Letters archive

I appreciated Adam Vaughan's article on the UK Information Commissioner's Office preparing guidance on how to clearly explain how artificial intelligence is used in decision-making ( 7 December 2019, p 10 ). As Vaughan says, an organisation that breaches the eventual regulation could, in extreme cases, have to pay a fine of up to 4 …

While discussing climate stress, Fred White observes that though politicians know about icebergs, they are instead discussing the economics of the Titanic and debating the social inequality of passengers forced to travel in steerage (Letters, 23 November 2019 ). Toronto has declared a climate emergency, but has no clearly defined, scientifically supported plan with measurable …

You suggest fortified plant milk as a source of vegan calcium ( 4 January, p 32 ). Earlier in life, I was vegan for 14 years and as far as I remember, there was no calcium-fortified soya milk in those days. I relied on tahini – sesame seed paste – as my main calcium source. …

Keeping livestock for food is a bad thing. So, I think, is long-distance transportation of the alternatives. I recall the nutritionist Magnus Pyke being asked in the 1970s whether the UK could be self-sufficient in food. His answer was yes – provided we learned to live mainly on vegetables such as swedes and beans.

The UK's Committee on Climate Change proposes that airlines and oil companies should pay for a colossal tree-planting drive ( 1 February, p 15 ). How much would this reduce the area of land dedicated to producing food in the UK? I wonder whether this is a good idea in a world that has a …

Readers discuss making towns more pedestrian-friendly (Letters, 25 January ). One thing that my 40 years of highway engineering work has taught me is that some drivers believe themselves to be expert highway design engineers. I agree with Rob Wheway that play space should be part of development, including on-street play space that allows shared …

Wheway rightly points out the importance of children being able to play safely in our streets. But cul-de-sacs are socially isolating and make direct pedestrian movement difficult, encouraging higher vehicle use. The solution is to build and rebuild roads on the shared space principle, with constant priority given to pedestrians and vehicles able to move …

Your article about recycling electric car batteries was necessary but depressing ( 16 November 2019, p 12 ). I remember the car industry being very keen 10 years ago to tell us that it was designing cars for the whole life cycle, including recycling. It is ironic that the greenest cars now seem to have …

Michael Vandeman, asking whether we can draw a line between life and death, questions whether frozen Canadian frogs are dead or alive (Letters, 11 January ). They are very definitely alive, as they aren't entirely frozen. For example, Rana sylvatica , the North American wood frog, has biochemical adaptations that prevent more than about 75 …

Rowan Hooper's report on the discovery of social species of octopus reminds me of stories about their supposed intelligence ( 21/28 December 2019, p 52 ). My marine biology baccalaureate professor was Sneed Collard . He told us of a research project in which the investigator would regularly head to the lab fridge for a …