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8 July 2020
From Stephanie Woodcock, Truro, Cornwall, UK
Chelsea Whyte examines several hypotheses about post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome ( 6 June, p 40 ). Rather than simply being a chronic effect of Lyme disease, which results from infection by the spirochaete bacterium Borrelia burgdorfer , Marcelo Campos says the syndrome may be an entirely different condition caused by another bacterium also spread by …
8 July 2020
From Robert Saunders, Balcombe, West Sussex, UK
In your article "The enduring grip of covid-19", Paul Garner says his symptoms "are the same as chronic fatigue syndrome, with one difference – CFS is defined as not having a cause" ( 27 June, p 34 ). That isn't accurate. Because there are currently no diagnostic tests for CFS , also known as myalgic …
8 July 2020
❚ Aya Osman was born in Saudi Arabia and, on her first day of orientation for a postdoctoral degree in the US, was one of a handful of black doctors ( 27 June ).
15 July 2020
From Christine Duffill, Southampton, UK
You ask how many people have caught the coronavirus ( 20 June, p 10 ). This is relevant to possible levels of immunity to infection. A suggestion is emerging that only those who have had severe covid-19 develop lasting antibodies , while detectable antibodies are fleeting in mild or asymptomatic cases. Together with evidence that …
15 July 2020
From Santosh Bhaskaran, Mumbai, India
If there are other potential long-term effects of covid-19, they may only come to light when much more time has elapsed ( 27 June, p 34 ). We should watch for any impact on fertility, the number of miscarriages and stillbirths and any health conditions in the next generation. We may therefore need to follow …
15 July 2020
From Bruce Friedrich, The Good Food Institute, Washington DC, US
Among the many steps we could take to lower the risk of the next pandemic, perhaps the most effective would be to stop farming animals for meat ( 20 June, p 30 ). By removing that viral vector, we would make humanity's future much safer. This isn't another call for universal veganism. Rather, we need …
15 July 2020
From Eric Kvaalen, Les Essarts-le-Roi, France
You emphasise the connection between body and consciousness. But what about consciousness when the body is clinically dead, as in near-death events? This was discussed in an interview that New Scientist ran a while ago ( 9 March 2013 ). For instance, there was a case in Spokane, Washington, in which a clinically dead man, …
15 July 2020
From Keith Bremner, Brisbane, Australia
Your article certainly explains why I have long conversations with my stomach about what to order from the menu.
15 July 2020
From Sophie Grillet, Ann Arbor, Michigan, US
I'm happy to see that Neanderthals seem to be in vogue at New Scientist this year ( 6 June, p 12 ). I would like to add a little speculation. All around Europe (and, for all I know, the world), there are folk tales of "the little people": leprechauns, fairies, trolls, the green man, mountain …
15 July 2020
Congratulations to the many readers who pointed out that the "Planning" puzzle reproduced in our extract from The Brain: A user's guide ( 20 June, p 47 ) can in fact be done in five moves.
