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5 January 2022
From Duncan Cameron, Brighton, UK
You report that Pat Brown of Impossible Foods, a plant-based meat pioneer, has been trying to persuade British cattle farmers of the financial gain of moving from selling animals to growing trees and selling carbon offsets ( 11 December 2021, p 9 ). In the same issue, you report on the impending catastrophe in the …
5 January 2022
From Paul Vann, Kingsbridge, Devon, UK
The article on swapping livestock production for growing trees included a response from the UK's National Farmers' Union that wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement. This suggests to me that Brown is definitely right, though I would question whether we need a pilot. Let's just do it at scale. We are, after all, in a climate …
5 January 2022
From Ron Todd, Yate, Gloucestershire, UK
You say that nearly 200 countries have signed up to a protocol for AI ethics ( 4 December 2021, p 27 ). I would feel safer if the AIs signed up.
5 January 2022
The Hubble photos we showed you ( 4 December 2021, p 30 ) weren't of our solar system, but of much further away in the universe.
12 January 2022
From Ros Groves,Watford, Hertfordshire, UK
Regarding "Science is being downsized" by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, in which she deplores the excess time wasted on administrative tasks and surveys ( 11 December 2021, p 26 ). We need to realise that many eureka moments in science have occurred as the result of an imaginative mind having the time to freely mull over a …
12 January 2022
From Denise Taylor, London, UK
Reader Charles Joynson suggests that to save Earth, we start mining asteroids for the metals needed for renewable tech ( Letters, 18/25 December 2021 ). Yes, let's, but not before we have ruined the seabeds! The answer to our ruinous depredations isn't to spread them, but to alter the way we live. Unfortunately, we seem …
12 January 2022
From Sam Edge, Ringwood, Hampshire, UK
I agree with Michael Brooks that there is a problem with maths in the UK, but it is more to do with those who teach it than its history ( 27 November 2021, p 25 ). With one notable exception, all the maths tutors I had aimed their teaching at the small number of pupils …
12 January 2022
From Sue Thompson, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk , UK
May I congratulate Wong for his article on the merits of using plastic to keep food fresh, as food waste is a major contributor to climate change. This is a pro for some use of plastic.
12 January 2022
From Colin Heath, Cardiff, UK
Swapping out land for grazing livestock in favour of land for trees, as suggested by plant-based meat pioneer Pat Brown, would be window dressing in terms of what is required to tackle climate change, as trees take 25 years to grow to a useful size on average ( 11 December 2021, p 9 ). Instead, …
12 January 2022
From Rachel Mckeown, Aberfan, Mid Glamorgan, UK
Colin Stuart refers to issues raised over naming the newly launched, revolutionary James Webb Space Telescope after a figure associated with controversy ( 11 December, p 36 ). Why not allow the public to have their say by opening a suggestion system, creating a shortlist and choosing a winner by a vote? This would increase …
