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

18 May 2022

Josie Ford

Relight my fire

An apology is in order, as we return, reluctantly, to the subject of testicle tanning, as advocated by US TV host Tucker Carlson. Feedback’s recent coverage of this improbable health advice has occasioned, ahem, quite the bulging mail sack. Who knew that New Scientist readers would get so exercised by the topic of scrotal sunbathing?

Reader John Keeves writes to ask if we were mistaken to ascribe the purported benefits to infrared radiation, rather than the ultraviolet part of the spectrum. After carrying out further research – which necessitated a thorough disinfection of our internet search history …