Letters archive

The role of cellular electrical signalling in depression, stress and anxiety has been a topic of research, but it was fascinating to understand how cellular voltage patterns can facilitate cancer cell propagation and how ion channel blockers can potentially mitigate against this. Mapping out a person's electrome can potentially unlock personalised treatment for health conditions( …

When it comes to energy-saving efforts, Richard Oliver raised concerns about the cooling effect of drying clothes by hanging them indoors in colder months. I have begun indoor drying on racks and had that worry at first. However, it appears to me that the effect would be minuscule compared with the energy lost when indoor …

In your look at the impacts of having children, the alarming carbon footprint, per year or per lifetime, of a new person added to the world's population is based on a statistical model. This model, as you said, factors in the generations that can follow. However, it seems to assume continued strong population growth, whereas …

You report an idea to shade Earth by blasting moon dust to Lagrange points in space. What could possibly go wrong? Mining, oil and power firms have long been "geoengineering" our environment. Some unintended consequences now require serious discussion of technological fixes that may cost the Earth. Global corporations seek to levy charges in order …

You report that the James Webb Space Telescope has detected very distant galaxies that seem far too massive to have formed so early in the universe, potentially upending our current theories for such objects( 4 March, p 19 ). Could they be evidence in support of the idea that our observable universe is actually the …

Sally Adee's look at the human "electrome" is the most important biological article your magazine has published because it seems to bust a myth. I never bought into the prevailing orthodoxy that says proliferating, low-power, athermal radio and microwave signals can't affect us biologically( 25 February, p 38 ). Shifting electromagnetic fields can jiggle ion …

Thanks to Abigail Beall for another great astronomical piece with her look at the delights of the full moon. I have been moonstruck for most of my life, but for me, the magic lies more at the new moon( 4 February, p 51 ). I was recently amazed to see, through binoculars, a very clear …

Grandiose schemes to "save the planet", such as mining and spreading large amounts of rock to accelerate carbon dioxide absorption by chemical weathering, might be a good idea were it not for the amount of CO 2 and pollution generated to achieve this. Our best hope of prolonging our stay on Earth is to reduce …

There seem to be two glaring omissions in the assessment of energy use for the 2000-watt challenge. I live off-grid and one of the greatest loads on our solar power system is the water pump that supplies the house with filtered water from our rainwater tank. A smaller, but not negligible, one is the power …

James Dinneen regrets that he has to open his windows given the excessive heating in winter. He could avoid this practice by covering the radiators with insulating materials (a thick blanket, or enclosing them in a "box" made of polystyrene). In this way, he could get nearer to his 2000-watt target.