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18 November 2020
From Neil Doherty, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK
In his book extract, Carlo Rovelli hits a good note on black holes ( 31 October, p 30 ). A true singularity predicted to have an infinite density at an infinitesimal point is a mathematical anomaly, as maths hates infinities. But here this one has sat, grinning wide – or the inverse thereof, in fact. …
18 November 2020
From Rollo Reid, Christchurch, Dorset, UK
Stephen Hawking made a big splash when he forecast Hawking radiation coming out of black holes in such a way that, over time, a black hole could evaporate. Rovelli makes no mention of Hawking radiation in the extract from his book. Is Hawking radiation now dead in the water, being replaced with a more dramatic …
18 November 2020
From Caroline Peters, Wokingham, Berkshire, UK
As a retired IT professional, I recognised only too clearly the problems with legacy systems described in the article "Code red" ( 7 November, p 44 ). Computer systems have a life in the same way that vehicles do. We replace cars and lorries regularly to pre-empt serious issues, so why not do the same …
25 November 2020
From Tim Stevenson, Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, UK
You report research by NASA showing that there may be up to 5 billion Earth-like habitable planets in the galaxy ( 14 November, p 14 ). On one level, this is terrifying. I say that because of how it relates to the Drake equation, which is used to calculate the possible number ( N ) …
25 November 2020
From Frank Kolmann, Sydney, Australia
Even if there are 5 billion Earth-like planets in our galaxy, it doesn't mean life is there. Our moon may well have been necessary for life to arise on Earth – it would take an entire article to fully explain why, from spin dynamics to atmosphere stripping to tidal effects. We need to find an …
25 November 2020
From Robert East, London, UK
Your article on the impact of predation by pet cats reminded me of a study of 70 cats conducted in a UK village in 1987 ( 31 October, p 42 ). It showed a gamma distribution of prey numbers – that is to say, a large number killed few animals and a small number killed …
25 November 2020
From Robin Buxton, Harwell, Oxfordshire, UK
The trolley problem, a test of our moral decisions, has another choice. If throwing a stranger in front of the trolley would stop it, so, too, would throwing yourself.
25 November 2020
From Hillary Shaw, Newport, Shropshire, UK
You wonder whether we should fear automation coming for our jobs ( 10 October, p 44 ). I think it may actually make the job market more unequal rather than shrink it outright. There are some roles that we could automate, but in which it is cheaper to employ a human. Automation may remove middle-tier …
25 November 2020
From Matthew Allan, Eastleigh, Hampshire, UK
You portray an attractive vision of space travel powered by sails to capture solar winds ( 31 October, p 46 ). The seductive parallels with sailing ships on Earth distracts from the issue of steering such space vessels. A sailing ship can only work at the intersection of two fluids – in our case, air …
25 November 2020
From Rachel Feilden, Tellisford, Somerset, UK
Vijaysree Venkatraman closes her review of books on the use of data in elections by saying "after all, it is still humans who cast the votes, not machines" ( 24 October, p 30 ). That isn't always the case: the documentary How Ohio Pulled It Off (2008) showed the result of a software engineer's analysis …
