From Peter Leach, Nercwys, Flintshire, UK
Why is NASA wasting time and resources on commercial supersonic flight? Is it simply a demonstration of engineering ability? Such flight will only satisfy the egos of the super-rich, while helping to trash the environment for the rest of humanity. When Concorde was conceived in the mid-1900s, there was a need to speed up the flow of information and ideas across continents, which, at the time, still relied on printed material or personal interaction a fair bit. That no longer applies. Information now flows online and personal interaction can be achieved via ever-improving virtual formats (20 January, p 16).
