Letters archive

Allan Reese's letter discusses an approach to what happens in courtrooms using Bayesian statistics, and asks what prior probabilities jurors bring to the cases they try (11 April) . If we accept a Bayesian approach to verdicts, the jury should be given all the evidence, along with information regarding how each part affects the likelihood …

Helen Thomson discusses some concerns about sequencing babies' genes (11 April, p 8) but does not mention the effect on the future cost of healthcare for the babies concerned. In countries such as the UK where the principle still (just) holds that free healthcare is provided from taxation solely on the basis of need, this …

"It's a shame. Her theorem is the most beautiful one in analytical mechanics" @JasonVerve Tweets on Emmy Noether's undervalued work on symmetry (25 April, p 33)

In your article on the moral dangers of autonomous, lethally armed robots, Peter Asaro says "most people now feel it is unacceptable for robots to kill people without human intervention" (18 April, p 7) . The moral reasoning behind this view is intriguing. How is sending a programmed, armed robot into an area designated as …

As I consider the question of whether we can control killer robots, I also ask: will a killer robot panic and shoot at everything in sight? Will it kill when in doubt? Will it suffer battle fatigue and shoot in uncontrolled rage? I suggest that in future soldiers should not be authorised to kill without …

It seems plausible that within a century the vast majority of work-a-day jobs may be replaced by artificial intelligence (4 April, p 18) . As a computer scientist, I have yet to see one that can write code, or a compelling novel or movie: but the creative arts are a rather thin slice of work. …

Every article on how drones, robots and algorithms are going to replace human workers seems to end with worrying about how people will cope with the increased leisure, instead of moving to the next step, which is worrying how people will cope with not having any money, because they haven't got a job. How will …

It would have given my husband, Rodney Coates , great pleasure to have read Sandrine Ceurstemont's lucid and comprehensive report on noise in the ocean (11 April, p 38) . For many years he taught underwater acoustics to those in defence, the oil industry and environmental disciplines. It is heartening to see that this work …

According to Graham Lawton, "Beliefs, more than anything else, are what make us human" (4 April, p 28) . I guess I'm not human, then, since I decided as a geeky astrophysics student many years ago to live in an evidence-based world in which beliefs are replaced by working hypotheses. At least, I think I …

While I was interested in the detail of how we perceive our personal "reality", there was little mention of the connection with mental disorders. Studying these might illuminate our understanding of belief and lead to insights into treatments. The list of irrational beliefs held by significant percentages of people in the UK overlapped to a …

Describing electrodes that can control people's legs, Evan Peck says that such app-run systems will stop people being chained to their smartphones (11 April, p 18) . But instead of attending to a navigation app, they will be on Facebook – or Periscope (11 April, p 19) . Next, will joggers run on auto, watching …

Adrian Ellis suggests using virtual reality at pop concerts (Letters, 28 March) . Could the perceived absence of time travellers be due to them using VR, so as not to frighten the locals? Alicante, Spain

It is a waste of time trying to come up with clever algorithms for generating easy-to-remember passwords (21 March, p 28) . Choose hard-to-remember ones, by all means – and write them down. You know how to keep your credit cards and house keys safe. Put passwords in the same place. Hamilton, New Zealand

• Messenger is a smallish space probe: the crater it made on Mercury is an estimated 16 metres wide (2 May, p 6) .