Letters archive

While the potential confirmation of gravitational waves and inflation (22 March, p 8) is understandably exciting, I had hoped New Scientist would give a sober assessment of the observations and their interpretation. Instead, you have chosen to sensationalise it by talking it up as a confirmation of the multiverse. As a church minister with a …

Two points about your special report on the origins of the universe struck me. First, how can Harvard academics get away with hyping their big bang findings when the work has not yet been peer reviewed or published? Lesser mortals can be reprimanded by their employers, or even sacked for such behaviour. Secondly, why is …

I read your feature on breaking harmful behaviours (15 March, p 34) with interest. I am 81 years old and have played video games since the 1980s, mainly the simple, repetitive ones like Minesweeper, Solitaire and Tetris. I used to play late into the night and time would disappear. In my 70s, I would find …

In her feature on medically accurate digital doubles (15 March, p 46) , Linda Geddes discusses how interactions between different conditions can complicate treatment, and touches on the ethical dilemma in which knowing about a health risk can negatively affect a patient's quality of life. What isn't mentioned is the additional case management load and …

Your editorial on gravitational waves (22 March, p 5) , reports Einstein as having worked as a "lowly clerk" at the Swiss Patent Office. In fact, he was working there as a "technical expert third class", although that term would have been correctly translated as "patent clerk" in the US parlance of the time. In …

Adam Corner (22 February, p 28) writes that "more flooding is on the way for the UK if ambitious action on climate change is not forthcoming, but there is no guarantee that the public will join the dots". May I suggest some more dots to consider joining? A growing population makes increasing demands on Earth's …

Clare Wilson's article detailed the negative effects of stress on women's fertility (29 March, p 16) . I started one of the first fertility clinics in London in 1971. It soon became clear that stress was a significant factor in some women's failure to conceive. One woman was making a lot of money by working …

What Joseph Silk's article (8 March, p 26) on the philosophical challenges of cosmology neglected to mention was the issue of time. Within the observable universe, there is a multitude of different states joined into a particular sequence. As I understand it, Lorenzo Maccone suggested that the arrow of time is defined by memory, and …

Helen Knight's feature discussed generating energy from ocean heat (1 March, p 48) . I wonder, with all the holes being drilled for fracking (15 February, p 36) , is there any opportunity to tap into geothermal energy either during or after fracking operations? The sort of depths being drilled lead me to believe there …

Reading the sad story about rugby players' risk of brain injuries (15 March, p 11) , I was reminded of the time my London school was evacuated to Llanelli in Wales during the second world war. My friends and I decided we would like to play rugby and, while we were having a go, a …

I was surprised by Shaun Machale's suggestion that clay constitutes an underground sponge with impressive water retention (22 March, p 30) . Conventional hydrogeological wisdom suggests the opposite: the fine clay particles do not permit significant porosity and clay's plasticity hinders the development of fractures, which create permeability. It is true that clay strata retain …

Alan C. Larman's account of seeing ultraviolet (15 March, p 33) prompts me to write about my own experience. Three years ago, I lost the sight in one eye because of septicaemia following a dog bite. The vitreous humour was removed from my eye and replaced with silicone oil, restoring my vision immediately. Within six …

Gwynne Williams (22 March, p 31) raises a very important issue about genetic modification. It is absurd to lump together the selection of desirable characteristics in a genus or family of plants, with the introduction of genes from quite unrelated organisms. The first process has been going on for millions of years, with or without …

Moheb Costandi makes several references to the cooling taste of mint or menthol in his look at hot foods (1 March, p 44) . The fact that mint stimulates some receptors that also respond to low temperature explains why it is often characterised as cool. However, that is not the whole story. To me, it …