Letters archive

I enjoyed Eric Canan's look at the potential causes of ball lightning ( 24 October, p 46 ). However, it made me think that before we introduce such exotic concepts as four-dimensional lightning or Gatchina plasmoids as explanations, surely the first step is to establish that ball lightning is a real phenomenon. Canan points out …

I would like to nominate Ignas Snellen and his four colleagues for a Nobel prize ( 31 October, p 18 ). By concluding there is no sign of phosphine in Venus's atmosphere, they may have saved millions of dollars, euros, pounds, roubles and I don't know what else that were going to be spent on …

The most significant ecological impact of cats may not be what they kill, but what they eat ( 31 October, p 42 ). Each of the 373 million pet cats in the world consume an amount of meat similar to a human in many places, around 40 kilograms a year. Meat is the food with …

In your article on rebuilding economies after the pandemic, the thinkers you questioned were on the ball except when it came to quantitative easing and monetary theory ( 31 October, p 36 ). The latter is a failure and the former shouldn't be deployed in its usual form because the extra money it injects into …

To say "lockdowns are an indication of government failure" is disingenuous ( Leader, 7 November ). The real problem is that many citizens are unable to follow the guidelines, particularly among the 18 to 29 age group. Other than countries that are very small, have low population densities or are so totalitarian that they pay …

You report that, if a covid-19 vaccine does arrive and is made available at no cost, 54 per cent of people polled in the US will refuse it ( 31 October, p 8 ). Across the border in Canada, we do have anti-vaccination activists, but far fewer than in the US. In Ontario, Canada's most …

I tried to give my family a numeric guide to risk for coronavirus exposure to help them figure out which activities were riskier ( 24 October, p 40 ). It is my attempt to quantify exposure risk guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Give yourself a score for the following five …

Your excellent article on the rewiring of economics after covid-19 drips with hope and the promise of fresh thinking, particularly on the climate and monetary fairness ( 31 October, p 36 ). Among the big ideas, however, there was a notable absentee. Last year, many economists signed a letter printed in The Wall Street Journal …

Your article on ball lightning failed to mention another possible cause: induced hallucination ( 24 October, p 46 ). This was discussed in earlier coverage ( 22 May 2010). I suspect that the impact of a bright flash on vision could be enough to trigger the illusion. Recall how apparent reports say the glowing ball …

Your review of sci-fi thriller The Book of Malachi mentions that inmates in the US are "used as firefighters" ( 17 October, p 32 ). However, I would like to point out that this is a voluntary work programme that prisoners must earn a place in.