Letters archive

Thank goodness Michael Le Page highlights the rarely stated gap in energy yield between crops grown to produce biofuels and solar photovoltaic panels, of 50 to 110 fold. Those figures need proclaiming in headlines( 5 November, p 27 ). What possesses Western governments to press on with subsidies for biofuel crops so large that farmers …

The UK government's resistance to publicising energy saving advice is bizarre. While only a small portion of the populace would take notice of the likes of "opt for a jumper rather than an overheated house" or "try to make one journey fewer this week" or even the ancient "is your journey really necessary", it would …

Sam Edge's letter regarding street lights that use red LEDs rather than white ones was fortuitously read by me on the morning after I experienced my first red LED-lit roundabout. This was at the new island junction just east of Upton-upon-Severn in Worcestershire. I could hardly believe it as I approached: an island junction entirely …

The introduction to your interview with Laura Mersini-Houghton began by asking: "How did our universe begin?" But, of course, her theory doesn't tell us how it began( 5 November, p 43 ). She says that "in the very first moment, before the universe emerged in space-time, you can think of the universe as a wave …

Your article about probiotic appetite suppressants makes no mention of the fact that the bacterium involved, Hafnia alvei , is part of a normal, healthy gut biome and is present in a wide variety of fermented foods, such as cheese, yogurt and kimchi ( 5 November, p 20 ). It is also found on fresh …

It struck me that the increasing prevalence of dangerous strains of bird flu in the wild in the UK, which has now led to commercial flocks being required to be kept indoors, is leading to exactly the conditions required for even worse strains to develop in those more cramped and worse ventilated quarters ( 22 …

In the not-so-distant past, a form of human hibernation might have been more common than thought. Graham Robb, in his book The Discovery of France , describes it as a physical and economic necessity in remote parts of rural France. He writes that lowering the metabolic rate would have prevented hunger that might result from …

You raise questions over copyright of AI-generated works. AI is essentially an algorithm stored on a microchip. Microsoft's Word is similarly an algorithm. If I create an original document using Word, I own the copyright to that combination of words in the document. Similarly, if I use an AI algorithm to produce a document or …

You state that "for years it has been energy orthodoxy to argue that nuclear will be an essential component of the UK's energy mix to meet its net-zero goal". I would say that this doesn't make the argument any more valid ( 12 November, p 9 ). To avoid the need for such power plants, …

We don't have to worry about "scraps of residual plastic" entering the food chain - "compostable" bags or wrappers are often made from starch. Of course, composting returns carbon to the atmosphere without getting any energy benefit, as would be obtained if the material were incinerated.