Nature vs technology: A 'higher or lower' quiz

This week technology takes on nature in a series of head-to-head battles, as I pit nature against technology in a 'higher or lower' comparison. Round one is a battle of temperatures.

In the red corner...  The sun's core.
And in the blue corner...  The Large Hadron Collider.

Round 1) Temperature

The Large Hadron Collider, pictured yesterday,

One of the earliest scentific facts I remember being aware of is that the Sun is extremely hot indeed. I remember in a child-like way thinking, 'You definitely wouldn't want to touch it!'

However, another scientific fact I learnt a bit later on is that sub-atomic shenanigans can also produce extremely high temperatures. Scientists are always firing atoms and stuff at each other inside the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), so how does the Sun's temperature compare with some of the experiments at the LHC?

Which is the hottest? The Sun's core, or the hottest temperature recorded at the LHC?

a) The Sun's core
b) Hottest temperature recorded at the Large Hadron Collider

Random thoughts

The planet Saturn ... still officially a planet.
Photo copyright of NASA. Used by kind permission.
#NotReally

This week the Charles Fudgemuffin blog features a random selection of thoughts and questions which don't really fit a standard theme. To give you a taste of what to expect, you may find random thoughts on time travel, farts, and badly named TV shows.

1) Planetary destruction

Twenty years ago, if someone had told you that in the year 2016 there would only be 8 planets, you would have assumed one of the planets was going to dramatically explode or disintegrate.

2) Weird security measures

Why do I have to prove who I am when I want to pay my bills over the phone? Do strangers ring up to pay my bills? And if so, why don't they let them?

The science of attraction

Love is in the air ... if the statistics are right! Statistical analysis of behaviour is just about the polar opposite of romance and spontaneity, but that hasn't stopped numerous scientists from analysing every aspect of love, romance and relationships.

Here are a few of their findings...

1) Fear increases attractiveness

A Valentine's Day card optimised for effective results.

This first scientific investigation was carried out on the Capilano Suspension Bridge (a wobbly, creaky bridge which can be quite nerve-wracking on a windy day), and was designed to investigate the effect of fear on a person's tendency to feel attraction.

An attractive woman approached single young men on the bridge under the pretence of asking them to assist in a psychology experiment. However, the real experiment came after the test, when the woman gave the men her phone number and invited them to call her if they wanted to know more about her research.

13 out of 20 men later called her, although obviously they were more interested in the attractive woman than her research. The experiment was then repeated in a safe environment (on a park bench) and this time only 7 out of 23 men called her; a drop from 65% down to 30%, suggesting a strong link between increased fear and increased attraction.

How to spot fake goods in Thailand

Spoiler alert: This week's blog post features fake bags, fake socks, and even fake shops!

As well as writing, one of my other favourite hobbies is travelling, especially to the tropical islands of Thailand, where you can find some incredible bargains in the street markets, with designer t-shirts, sportswear and other goods available for bargain prices which seem almost too good to be true.

And of course that's because they are too good to be true. If it seems too cheap to be genuine, then that's generally because it is. However, even without the tell tale sign of a cheap price, there are a few giveaway signs which can help you spot whether an item is fake or genuine, and I've highlighted a few examples below...

1) Open from 7am in the morning until...

As you can see from this first photo, sometimes it's not just items of clothing which are faked. Sometimes it's the entire shop!

7 Elephant. Open from 7 am in the morning until elephant pm at night.

At first glance everything appears to be perfectly above board with this 7-11 logo, but on closer inspection you may notice a very subtle mistake that the copyright infringer made when copying the 7-11 shop logo.