Join the conversation in New Scientist's Letters section, where readers can share their thoughts and opinions on articles and see responses from experts and enthusiasts across a range of science topics. To submit a letter, please see our terms and email letters@newscientist.com
19 October 2022
From Bryn Glover, Kirkby Malzeard, North Yorkshire, UK
Michael Le Page reports on "Alarm at UK growth push", but doesn't mention the area of concern that some would say is of greatest significance, the idea that capitalist growth is incompatible with tackling climate change 1 October, p 7 .
19 October 2022
From Nick Canning, Coleraine,<br/>County Londonderry, UK
Your report of this year's physics Nobel prize asserts the winners showed "information could be instantly transmitted over infinite distances" 8 October, p 9 . They didn't . It can still only be transmitted at a maximum speed equal to the speed of light in a vacuum. What the winners showed was that nature can't …
19 October 2022
From Moira Nicholson,<br/>Corvallis, Oregon, US
"Meat-free mutts and moggies" left me wondering about the environmental impact of making the vitamins, minerals and amino acids needed to supplement vegan pet foods so they meet dogs' and cats' dietary requirements 24 September, p 44 . Perhaps it is better to pick a pet species that is herbivorous, such as a rabbit, tortoise …
19 October 2022
From Trevor Benn,<br/>Bolton, UK
Further to Larry Stoter's idea of changing the formula for body mass index, there are various indices of body build calculated as functions of weight and height Letters, 1 October . I once suggested weight squared over height cubed would have optimal correlation with obesity as measured by skin-fold thickness, but some colleagues thought this …
19 October 2022
It was the effect of the wavelength of blue light that was tested in connection with sleep ( 10 September, p 12) .
26 October 2022
From Charlie Wartnaby, Cambridge, UK
22 October, p 19 I hope we never see anything like the Nord Stream gas pipeline leaks again. But if we do, I suspect that even uncontrolled partial burning would be better climate-wise than a release of pure natural gas. It should have been ignited.
26 October 2022
From Graeme Hurry, Preston, Lancashire, UK
I read with interest Clare Wilson's article on the genetic engineering of food 15 October, p 51 , centred on her desire to acquire seeds from genetically modified purple tomatoes. I am sure modified farmed foods are safe. However, I worry that GM seed companies might one day include a terminator gene in engineered varieties …
26 October 2022
From Sam Edge, Ringwood, Hampshire, UK
24 September, p 36 I don't understand why anyone would be surprised that a significant part of our variability, especially in brain function, is down to chance. Our DNA has about 3 billion base pairs, each of which encodes two bits of data. Even if all of this were significant, that isn't enough data to …
26 October 2022
From Ed Prior, Poquoson, Virginia, US
8 October, p 34 Stuart Clark's excellent article "Our magnetic universe" stated that nuclear fusion "relies on strong magnetic fields to trap energy and heat" and that this "unexpected ability of the magnetic fields to trap heat could solve the puzzle of the inexplicably hot intracluster medium in galaxy clusters". This is consistent with ideas …
26 October 2022
From Stephanie Woodcock, Carnon Downs, Cornwall, UK
8 October, p 12 Michael Edelstein wonders why vaccination reduces symptoms of long covid. Could it be that long covid occurs because a bad bout of covid-19 occupies the immune system to such a degree that an underlying infection can manifest? If so, would it be worth asking what kind of latent infection could behave …
