Josie Ford
Feedback is New Scientist’s popular sideways look at the latest science and technology news. You can submit items you believe may amuse readers to Feedback by emailing feedback@newscientist.com
Down under
No less a personage than New Scientist‘s editor, Catherine de Lange, alerted us to this development. Naturally, we have made it our lead item: it’s our way of saying sorry for all the times Cat has had to say things like, “For crying out loud, don’t print that, you’ll get us sued into oblivion for a one-liner.”
Cat had been sent a press release for a company called , which she forwarded to Feedback without comment. It’s always a good sign when a colleague sends us something and doesn’t even bother to say anything snarky. We assume they have been so floored by what they read that they simply couldn’t think of anything to add.
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Underdays’ product is underwear infused with beneficial bacteria that nourish your skin microbiome. Or, as the press release puts it: “The most intimate layer just got an IQ”. Feedback briefly considered whether bacteria could be said to have an IQ, but we decided not to fall down that particular rabbit hole because there was so much else to discuss.
The press release invites us to consider the prospect of “prebiotics and probiotics, infused into the fabric, transferring to your skin all day”. This, we are told, “supports your microbiome”, “strengthens your skin barrier” and “promotes a healthier appearance”.
These new garments offer a potentially significant time-saver: “No creams. No serums. No extra steps. Just get dressed and have your skincare, woven in.” Because if there’s one thing we all need, it’s to further optimise our mornings so we spend less time on self-care.
Feedback has a lot of questions about this, but we will focus on just one: what happens when you wash the undergarments? Over the years, we have become aware that underwear needs to be washed regularly, but in this case, that seems to pose an issue. Won’t the elevated temperatures and laundry chemicals take a toll on the probiotic bacteria in the underwear?
To find out, we switched to private mode on our browser and visited the Underdays website. After scrolling past a lot of photos of different underwear, we found an FAQs page. There we learned that the underwear doesn’t actually replace your existing skincare routine, because you should “use it alongside your existing products”. It seems that vital time-saving element may be a mirage. Curses.
But what about washing? The FAQ offers explicit guidance: “We recommend washing all our underwear on a cool wash, maximum 40 degrees in a garment bag. Air-dry flat in shade. Do not iron or tumble dry.” However, users are advised to “wash at 30°C on a gentle cycle”. If you do so, it promises, the probiotics in the underwear will last for “up to 40 washes”.
Underlays didn’t respond to a request for comment about how this all worked, scientifically. And if you think about it, the phrase “up to 40 washes” encompasses a wide range of possibilities.
Places to go
Increasingly niche scientific tourist attractions continue to trickle into our inbox, following the foraminifera sculpture park (11 April) and moss garden (9 May).
Carolyn Smith writes in to confirm our suspicion that there might be a curated set of beach pebbles somewhere in the world. “Here on the North Norfolk coast we have two – count them – shell museums,” she says. “I am not sure if there is a big rivalry between them,” she adds, nor is she “affiliated or getting any shell commission”, but Carolyn asserts nevertheless that the best one is the in Glandford. It claims to be the home of “the finest seashell collection in the UK”.
Carolyn didn’t identify the other shell museum, perhaps because it’s paying her negative commission, but Feedback thinks she was referring to the in Sheringham, which hosts “an exhibition of almost 200 stunning shell-art sculptures”.
At the other end of the planet, Catrin Kerlin “grew up in a small town called Maffra in Victoria, Australia”, which has “a museum about the history of sugar beet farming”. Feedback was reluctant to believe this, but there is indeed a in Maffra. “Despite living in Maffra until I was 18, I think I only actually went inside there once,” says Catrin. “Far more memorable was playing on all the old, rusting farming equipment outside.”
Catrin also identified the reason the museum hasn’t achieved the fame it perhaps deserves: it is open “once a month for three hours”. Specifically, from 10am to 1pm “on the first Sunday of each month, from February to November”.
Plan trips accordingly.
Feeling tense
Plenty of people can’t park a car. At the time of writing, Feedback is still recovering from a wave of irritation caused by some nitwit who had parked in a two-car bay. Owing to failing to pull all the way to one end of the bay, they had blocked anyone else from using the spot. Clearly, some instruction is required.
However, the instructions sent in by B. Evans, who spotted them in a car park in Devon, UK, appear less than instructive. The sign reads: “ALL VEHICLES [that first bit is underlined] MUST NOT PARK OUTSIDE OF BAYS”.
As Evans says: “It seems to have invented a new grammar tense”, which we might call the “negative imperative”. Evans was initially unsure how to obey the sign, but did find a solution: “I attempted to comply by not parking, in a positive way.” Feedback wonders if Evans has achieved some sort of vehicular quantum superposition, and congratulates them heartily if so.
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