Letters archive

Your report on climate change sceptics targeting schools in the US (25 February, p 6) shows that we have entered a time of crisis and confusion, with what counts as knowledge seemingly up for grabs, and society's hold on reality looking increasingly shaky. Science attempts to understand things in a way that is independent of …

The closure of the UK Forensic Science Service is not the only set of laboratory closures of concern in the UK (11 February, p 10) . The network of public analyst labs, which provides a similar service in the area of food law enforcement, faces a bleak future. By the end of this month, and …

I have just read your story "Death in the digital world" (18 February, p 24) , and agree that laws need to keep up with technology, and address the problems and needs of the bereaved who have to sort out the digital affairs of their loved ones. Not only is dealing with this stressful, it …

David Hone of Shell International makes a valuable point on the potential for carbon capture and storage (CCS) to reduce the impact of climate change caused by burning fossil fuels (4 February, p 30) , but he fails to discuss how it would be funded. It seems clear that the fairest, as well as the …

Ben Haller's letter (25 February, p 36) about your editorial on brain-eavesdropping (4 February, p 3) makes a reasonable point regarding the possible abuse of scientific discoveries. However, I find his assertion that scientists must therefore "refuse to work on technologies that are likely to be abused" absurd. Scientists have a responsibility to ensure that …

Your item on Jurassic katydid calls suggests that sounds at 6.4 kilohertz "can travel long distances" (11 February, p 18) . In fact, there is nothing special about this frequency: lower frequencies can travel further because atmospheric absorption increases as the square of frequency. The problem of locating a tonal source is exacerbated by wave …

Your article on dingo conservation and the Azaria Chamberlain inquest (18 February, p 28) reminded me of a pup I bought for my daughter from a dog pound many years ago. As she grew, the dog seemed untameable and tried to escape at every opportunity. She would snap at anyone who tried to pat her. …

I am a little concerned that the biomedical research department of the University of Hasselt in Belgium seem to have placed a set of upper teeth on the fabricated titanium lower jaw shown in the photo accompanying your report on printing jawbones (11 February, p 7) . One can spot the mistake by the size …

Further to your Instant Expert on sleep (4 February) , I found a way to maximise the efficiency of sleep cycles when in Antarctica during the summers of 2009 and 2010. As a doctor and engineer in a small, isolated party at Mawson's Huts, I was very busy with numerous projects. Unencumbered by a domestic …

Your report on electric racing cars mentions charging mats built into the track to allow inductive charging on the go, and suggests the mats be on the racing line that cars generally follow (11 February, p 22) . But having the mats off the racing line would allow more passing, increase the spectacle and introduce …

In your lost scientific treasures article, you mentioned Damascus steel ( 4 February, p 40 ). This material was made from high-carbon "wootz" steel made in southern India, which contained small amounts of vanadium, giving it its banded structure. This, with heat treatment, was essential for the flexibility of the famed Damascus blades. No one …

I realised I had become as much "at one with the machine" as Pam Lunn treating a real book like an e-book reader (11 February, p 33) when the futility of attempting to nudge a fly off the edge of my laptop screen by poking it with my on-screen mouse pointer dawned on me.

Did you notice that "colour palate" should be "palette" (14 January, p 44) , and "the palette it was standing on" should be "pallet" (Last Word, same issue) ? What are the chances of that?

• The story about a fire at a Brazilian Antarctic base (3 March, p 5) should have said most bases use non-flammable building materials. • Part way through our review of Mark Pagel's book Wired for Culture (3 March, p 50) we misspelt his name. We also note that Pagel is an evolutionary biologist whose …