Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Ambiguity in Titles

Brevity is the source of possible confusion.

"Plants Inherited Ability to Sense Red Light from Ancient Algae"

Did they mean to imply that ancient algae emitted red light?

A longer sentence clarifies that they meant "Plants Inherited Ancient Algae's Ability to Sense Red Light."

"The light-sensing molecules that tell plants whether to germinate, when to flower and which direction to grow were inherited millions of years ago from ancient algae, says a new study released in the journal Nature Communications."



"Group gathers to protest unveiling of Baphomet statue with prayers"
I've never heard of prayers lifting a cover from a statue (or anything else, for that matter)

Predictably, the article was about hysterical Christians who can dish it out (erecting religious statues on government property) but cannot take a joke (a satirical statue of Baphomet at Bert’s Marketplace in Detroit).