How Taylor Swift is helping botany gain celebrity status

Feedback is New Scientist’s humorous insight into recent science and technology updates. To contribute, feel free to send amusing items to Feedback at
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Learning Botany Makeover

In our quest to uncover interesting science news, Feedback, spurred on by assistant news editor and Swiftie, Alexandra Thompson, has focused on a groundbreaking study published in the Annals of Botany this past August. The paper, titled “Dance with plants: Taylor Swift’s music videos as advance organizers for meaningful learning in botany”, presents a compelling argument.

The concern raised is that high school students often display minimal interest in the plant kingdom, which has led to a phenomenon dubbed “plant blindness.” Teachers, exasperated by the struggle to inspire curiosity about botany, find themselves repeatedly revisiting the same material, which has lost its charm. The enthusiasm for studying plants is woefully lacking, and this situation is undeniably frustrating.

However, as the fall season approaches with its cascading leaves, the researchers propose an innovative solution: incorporating Taylor Swift’s music videos into the curriculum.

At first glance, this might seem an unconventional approach, as Swift is not typically seen as an educational figure. Yet, upon examination, her music videos are teeming with botanical imagery. “Out of 61 official music videos on Swift’s YouTube channel, 53 (87%) feature plant life,” the authors noted.

By integrating visually rich videos like the nature-filled Cardigan into their lessons, educators can introduce vital botanical concepts such as “photosynthesis, competition for light, nutrient cycling, seasonal changes, and various plant structures.”

While botany can sometimes feel like a beautiful but thorny puzzle, students began to show genuine enthusiasm for plant life, with comments like, “You look like my next mistake.”

To all botany educators: a revolution is upon us! You’ve been searching for engagement strategies all along—embrace your inner Swiftie, and begin using her music videos in your teaching. Your students will thank you, and you might just spark their fascination with plants.

Feedback eagerly anticipates an update from the researchers as they explore the new whimsical themes of The Life of a Showgirl, which is making its way toward a city near you.

Acronym Antics

Continuing with our exploration of amusing scientific acronyms, Feedback takes this opportunity to spotlight some particularly inspired—or perhaps overly convoluted—abbreviations. Recent reader submissions have alerted us to two standout examples, both highlighted in previous issues of our esteemed magazine.

First, Erik Foxcroft points out a clever acronym from Graham Lawton’s piece on chronic sinus infections, previously mentioned as “Sino-Nasal Outcome Test,” or SNOT. Initially cited by Feedback back in 2001, it seems we are echoing it again in our search for memorable acronyms!

Additionally, Johan Gotthardt Olsen brought attention to a recent Nature article discussing fascinating geological structures identified by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, potentially hinting at ancient Martian life. Among the intriguing acronyms from this work is RIMFAX, short for “Radar Imager for Mars’ subsurFAce eXperiment,” named after Hrímfaxi, the Norse mythological Horse of Night.

Yet, there’s more to enjoy: later in the story, we meet SHERLOC and WATSON—short for “Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals” and “Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering.” Hats off to the creators of those memorable acronyms, as Olsen aptly notes!

Feedback remains curious why Perseverance didn’t also carry the Monitor Of Raman Iridescence And Radiation Tomography Yardstick. Perhaps it’s time for us to review our issue of New Scientist.

Adventures in Animation

Exciting developments have emerged from The Wall Street Journal, announcing that OpenAI is venturing into filmmaking. Well, sort of! OpenAI is collaborating with Vertigo Films, offering its tools and computational prowess to produce a new animated feature inspired by an idea from Chad Nelson, a “creative specialist” at OpenAI.

The film, titled Critterz, presumably avoids the original title Critters, a science fiction-comedy-horror film from 1986. The story revolves around “creatures in the forest who set off on an adventure following an unwelcome visitor in their community.”

This project expands a 2023 short film also named Critterz, which you can watch for free on YouTube. This short film is noted as “the first animated short film utilizing Dall-E’s generative AI to design every visual element, right down to the characters and backgrounds.”

With designs as imaginative as the critters showcased, they certainly don’t resemble the monsters from Where the Wild Things Are. Although animators were hired for the short, it appears the animation is minimal. One viewer on YouTube humorously noted, “I enjoy watching an entire film where the characters merely stand still, staring at me.”

Feedback diligently watched the entire short and determined that the best punchline is delivered by “David Attenborough’s neighbor, Dennis,” serving as the narrator. We’re intrigued to see how this concept will be expanded into a full-length feature scheduled to debut at Cannes next year. Save the date!

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