Subscribe now

Letters archive

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


2 December 2009

Nutt controversy

Our guest editorial by David Nutt (7 November, p 5) elicited a great deal of response. A representative selection appears here, followed by a response from Nutt on page 30. Professor of neuropsychopharmacologyat Imperial College London, Nutt was controversially dismissed from his post as chairman of the UK government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of …

2 December 2009

Extrapolation nation

From Mike Keating

Angela Saini's article about misunderstanding probability in courts makes me wonder how it's possible to verify assertions such as the probability of having DNA matching that found at the crime scene being "1 in 200 million" (24 October, p 42) . I doubt that 2 billion cases have been examined for this purpose. With DNA, …

2 December 2009

For the record

• When discussing the effects of travelling at close to the speed of sound we said that this liquefies the ground beneath a vehicle's wheels (21 November, p 38) . We should have said that the ground is fluidised.

Issue no. 2737 published 5 December 2009

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with New Scientist events and special offers.

Sign up
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop