Letters archive

Your editorial on solar storms says, "there will be another maximum in the early 2020s, another about 11 years later, and so on until... well, who knows" (4 February, p 3) . However, research from three independent teams of solar astronomers, reported at last June's meeting of the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical …

Your interview with Paul Mason was headlined "The revolution will be tweeted" ( 4 February, p 28 ). Actually, it won't. Not after Twitter itself said that it will implement regional censorship because certain countries "have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression ". This policy means that future revolutions will not have …

The diagram accompanying your feature on the potential impact of green energy on climate says that Earth is radiating 380 terawatts (TW) less heat now than before the industrial revolution (28 January, p 34) . Could increasing the albedo of Earth so that it reflects, globally, 380 TW more be enough to counterbalance the warming? …

The explanation for the phrase "order may vary" appearing on a packet of potatoes of mixed colours is prosaic, despite Feedback's best efforts (4 February) . Even more yawn-inducing is the fact that the words are as stipulated by European Council Directive 2000/13/EC . The list of ingredients on a food packet must be in …

Fred Pearce's look at the efficacy of wildlife corridors is mainly about the lack of evidence of genetic mixing between groups from different ends of such corridors (4 February, p 26) . The widening of the gene pool would not be their only advantage. Adaptation to climate change necessitates and induces movement, as climate zones …

In his round-up of lost scientific treasures, Michael Marshall states that the possible existence of long-necked seals "is now relegated to cryptozoology, the search for semi-mythical species" (4 February, p 40) . We are in danger of starving promising avenues of research of attention and funding because cryptozoology is not considered "real" science. This is …

In his letter, Doug Legge proposes the light bulb as a universal symbol for science (21 January, p 29) . The incandescent bulb is so last century, and his screw fitting would be out of place around here – our bulbs usually have bayonet connectors. Could it be that we cannot have a universal symbol, …

In your editorial on advances in detecting speech from brain activity, you make the claim that "there is absolutely no prospect of anyone looking inside your skull without your consent" (4 February, p 3) . Really? What is to stop a government from immobilising a person and performing whatever invasive brain scans they wish, up …

In your article exploring the progression of evolution (21 January, p 35) , I found the idea of measuring complexity in terms of energy rate density (the amount of energy flowing through each gram of a system per second) new and fascinating. I wonder if a threshold expressed in that unit could define "what is …

I was intrigued by the findings of Jonathan Levav and colleagues, which showed judicial decisions becoming more favourable for those in the dock after the judge had had lunch (28 January, p 30) . I will be making a study of fellow inmates' results in court over the following month.

Your story "Supermassive barely covers it" (10 December 2011, p 17) , set me wondering how big a black hole can get. The masses quoted must be big enough to engulf entire galaxies, small ones at least. Could even larger black holes exist, perhaps beyond the boundary of the observable universe and capable of engulfing …

• The word "equations" was misspelled on the cover of some copies of our 11 February issue. Apologies to readers in the US who picked one up. On the plus side, you now own a collector's item. • In the story on the threat posed by hurricanes to wind turbines (18 February, p 18) the …