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\n Feedback is <\/em>New Scientist\u2019s 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<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Feedback is shocked \u2013 shocked<\/i> \u2013 to learn that a grove of trees in northern Italy did not, in fact, predict a solar eclipse.<\/p>\n Now, we know what will be going through most readers\u2019 heads at this point: \u201cAre you saying somebody thought trees really could predict a solar eclipse?\u201d To which the answer is \u201csurprisingly, yes\u201d.<\/p>\n The partial solar eclipse in question occurred on 25 October 2022. Ahead of this, botanists led by Alessandro Chiolerio had inserted electrodes into Norway spruce trees to monitor their bioelectrical activity. In April 2025, they reported their findings: \u201cTrees anticipated the eclipse, synchronizing their bioelectrical behaviour hours in advance. Older trees displayed greater anticipatory behaviour with early time-asymmetry and entropy increases.\u201d<\/p>\n With graceful inevitability, here comes the debunking, published in Trends in Plant Science<\/i> on 6 February and flagged to us by reporter Matthew Sparkes (who should get some sort of honorarium for the number of items he has contributed to Feedback).<\/p>\n Authors Ariel Novoplansky and Hezi Yizhaq point out that the drop in sunlight during the partial eclipse was too small to affect the trees: their leaves were still saturated with sunlight. Furthermore, eclipses of this type recur on a cycle of just over 18 years. The oldest trees in the study were about 70 years old, so they could only have lived through three, which doesn\u2019t seem like enough to have learned the pattern, especially since eclipses take different paths over Earth\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Feedback has read the original study and we aren\u2019t sure it was necessary to go this in-depth to debunk it. The team only wired up three trees and five stumps. Size isn\u2019t everything, but sample size does matter.<\/p>\n Also, there is a lengthy section in the paper about \u201cQuantum field theory theoretical analysis\u201d. Yes, it\u2019s the Q-word! \u201cTrees are open<\/i>, and hence dissipative<\/i>, systems, continuously exchanging (releasing and receiving) matter and energy in various forms with their environment,\u201d it explains. \u201cMoreover, they are aging<\/i> systems, the origin in the time of their life cannot be moved and their time evolution (the arrow of time<\/i>) cannot be inverted\u2026\u201d There is a lot more, but after the first paragraph Feedback felt ourselves leaping quantumly into a state of not wanting to read any more.<\/p>\n Still, there is the coincidence of the trees\u2019 electrical activities syncing up in the 14 hours before the eclipse. How can we explain this? Novoplansky and Yizhaq have a suggestion. \u201cA total of 664 lightning strikes occurred from October 22 to 25, 2022,\u201d they write. That includes three strikes within 10 kilometres of the site and within the 14 hours prior to the eclipse. Maybe that had something to do with it.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Continuing our themes of \u201cpeople foolishly send us press releases\u201d and \u201cthey would say that, wouldn\u2019t they\u201d, Feedback has been told some excellent news about tea.<\/p>\n \u201cThe latest scientific research reveals that drinking a cup of tea daily benefits the heart, as well as growing evidence to support cholesterol levels, blood pressure, inflammation and blood clotting,\u201d it seems. This is positive news for Feedback, as we consume rather a lot of tea, and even better for Mrs Feedback, whose bloodstream is about 70 per cent tea.<\/p>\n Who are the bearers of these beneficent tidings? Why, the Tea Advisory Panel, of course. Feedback wasn\u2019t previously aware of the Tea Advisory Panel, but its website informs us it is \u201csupported by an [sic] restricted educational grant from the UK TEA & INFUSIONS ASSOCIATION, the trade association for the UK tea industry\u201d. The panel exists \u201cto provide media with impartial information regarding the health benefits of tea\u201d.<\/p>\n Hence the statements that conclude the press release: \u201cPrevious research has shown that the sweet spot is four cups of tea a day\u2026 Yet, only a third of Brits (35%) said they drank three to four cups of tea a day \u2026 Therefore, our challenge as tea experts and nutrition scientists is to ensure the message about the heart health benefits of tea is clearly communicated to the general public.\u201d Feedback would say more, but we really fancy an espresso.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In our ongoing quest to find the best and worst examples of technical acronyms, Feedback came across a delightful initiative started by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n The basic idea is simple enough. There are an awful lot of construction-based toys, from Lego to Stickle Bricks. However, they aren\u2019t interoperable: with a few exceptions, you can\u2019t connect pieces from two different systems.<\/p>\n Hence Golan Levin and Shawn Sims\u2019s decision to create open-source 3D-printable adapters, which can join the parts from different construction systems. If you have a 3D printer, you can download the designs for free and make your own chimeric toys.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all rather lovely. The designers explain that their purpose was to enable \u201cradically hybrid constructive play, the creation of previously impossible designs, and ultimately, more creative opportunities for kids\u201d, providing \u201ca public service unmet \u2013 or unmeetable \u2013 by corporate interests\u201d.<\/p>\n It seems to Feedback that this kit deserves to be widely used. However, we suspect its appeal to parents is somewhat limited by the creators\u2019 decision to call it the Free Universal Construction Kit.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Got a story for Feedback?<\/b><\/p>\n You can send stories to Feedback by email at feedback@newscientist.com. Please include your home address. This week\u2019s and past Feedbacks can be seen on our website.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nAstreenomers<\/h2>\n
Don\u2019t spill<\/h2>\n
Universal and free<\/h2>\n