Letters archive

I want to thank Sally Adee for not mentioning the name of the killer in her report "What to do when murder goes viral" ( 5 September, p 10 ). It frustrates me that the murderers always get fame and the victims are usually doomed to become a forgotten statistic. In the case of the …

• It was a fairly easy decision in this case: but we wouldn't be surprised if, in future cases, ethical reporting required naming perpetrators. Self-publicity through social media will pose new challenges for the media, including New Scientist.

You report a new Canadian study on the risks of trans fats and saturated fat ( 15 August, p 6 ). This meta-analysis of 41 previous reports looked at the data in two ways. One way revealed the dangers of saturated fat, while the other did not. Neither showed that saturated fat is safe. The …

Anyone else really want to go buy one of these now? I'd love a car that can cheat tests! George Lees isn't taking the revelations about Volkswagen's emissions software ( 26 September, p 21 ) as seriously as some

Marta Zaraska's article on making fruit and veg less bitter neglected an important aspect of reduced nutrition ( 1 August, p 26 ). Plants produce various phytochemicals in response to pest attack. The practice of selling only perfect-looking produce necessitates zero tolerance for pest damage. Home-grown fruit and vegetables, complete with blemishes, taste more complex …

Debora MacKenzie's article on welcoming refugees concludes with the comment that "climate triggered the crisis in Syria..." and says that more climate refugees are coming ( 12 September, p 10 ). I would like to know more. Does she mean climate change? Have climate changes been so obvious in Syria? I thought that much of …

• It would have been more precise to say that a long drought, which researchers link to climate change ( 7 March, p 6 ), made many Syrians destitute; that is thought to have triggered the 2011 wave of protests that triggered the current crisis.

I read with interest Justin Havird's proposal that sex evolved because of mismatches between DNA in mitochondria and cell nuclei ( 19 September, p 28 ). It brought to mind a report on mitochondrial substitution as a new treatment for women unable to carry a pregnancy to term due to faulty mitochondria (4 June 2014, …

Fred Pearce's pursuit of the origin of the statistic that invasive species have contributed to 40 per cent of recent extinctions ( 5 September, p 26 ) reminded me of my own investigation into another commonly repeated factoid: that 100,000 litres of water are required to produce 1 kilo of beef. After tracing the statistic …

I was delighted to read about gloomy octopuses throwing things ( 29 August, p 14 ). Over 40 years ago, diving in Canada's Georgia Strait, I happened upon an octopus in a rock crevice. It bombarded me with abalone shells. The aim was excellent: they all bounced off my face mask. Many whom I told …

As a mum of a 3-year-old boy, I was fascinated to read the article about parenting and happiness ( 5 September, p 40 ). I hadn't stopped to consider whether I was more happy, less happy, or much the same since the birth of my son. Happiness is a tricky thing to define and even …

Is a "trust hormone" pill really a good idea ( 29 August, p 14 )? With the effect of enhancing "cooperation response"? I can easily think of a few more, or even less, authoritarian regimes who might agree with you. Cudworth, Somerset, UK

Beekeepers are not surprised that the current moratorium on neonicotinoid insecticides in the European Union has actually increased the oilseed rape yield this year in the UK ( 15 August, p 24 ). Farmers have become lazily addicted to chemicals in the mistaken belief that having no insects is better than having any, even pollinators. …

Your report on the explosion at Tianjin in China mentions that "ammonium and potassium nitrate... would have exploded" ( 22 August, p 6 ). But potassium nitrate is neither explosive nor flammable, though it can intensify adjacent fires by decomposing to give oxygen. Ammonium nitrate is seriously explosive, though extensive pre-heating is usually needed. Acetylene …

• Maurice Wilkins won a share of the Nobel Prize for discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids, despite what we implied ( 12 September, p 40 ).