Letters archive

I think the thing that most worries me about artificial intelligence (Letters, 20 February, p 52) is the prospect of being surrounded by creations such as those envisaged by Douglas Adams—condescending, chatty machines everywhere, designed to drive us crazy. Goodness knows, it's bad enough without AI. Already, when I log in to the computer system …

Following your article on toxins produced by blue-green algae (This Week, 13 February, p 23) , you might like to know that the Environment Agency of England and Wales has produced a consultation paper Aquatic Eutrophication in England and Wales—a proposed management strategy. This takes the holistic approach by dealing with the sources of eutrophication …

Following your discussion of the pros and cons of redundancy (Letters, 20 February, p 53) , as the mother of a toddler I have to point out that the most redundant label of all is that in most children's clothing, which says: "Keep away from fire." Whether this is to stop you throwing new garments …

Your report on research from Indiana State University on the sleeping habits of ducks (This Week, 6 February, p 8) immediately reminded of an article you published almost exactly 16 years ago, entitled "A safer life for the peeking duck" (New Scientist, 24 February 1983, p 514). I used that article frequently over the years …

Feedback reports on howlers by biology students (30 January) . I teach in a large comprehensive school and among other gems that pupils have put my way is the fact that "an octopus is a fish with eight testicles" and "the whole of northern Russia is covered in carnivorous forest" (also known as the Siberian …

The "In Brief" article about water containing antimatter (This Week, 12 December 1998, p 29) failed to mention the contribution of Nan Jiang of Marquette University in Milwaukee, who was lead author on the paper in Physical Review Letters (vol 81, p 5113).

Nell Boyce writes about the HERV-K "fossil" virus being switched on by HIV (This Week, 19 December 1998, p 21) . There are further possibilities. This virus, along with other fossil associates called human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), have been implicated in certain autoimmune states, in particular rheumatic diseases. In this situation, their role is thought …

Richard Denison argues that landfills cannot be regarded as carbon sinks for paper and wood, because methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (Letters, 13 February, p 54, and 27 February, p 54) . However, he assumes that all the methane generated escapes to the atmosphere. There is no denying that some …

In her review of Lee Dugatkin's Cheating Monkeys and Citizen Bees (Review, 13 February, p 46) Lynn Hunt inadvertently helps to perpetuate a frequent misunderstanding of selfish gene theory. Richard Dawkins does not say that we "are purely selfish vehicles of genes". It is the genes that are "selfish". And, as he has said many …

I have some comments to make on Michael Grady's views of cosmology ("Cosmic crystal", 13 February, p 42) . First, this model fits very neatly with the model derived from cellular automata described last year ("Rules of engagement", 29 August 1998, p 36) as it also explains observed particles in terms of "defects" in some …

Your coverage of the New Zealand proposal to extend a limited selection of human rights to other members of our immediate biological family (that is, the Great Apes) asked us to choose between a chimpanzee and a Kosovo child, and concluded that, since most would pick the child, chimps should not have legal rights (Editorial, …

Your article described the moral dilemma of using chimpanzees in HIV research (This Week, 20 February, p 6) . As you note, research conducted at the Yerkes Primate Center first demonstrated that HIV-1 causes an AIDS-like illness in chimpanzees. One of our scientists is, in fact, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious …