Letters archive

The arrival of successful vaccines for covid-19 is great news ( 21 November, p 36 ). But if a possible outcome is a shortage of the special glass needed for the vaccine vials , has their recycling potential been considered? Borosilicate glass can't be recycled in normal waste streams . You mention an estimate that …

The trolley dilemma always puzzled me ( 31 October, p 23 ). Anyone who has played with a train set as a child knows that accidentally setting the points to the halfway position will derail the train. So, move the lever to this position, the runaway trolley is derailed and stopped, and all the people …

Having read the tribute you published, I am reflecting on the death of Bernard Dixon, editor of New Scientist from 1969 to 1979 (5 December 2020, p 26). I started reading New Scientist as a very young child in the 1960s, and I well remember the improvements made by Dixon in the early 70s. It …

Guy Cox, St Albans, New South Wales, Australia Your report on work to develop the first laundry detergent for use in space implies that International Space Station crew members are expected to wear their clothes until they are quite unpleasant ( 5 December 2020, p 17 ). But why wear clothes at all during regular …

Although I don't consider myself to be a domestic cat lover, I feel they are being unfairly accused of decimating British wildlife, particularly birds ( 31 October 2020, p 42 ). I am not disputing that birds are killed by cats, but remember that many birds are killed during the migrating season every year when …

Your article on mass testing to control covid-19 emphasises the importance of using multiple methods to keep it restrained, and highlights the success of certain Asian countries in doing this ( 28 November 2020, p 14 ). Living in Thailand, where the infection rates have been low, it seems likely to me that the use …

Simon Baron-Cohen points out that about 100,000 years ago, a rise in empathy and in inventiveness occurred, and that the brain circuits involved in both "surprisingly" arose at about the same time (5 December 2020, p 34). He notes that in each individual, one circuit tends to dominate, and that the genes for invention are …

Further to your report on the prolonged problems that a coronavirus infection can cause, my wife was diagnosed with covid-19 in March 2020 ( 31 October 2020, p 10 ). She experienced a high temperature, sore throat, chest discomfort and breathlessness. Interestingly, a nurse said the chest discomfort in the sternum (and possibly the sore …

Thank you for your thoughtful piece about efforts to free the orca best known as Lolita from the cramped confines of the Miami Seaquarium ( 28 November 2020, p 40 ). It is unimaginable for any of us to envision 50 years in lockdown, let alone in conditions that fail to meet our basic needs. …

I am furious at the collapse of the Arecibo telescope ( 2 December 2020, online ). How was this allowed to happen? Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the US, not of a low-income nation.