Letters archive

I was agreeing with E.O. Wilson (24 January, p 28) until he said: "I'm not an atheist – I'm a scientist. Atheism is the belief that there is no god." Most atheists, including myself, say there is no god not because of whim but because in thousands of years of philosophising there has never been …

Wilson blames religions for our overstretching of the world's capacity to sustain life. There's a more direct link, I'd suggest, with the insatiable greed encouraged by an economy that pillages any resource that will turn a profit. Most religions have tried to teach the moral vacuity of greed as an approach to life. Tamworth, Ontario, …

In discussing the impact of computer algorithms, we run the risk of turning them into scapegoats (7 February, p 30) . But all algorithms have their origins in human thoughts and decisions. In principle it's a simple four-stage process: define a clear end result; decide on inputs and processes to achieve this end; assemble the …

In your leader on algorithms, you write that the AL in HAL – the name of the unhinged computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey – is a contraction of "algorithmic" (7 February, p 5) . That may be so, but very shortly after the film was released, someone pointed out that the letters in "HAL" …

You report that the lead bird in the V-formation of northern bald ibises "often swaps places with the bird behind it" (7 February, p 16) . But surely there are two birds behind it, on either side. My wife and I have a theory that the three birds in the triangle at the head of …

Bernhard Voelkl's research only found that the birds formed pairs which took turns flying in front, regardless of where they were in the formation originally. How the workload is shared at the front of the V is still an open question.

In your article on a new strategy for those involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), David Messerschmitt says that alien civilisations would logically choose to send short, wide-band radio signals rather than prolonged narrow-band ones, to improve both energy efficiency and bandwidth (31 January, p 17) . Yet probably the most important signal …

Travis Metcalfe believes that because rocky planets could have developed very early in the life of the galaxy, planets with advanced civilisations should be everywhere (31 January, p 13) . The operative word here is "should". This brings us back to Enrico Fermi's plaintive question: "Where is everybody?" If the galaxy is saturated with advanced …

Although Christina Reed portrays the grim side of plastics, there is hope with new biodegradable materials on the horizon (31 January, p 28) . It has been known for a long time that biodegradable alternatives exist; the main problem is the cost of the chemicals needed to make them. Many of the big users of …

I am not sure if Jan Karpinski is being condescending or has simply missed the point in claiming that de-industrialisation is not the source of Glasgow's enduring health and social problems (7 February, p 54) . Shipbuilding and steel making in Glasgow were certainly physically hard as Karpinski writes. They also brought workers a living …

I hope that Maria Bitner-Glindzicz is including mitochondrial DNA in her project to collect 100,000 genomes to gain insights into disease (24 January, p 27) . A rare mitochondrial mutation has changed the course of my life, making me uncomfortably warm most of the time. I can usually spot others with this condition by their …

Bitner-Glindzicz has confirmed that the project will be able to examine mitochondrial DNA in those with rare diseases.

In describing rituals as rigid, arbitrary behaviours that are tangential to achieving any practical goal, Dan Jones reminded me that they are not confined to African tribes, descendants of Vikings, or children (17 January, p 36) . Sociologists have categorised much of the activity in large organisations as rituals designed to foster conformity and group …

Colin Bargery remarks on the perceived risk of catching a tapeworm from beavers (3 January, p 55) . Here in Canada, tapeworms are not considered a threat from beavers, unlike "beaver fever" – a colloquial name for the disease giardiasis. It is caused by the protozoan parasite Giardia lamblia , carried by beavers and muskrats. …

Contagious yawning may indeed be sparked by the action of mirror neurons as Chris Good suggests (24 January, p 54) . But perhaps there is more to it than that. Maybe a triggering yawn merely implants the idea of yawning, which then sparks an urge to yawn. I need only think about yawning to set …

Fred Pearce writes that the clean-up of the UK's Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site is scheduled to end by 2120, in 105 years (24 January, p 8) . This brings to mind a common saying here in France. It translates as "we are not going to wait for 107 years" – which is to say, we …

I was interested to read Flora Graham's article about ants tolerating other ants, as long as they were of a different size (newscientist.com/article/dn26872) . This contrasts with behaviour I observed while living in Papua New Guinea. Two species had encountered each other while foraging on a tree trunk. The black ants were able to grasp …

Further to Vernon Barber's speculation (7 February, p 54) , if we do turn out to be autonomous avatars in a computer simulation, then Planck's constant is the limit of the model's resolution. Harlow, Essex, UK