Letters archive

As an educator and a parent of gifted children, I thought your interview with Joan Freeman about the dangers of labelling children as gifted was unhelpful (9 October, p 30) . Although its main focus was on non-gifted children who have been wrongly labelled as gifted, often by their dysfunctional parents, the overall effect was …

In the opening article of your recent special on morality, Fiery Cushman suggests we should recognise that "morality is a property of the mind" (16 October, p 41) . What is not clear is whether he thinks it is also a property of the world beyond the mind. It is remarkable to think that our …

Stopping sea level rise, using the ideas reported by Stephen Battersby (18 September, p 40) , is not the only strategy for saving ourselves from the rising seas. In the deltaic areas of Bangladesh, silt from rivers is directed to fill depressions, called beels, so that it eventually creates elevated land. The New York Times …

It may indeed be odd to see placenta extract of "vegetable or animal" origin as an ingredient in a cosmetic product (Feedback, 2 October) , but I was not altogether surprised by Richard Greenwood's revelation. When I was working as professor of nursing in a university in Ireland in 2003, and had strong links with …

Charles Choi reports on the theoretical Dyson-Harrop satellite, which is designed to capture energy from solar winds, and the problem of transmitting this energy back to Earth (25 September, p 26) . Rather than the concentrated laser beam suggested in the article, could this not be done using a ladder-like array of satellites to pass …

David Shiga reports on simulations that suggest the extreme conditions within Uranus and Neptune could produce a layer of superionic water around their cores (4 September, p 15) . Simulations with molecules heavier than water, such as hydrogen sulphide or iron hydride, could be used to explore whether they undergo similar high-pressure transitions. These would …

Paul Marks's article on high-speed helicopters failed to mention the issue of noise (16 October, p 20) . In south-east England, noise from flying helicopters has increased dramatically over the past five years and has now reached unacceptable levels. As today's machines fly very low, they are noisier and more intrusive than large commercial aircraft. …

In the Instant Expert on extreme weather, Jeff Masters states that tropical cyclones get their spin from the disorganised air systems off the African coast, which then move eastward towards the Caribbean (2 October) . If that were true, these systems would have to cross the African continent before tracking across the Indian ocean, the …

• Contrary to what we stated, the alcohol limit for P-plate holders in New South Wales, Australia, is zero for the first year only (Feedback, 16 October) . In the second year it rises to 0.02 millilitres per litre. • The capital of Nigeria is Abuja, not Lagos as we said in our UK-only graduate …