Letters archive

Of the many reasons you discussed for legalising drugs, the most compelling is that by doing so we could improve public safety (12 September, p 30) . I am a 34-year police veteran who fought on the front lines of the "war on drugs". I saw that prohibition doesn't reduce drug abuse but does hand …

I was intrigued by Daniel Elkan's article on how people react to the colour red (29 August, p 42) . The finding by Russell Hill and Robert Barton that 55 per cent of bouts in Olympic combat sports were won by the competitor wearing red makes me think that the Japanese may very well have …

Clare Wilson thinks having a national DNA database is a good idea (12 September, p 30) . The proposal is a terrible idea. DNA is like any other form of physical evidence: it can be planted, tampered with, or removed. DNA evidence in court is given by "experts", who could be bribed to alter or …

Jo Whelan's article about brown adipose tissue (BAT), which converts food calories to heat (15 August, p 38) , reminded me of my communications with a researcher whose interest lay in BAT and the mechanisms for activating it. In the 1970s, I was told by a researcher at the University of Oxford that women working …

I'm disappointed that New Scientist , which should surely be editorially independent, sees fit to dedicate an entire five pages and front-cover billing to what is a thinly disguised advertorial for Apple and iPhone (22 August, p 32) . What are we to expect next? A cover story on how GlaxoSmithKline has almost single-handedly eradicated …

Charles Lansdale wonders why we should believe predictions about climate change 50 years into the future when computer modellers sometimes fail to accurately predict the weather a few days in advance (15 August, p 22) . Perhaps if he stopped to consider how even a child can reliably predict that it will be generally colder …

Dave Riddlestone (15 August, p 22) tells us that the defence community argues that "global warming research is a funding cash cow". This from the defence community. Please stop, the pain of laughter is unbearable! Surely this violates the Geneva Convention on torture?

In part 1 of the "Blueprint for a better world" (12 September, p 30) it is argued that in politics "so-called common sense and good intentions are no substitute for hard evidence", and Richard Dawkins suggests the world would be a better place if everybody learned to think like a scientist. So now all we …

Contrary to the research that relates cold drinks to a less friendly and warm impression of a person (12 September, p 46) , I have found that my friends warm noticeably towards me when offered a gin and tonic, plus ice and lemon, which although acid only adds to the warm feeling.

Brian Wootton need not wait for washing machine manufacturers to go back to producing dual-inlet goods to make the most of his solar water-heater panels (12 September, p 27) . I know of no important part of the washing machine cycle that demands cold water. If he has a source of free, or very cheap, …

• Harry Truman, of course, only won one presidential election (15 August, p 5) . The first time round he succeeded Franklin Roosevelt after the latter's untimely death.