃onspicuous leisure鈥� in order to differentiate themselves from those doing actual work. One way to do that is to grow your nails really long, or wear nail extensions, to signal that you don鈥檛 have to work with your hands. However, the authors of the study don鈥檛 think that is what鈥檚 going on today.

They say that 鈥渢he clear legibility of long nails as a symbol of leisure has been lost in contemporary societies鈥�, since nail extensions are now found 鈥渙n the hands of service workers as well as managers鈥�. Instead, what is happening is frantic innovation in the beauty industry, driven by 鈥渃apitalist market mechanisms鈥�. This is accelerated by social media, where nail artists show off their most extravagant creations, with the result that 鈥渢he status of nail work shifts from a routinised service to an autonomous art form whose value lies in complexity, originality and photogenic quality鈥�. And that barely scratches the surface (see what we did there?). Never mind seeing a world in a grain of sand, you can see all of human society in a fingernail.

If we hadn鈥檛 enjoyed this paper enough, the citations are a gold mine. We had no idea there was a book called , but we want to hand out some sort of prize to the person who came up with that subtitle.

We also want to point out that the authors of the nails paper missed a trick. The proper use of super-long fingernails is to make really good tapping sounds in ASMR videos. We had to rewrite part of this column at the last minute, so we put on to ease the resulting stress, only to wind up blissing out for half an hour and then writing the remainder in a panic.

A hill of beans

Feedback is pleased that our readers continue to bring us unhelpful units of measurement. Thanks go to Tony Levitt, who was at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences in Cambridge, UK, when he found a display explaining what goes into making a wind turbine. Apparently, it 鈥渃an require over 1000kg of rare earth elements to build (the same weight as 2500 tins of baked beans!)鈥�.

As Tony realised, this will look very different depending on whether the cans contain baked beans or not, and the display doesn鈥檛 specify. Tony decided to investigate. 鈥淟ooking in our kitchen cupboard I found a solitary can, labelled as 鈥�400g net鈥�, 鈥� he writes. 鈥淎ccording to my kitchen scales the combined can and contents actually weighs 468g.鈥� If Feedback鈥檚 maths is right (and it frequently isn鈥檛), a full can is about seven times heavier than an empty one. We therefore find ourselves knowing the amount of rare earth elements needed to build a wind turbine, but only to within a factor of seven.

鈥淭o be fair to the Sedgwick, it is a great little museum,鈥� adds Tony.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Osbos pointed us to a marine forecast warning of a 鈥渞apidly rising swell鈥�, on 6 June by 鈥� Te Ratonga Tirorangi. Specifically, 鈥淐ombined wave heights in eastern offshore waters could reach or exceed the height of the Ohakune Carrot鈥�.

Feedback wasn鈥檛 previously aware of the Ohakune Carrot, but we have familiarised ourselves. The small town of Ohakune lies at the heart of a major carrot- and parsnip-growing region, and to commemorate this industry, it has a giant fibreglass carrot standing by the road. The carrot is 7.5 metres tall and may be .

New Zealand readers: is the height of the Ohakune Carrot so generally and universally understood that it can be safely used to convey the heights of dangerous ocean waves?

Gaslit

In our ongoing quest for the science-themed tourist attraction with the most limited possible audience, we mentioned Denmark鈥檚 Gas Museum as a place that not many people would want to go to (30 May). This included John Blakey, who alerted us to its existence, but hasn鈥檛 actually attended.

But it has competition. Rebecca Ferguson (the professor of learning futures at the Open University, not the actor) and Bill Dickinson both wrote in to tell us about another museum of gas: the in Norfolk, UK.

鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 want to gaslight John, but he may have forgotten [it],鈥� writes Rebecca. She adds that 鈥淭ripAdvisor ranks it fourth of the top attractions of Fakenham 鈥� beating both the Chocolate Factory Shop and the ruined abbey鈥�.

Bill says the staff are very friendly, cheerfully turning a blind eye when he inadvertently stayed half an hour after closing time.

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.

Chidren are an impressionable lot. In our youth, we are like sponges, picking up habits and neural pathways that will resonate for the rest of our lives. It is no wonder, then, that countries including the UK, Portugal and Mexico have enacted policies to restrict the advertising of unhealthy food to children, in a bid to tackle soaring childhood obesity levels. But if this makes you think that adults are off the hook, then think again.

As we explore, eating appropriately for your age matters no matter how old you are. If you are middle-aged, you may have noticed the warning signs: a horrible hangover after drinking an amount of alcohol that would have left you unaffected decades earlier, or getting increasingly jittery after drinking coffee. These are indicators of more global changes occurring in the body, making us less and less able to tolerate a subpar diet. Breaking bad diet habits 鈥� a glass of wine after the kids have gone to bed, or a sneaky croissant from a coffee shop because you skipped breakfast 鈥� as we age is just as important as instilling healthy eating in children.

Breaking bad diet habits as we age is as important as instilling healthy eating in children

What鈥檚 more, once we reach the age of 60, it becomes ever easier to fall into a 鈥渘utrient gap鈥� 鈥� when a slowdown in our metabolic rate means that we eat less, but age-related physiological changes mean that we actually need more vitamins and minerals from every bite of food.

That鈥檚 the bad news. Recognising these changes in our metabolism and responding accordingly 鈥� you know the drill: eating more vegetables, legumes, whole grains and fish, and less ultra-processed food high in sugar, salt and saturated fat 鈥� can help set you up for a healthy old age.

But don鈥檛 wait until you are already in your latter decades to take action. A number of studies show that, if we tune up our diet in middle age, this can have a big impact on our health and wellbeing years down the line, while a younger biological age also helps you reap the benefits of a good diet. Ditch the junk and your older self will thank you.