Letters archive

There has been a lot of talk of using the power of AI to create unique images, including movies, but how about going a step further in all of this( 19 November, p 14 ). If, say, we had a 1-megapixel matrix, with three colours and 256 brightness levels possible per pixel, and gave it …

Your article sets out the need to reduce evaporation from reservoirs on the Colorado river. Is it possible to cover these with floating arrays of solar panels? Given that solar radiation poses the greatest risk of evaporation, these panels would significantly reduce the effect of the sun on the lakes and would, of course, be …

Graham Lawton's article on nociplastic pain, as part of your wider look at pain, was powerful, moving and, at the end, shocking. As a family doctor, I am aware of the misery of this condition, the lack of availability of effective treatment on the National Health Service and the misunderstanding of it among colleagues. It …

In your collection of articles on pain, I would have liked to have seen a reference to hypnosis. As a former psychologist, I experienced its dramatic improvement of pain, especially in good hypnotic subjects. There are even reported instances of its use to induce total anaesthesia for surgery.

Your excellent articles on pain refer to the beneficial effects of placebo. Many clinical trials have compared the effect of placebo versus no treatment for a variety of conditions. A review of these, published in 2001 ( The New England Journal of Medicine, doi.org/bcp58d ), concluded that placebos have no significant clinical benefit.

When it comes to pain, we should acknowledge how exercise may help control it. After wrenching a knee, I read that exercise might help, and this proved to be the case. Without it, I could have been on painkillers for 15 years and would probably be immobile. Doctors need to consider alternatives to medication.

Your leader on the challenges of population change states that all countries should be educating women and respecting their rights. That is certainly true, but in the US, which claims to be an enlightened society, many states are in the process of rescinding reproductive rights( Leader, 12 November ). It rather weakens the West's case …

Michael Le Page mentions that crops can be grown under solar panels so that farmland used for solar energy isn't wasted. Indeed, there is great potential for this combined strategy in tropical countries, where rows of solar panels can cover half the field, providing shade for plants and supporting rainwater harvesting. While economic returns in …

You report on a study revealing that turtles vocalise. However, anyone who has had the privilege of a Testudinidae roommate won't be surprised. They will probably remember approaching his or her bowl at dinner time, seeing a head rise up above the water, mouth open, and hearing a soft little peep( 29 October, p 12 …

Simon Robinson objects to Chanda Prescod-Weinstein's proposal that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) be renamed in honour of Harriet Tubman, writing: "Let us remember past scientists, technicians and engineers for their contributions to their fields, without seeking to judge them because they lived at a time when social attitudes were different( Letters, 12 November …