Letters archive

There is much talk of the impact of covid-19 on how we greet one another ( 11 November 2020, p 41 ). Perhaps the flu pandemic that followed the first world war gives clues to how our behaviour on this may change long term. I am 88 and my parents, born in 1907 and 1909, …

You reported how changes in our eyes occur before the decision to initiate strenuous activity ( 28 November 2020, p 13 ). This is one of the first things a novice boxer is taught: "Don't look at the opponent's hands. Look at their eyes. They will tell you when the real attack is about to …

When it comes to hunting for micrometeorites that land on my roof, I have often dredged my gutters with a magnet from a computer hard drive in a plastic bag ( 19/26 December 2020, p 53 ). Remove the sludge adhering to the bag, wash in a Petri dish and examine under a microscope.

Apparent volcanic activity even on the most remote worlds in our system raises the question of the source of its internal energy ( 5 December 2020, p 44 ). I wonder if, as planets and moons cool and their outer layers solidify, there is a compression of internal material by shrinkage of the outer layer. …

I wanted to thank New Scientist editor Emily Wilson and all the team, especially Adam Vaughan, Graham Lawton, Michael Le Page and Clare Wilson, for keeping me so well informed about coronavirus over the past tumultuous year. Your coverage has been fascinating, enlightening and always informative.

I share Mark Spinney's suspicion that long covid symptoms may be due to the virus remaining active in tissues, somehow hiding from the immune system ( Letters, 2 January ). A wine connoisseur friend of mine lost his sense of smell to covid-19 in March 2020 and it never recovered – at least not until …

In view of the uncertainty over the strength and persistence of the immunity induced by the covid-19 vaccines, and given the virus will probably be circulating for many months yet, could the protective effect of vaccines be enhanced by exposure to the "street" virus a suitable time after inoculation? ( 19/26 December 2020, p 10 …

Geoff Willmetts writes that people who have been vaccinated should have a secure badge to prove it ( Letters, 19/26 December 2020 ). In the world of scams, fraud and fakes, nothing is secure. If this idea were implemented, it would be 24 hours at most before badges were for sale on the internet – …

In "Why don't wildebeest have wheels?", Michael Marshall made some excellent points, especially that "in nature, smooth, flat surfaces are rare, so there is no reason for evolution to favour wheels" and that "it is hard to imagine how the wheel might receive nutrients from the rest of the body" ( 19/26 December 2020, p …

I like the simplicity of Guy Cox's solution to the laundry problem on the ISS – nudity – although I suspect that tethering or taping might be required for some duties ( Letters, 2 January ). It would certainly boost viewing figures for ISS broadcasts, but I am not sure it would be a runner …