Letters archive

Corinne Le Quéré misses an important option in her advice to the UK government on how to use the economic stimulus required after the lockdown to encourage the shift to a net-zero society ( 4 July, p 36 ). As well as the electric cars and bikes that she mentions, lockdown has shown that choosing …

Peter Borrows wonders what will happen with the move to 1-metre social distancing as the lockdown is lifted ( Letters, 4 July ). Here is one simple answer: the dole queues will get shorter.

The estimated number of people who have contracted coronavirus in the UK according to SeroTracker is 5.13 per cent ( 20 June, p 10 ). The source of the cholera outbreak that John Snow identified wasn't the water pump handle, but the water being pumped ( 6 June, p 54 ).

Name and address supplied You report on institutional racism in science ( 27 June, p 14 ). I am a white woman in a fairly senior support role at a university, but I have seen racism and sexism in my own institution. It isn't just the hurdles that BAME students have to overcome or the …

When discussing why there hasn't yet been another wave of the coronavirus in the UK, you say one explanation that can be ruled out is herd immunity as the level required for this virus has been estimated at 60 per cent, while studies suggest that "just 1 to 10 per cent of people have antibodies …

I share Peter Borrows's feelings on inverse square laws applying to social distancing ( Letters, 4 July ). But there is another mechanism beyond direct transfer that is relevant to stopping the coronavirus. The question of indirect transfer – inhaling contaminated air that has been circulated from a distant person – seems relatively neglected. In …

Kevin Hand, in reference to moons in our solar system with ice-capped oceans, says the presence of microbial life in a range of extreme environments on Earth suggests that "if life emerges easily wherever the conditions are right, then these alien oceans beyond Earth should be inhabited" ( 20 June, p 40 ). This would …

Jason Wright may not be able to think of a reason why the Odd Radio Circles (ORCs) recently found by astronomers might be created by aliens, but there may be one ( 11 July, p 14 ). We know that when our civilisation began broadcasting radio waves, these also spread out from our planet in …

Regarding the use of water instead of argon in double-glazing, two thoughts come to mind ( 11 July, p 15 ). Firstly, wouldn't water add a fair amount of weight to each window? This wouldn't just be from the weight of water, but also from the frame and seals, which would have to be upgraded. …

You say that "half of the deaths of large tropical trees are down to lightning" ( 27 June, p40 ). One way to reduce this toll could be to fit such trees with cheap lightning conductors.