Letters archive

I enjoyed your article "Figuring out fatigue" ( 10 September, p 42 ). As an academic who researches fatigue from a sport and exercise perspective, I appreciate how complex it is to conceptualise. You focused heavily on sensing of energy availability as the driver behind fatigue development, but there is copious evidence in the sport …

An anti-inflammatory strategy to tackle fatigue might be risky in some cases. Maybe the body is right and is doing its best to counter a very clever pathogen that has so far eluded discovery. I acknowledge that short-term treatment to defuse major inflammation must sometimes be done. However, trying to negate the body's attempt to …

You report an expert warning of a "cascade of tree mortality" caused by drought in Europe ( 17 September, p 13 ). The claims of many schemes to offset carbon emissions by planting trees were already controversial. These findings about the impacts of drought, plus the rise of large forest fires in many regions of …

Body mass index – weight divided by height squared – has always seemed questionable to me ( 10 September, p 28 ). Wouldn't weight divided by height cubed, a rough measurement of density, be better?

I agree that dogs can be fed vegan foods exclusively, and it is true that nutrients such as vitamin D3 and taurine, previously only available to cats from animal sources, can now be provided in other ways ( 24 September, p 44 ). Sadly, other essential nutrients for vegan cats, like arachidonic acid derived from …

I was intrigued by the statement in "Apes, not angels" that "status... unlocks every animal's ultimate goal – breeding rights", as human status signals seem in decline ( 24 September, p 25 ). Male fashion has become more staid, dull and standardised. Men, with a few exceptions, wear almost identical sombre, dark, formal clothes rather …

It seems that, not content with ruining one world, we are now intending to ruin another – the moon ( 17 September, p 38 ). In my long life, I have been a professional coral reef biologist and a professional and amateur speleologist. Both have taken me to some of Earth's most wonderful and remote …

I have dreamed of a telescope installed on the moon that would point 24/7 at Earth. Perhaps such equipment could be part of the first cargo sent to the location on the moon where a base would be. For one, its view might be a pleasant diversion for moon crews. But far more importantly, we …

The antimicrobial drug derived from the sap of the Australian rainforest blushwood tree is an interesting example of the medicinal possibilities of natural compounds derived from flora ( 24 September, p 15 ). Tropical rainforests contain a great diversity of plant species. Considering many forests are under threat, every attempt should be made to investigate …

More dead trees as a result of recent drought in Europe will increase the wildfire risk, so rather than losing individual trees we might lose whole forests and, at the same time, add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere ( 17 September, p 13 ). The deadwood should be removed. It could be used to meet …