Letters archive

The notion that the city is greener than the countryside is rapidly becoming a modern myth. But Shanta Barley misses the fact that what happens in cities and the countryside are inextricably linked (6 November, p 32) . If you assume that deforestation and industrial agriculture are afflictions of rural life that have nothing to …

One thing missing from your list of 50 ideas that will change science ( 16 October, p 32 ) is the idea of farmland as a dynamic carbon sink. Permanent pastures store large amounts of carbon, and organic matter can accumulate in systems such as permaculture in which ploughing is avoided. We also know that …

At the GSM Association, which represents the interests of the mobile communications industry worldwide, we have a slightly different take on the problem of smartphones overloading networks from that in your article (30 October, p 44) . We agree there is a wireless capacity issue, but think developments in mobile technology will help. For example, …

The question "Who's the oddball?" is not only fascinating but also politically significant (13 November, p 42) . The WEIRD – western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic – people the article describes are behind a lot of western, particularly American, policy towards China: and a dangerous policy it is, too. WEIRD people, Laura Spinney tells …

Wendy Zukerman states that "kangaroo meat was not available in Australia for human consumption until 1980 – 20 years later than most countries it was exported to". Not so. When I was at the University of Melbourne in the late 1950s, kangaroo casserole was available every Thursday in the student union eatery. It was a …

Ian Roberts rightly highlights the misinterpretation of medical case studies that has encouraged some clinicians to use treatments which have not been evaluated (25 September, p 28) . Unlike randomised trials, case studies were never intended to test a hypothesis and therefore cannot indicate that a particular treatment is effective. They belong to a completely …

This letter is a test of quantum time travel (20 November, p 34) . I, in your past, am sending you, in my future, a message. When you print this, in my future, you will, by post-selection, be sending me, in your past, a message telling me what to type when I have finished my …