Join the conversation in New Scientist's Letters section, where readers can share their thoughts and opinions on articles and see responses from experts and enthusiasts across a range of science topics. To submit a letter, please see our terms and email letters@newscientist.com
11 June 1994
From PITTA GOVINDA RAO
Jeff Hecht reports on Roger Bilham's belief that the 1737 Calcutta earthquake should not be included in lists of major earthquakes (This Week, 16 April). However, my studies have led me to conclude that an earthquake undoubtedly did occur near Calcutta in 1737. The Gentleman's Magazine of June 1738 stated that an earthquake and a …
11 June 1994
From HILARY CHAPMAN
I could work out what your inventive correspondents Wendy Ashby and Ron Clark (Letters, 7 May) had written, without recourse to the English version. Yes, there is a need for an international language and it is not beyond the wit of mankind to devise one and agree on its use. Esperanto has been used for …
11 June 1994
From DONALD MICHIE
My transatlantic colleague Rodney Brooks includes among his talents an impressive quality of gusto ('Birth of a human robot', 14 May). This leads occasionally to flights of overinclusiveness, as when he lays claim across the board to the authority of Alan Turing for his own ideas on developing intelligence in machines. He is right that …
11 June 1994
From ROD PARKS
Hamburgers are possibly the most successful food to be introduced this century, but has anyone stopped to consider why? Could this be the reason? Our ancestors hunted in packs, and returned to their young, sick and elderly with a present of a mouth full of chewed meat. (This is of course the origin of our …
11 June 1994
From PAUL LEONARD
Tam Dalyell is right to lament the intransigence of the US in refusing to move to a first-to-file system of patent law (Forum, 16 April), but the reasons he cites for opposing the first-to-invent system do not reveal the true horrors of the current American law and its real impact on inventors. The central feature …
11 June 1994
From ELLEN GOUDSMIT
I would like to correct Renee Twombly's article on chronic fatigue syndrome ('The trouble with ME,' 14 May) which said that I use the term ME to describe 'CFS-like disorders believed to have a biological basis'. The name myalgic encephalomyelitis refers to a specific entity which has its own code in the WHO's International Classification …
11 June 1994
From HARALD HAMRE
Peter Behan suggests that heavy metals and other factors may cause enzyme malfunction, thus disrupting cellular energy production, leading to CFS/ME. Mercury and other heavy metals are well-known enzyme inhibitors, and the WHO consider dental amalgam to be the single largest source of mercury exposure for the general population. In animal experiments, placement of amalgam …
11 June 1994
From CHARLES SHEPHERD
Many doctors still regard ME as a psychosocial disorder and consequently offer management advice which is either inappropriate or harmful. Such inaccurate classification can also result in a refusal of sickness/disability benefits and conflict with employers and educational authorities – neither of which are going to be beneficial in promoting recovery. To try and improve …
11 June 1994
From NICHOLAS GAY, NIGEL HOLDER, STEVE JONES, TONY LAI, PAUL NURSE, JOHN PARRINGTON, SUZANNE PHILLIPS, MARTIN RAFF, FRED SANGER, KARL SWANN and MAURICE WILKINS
For the first time in a generation the Nazis are a threat across Europe. In Italy for the first time since the war fascists have achieved a place in government. In France, Germany and Russia far-right groups have gained widespread support. In this country the British National Party has been trying to gain a similar …
Issue no. 1929 published 11 June 1994
