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7 October 2000
From Roger Frost, Press and Communication Manager, ISO
The 16 September Feedback pokes fun at the International Organization for Standardization. This made a welcome break from the daily grind of international standardisation which, as the article pointed out, is a "combination of mind-numbing technical detail and sometimes vicious diplomatic horse-trading". Unfortunately, prolonged exposure to the difficulties of achieving international consensus on standards that …
7 October 2000
The Australian Institute of Sport tests 13 to 16-year-olds for their potential in different sports, not 3 to 6-year-olds, as stated in our news story "Catch `em young" (23 September, p 11) . The error was introduced during editing.
7 October 2000
From Erdem Tuzun
I read with interest Eugenie Samuel's recent news item on American research showing that people suffering from narcolepsy do so because their brains have fewer hypocretin neurons (9 September, p 8) . Samuel says that the neurotransmitter hypocretin, also known as orexin, normally keeps mind and body active by suppressing activity in the part of …
7 October 2000
From Charles Clarke, Home Office
The complete hands-off approach to Net security that you advocate in your Editorial of 17 June (p 3) is not an option for this government or any other. It cannot be right for criminals to abuse new communications technologies with impunity because existing statutory powers are deficient. We recognise that in updating the law in …
7 October 2000
From Richard West
In reply to Peter Hayward's letter on examination standards (23 September, p 51) , I suggest the reason politicians set such store by the rising trend in exam results is simply that pass rates are rising. Therefore, they can claim they are a measure of government success. Has anyone ever tried reusing an old question …
7 October 2000
From R. A. Stevens, President, Association of Public Analysts
We are grateful to Tam Dalyell for his comments on the Association of Public Analysts (9 September, p 53) . However, the 1998 Report on the Review of Public Analyst Arrangements in England and Wales was carried out not by the APA, as Dalyell says, but by an independent and eminent working group. That body …
7 October 2000
From William Selke
People reading the editorial in your 23 September issue (p 3) might conclude that driving hydrogen-powered automobiles would in itself reduce the build-up of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The popular press has left too many of my non-scientific friends with the impression that hydrogen is a primary source of energy. There aren't any hydrogen mines. A …
Issue no. 2259 published 7 October 2000
