Letters archive

The problem of 3D printers being used to print plastic guns is in the air again (6 October, p 22) , with my own RepRap printer mentioned as one potential route. As the article points out, attempts to use the law to prevent this are unlikely to succeed. So let's have something stronger . While …

There is room for disagreement about the effects of wind turbines upon humans without casting those of us who suffer as wild-eyed hysterics (6 October, p 26) . I should dearly love to become a turbine refugee, but the 52 turbines in front of my house, the nearest being only 680 metres away, and more …

Of the 10 most influential popular science books that were chosen as a result of your readers' poll (29 September, p 48) , only one is about physics – A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking – and only one is about mathematics – Chaos by James Gleick. The other eight are all on …

It seems only logical for a circular definition to be the result of a search for the foundation of reality ( 29 September, p 34 ). The alternative is either an endless chain of explanations of explanations, or an explanation of reality in terms of something unreal. If reality is to have finite depth, then …

I was elated to read your interview with black American astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi, who recounted his journey from a tough childhood to his grand vision to democratise astronomy by putting telescopes in every country, including all the African nations (29 September, p 26) . What a story. It highlights the fact that everyone can dream …

As part of your special report on memory, David Robson wrote: "When people find it hard to recall specific events from their past, however, they feel overwhelmed by life's challenges, which slowly pushes them into depression" (6 October, p 38) . This suggests that it might be a good idea to keep a regular visual …

I wonder whether the finding that giving alcoholics oxytocin helps them to quit drinking (13 October, p 18) may shed light on the success of programmes such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Being an alcoholic is, almost by definition, a lonely condition, with the addiction replacing the social relationships that would usually stimulate oxytocin release. AA, …

You reported on the demographic shift in the US to a population with growing numbers of younger Hispanics and older residents of European extraction, and the need to address the inequality gap between the two, or risk undermining future national prosperity (22 September, p 8) . It seems to me that there is much less …

I found the letter suggesting that disabled competitors be allowed to self-harm to boost performance distasteful (29 September, p 29) . It is against the rules of the Paralympics and, more importantly, such activities can result in death. If that is not a good enough reason to ban the practice, then I don't know what …

I have always been amazed at physicist Eugene Wigner's surprise that mathematics is so effective in the natural sciences, as mentioned in your look at whether reality is mathematics (29 September, p 38) . Natural science is nothing if not the search for patterns in nature; mathematics is simply the science of patterns. Humanity's success …

I enjoyed reading about research to use offbeat autocorrect text suggestions to inspire AI humour (13 October, p 23) . The notion of injecting a touch of whimsy into a reminder system makes psychological sense as we quickly habituate to regularity and consistency, whereas our attention systems are hard-wired to respond to novelty. As the …

I'm not sure the proposal in The Last Word to leave a gap of six to eight car lengths between vehicles to avoid phantom jams on motorways would work (6 October). In my experience, as traffic density builds, some lane-hopper will invariably cut into a gap that size. Drivers then close up to stop further …

• Our editor's attempt to scry the future of death last week (20 October, p 3) was so prescient that he inadvertently referenced this week's Big Idea (p 30) rather than the one in that issue. Apologies for any confusion.