Letters archive

Anyone can look up the Paris Agreement (PA) text on curbing global warming to see that calling 1.5°C a "goal" is wrong. This matters for several reasons ( 18 January, p 8 ). First, many lower-income countries regarded 1.5°C as fundamentally inequitable, given the implication that high-income countries had used up most of the carbon …

Your look at the lessons learned from the covid-19 pandemic largely missed one crucial aspect – that lockdown was a perfect Petri dish for conspiracy theories and blatant untruths to spread and take root across online platforms, contributing to real-world harms ( 4 January, p 7 ). That lesson hasn't been learned; media literacy was …

One thing about the passing of time during the pandemic wasn't that the year of lockdown seemed longer or shorter than normal, but everything from before covid-19 felt like decades ago, even by 2022.

You covered a study that suggests Xenodens calminechari , a new species of mosasaurid named by us, could be based on a forged jaw fossil. We can confirm the authenticity of the fossil ( 25 January, p 21 ). Our team includes world experts in Moroccan mosasaurs. Having published 20 papers, described 10 new mosasaurids, …

Wearables meant to boost mental health sound like a nightmare. With these, I wouldn't be allowed to drift off to sleep thinking about what I want to think about – I plan the next day: where am I going for my walk, what am I having for dinner, etc. But that would bring a storm …

Your article on scientific advances helping to increase knowledge of emperor penguins in Antarctica was fascinating. However, there are other problems apart from climate change affecting these and other creatures there. Increased tourism is leading to disturbance of the penguins, especially when newborn chicks are about. Litter is an increasing problem, as is waste from …

The pigeons in Aperture ( 25 January, p 26 ), clockwise from far left, are a Franconian Trumpeter, Danish Suabian, Old Dutch Capuchine, Gimpel (or Archangel) and Jacobin.

When it comes to the importance of our sense of smell, perhaps the majority of the taste of food and drink is predicated upon the aromas we experience before and during the act of consumption. This is why anosmia can lead to nutritional deficiencies, when all food seems too bland. In fact, one could argue …

Rocket launches are deemed environmentally OK if hydrogen is used as rocket fuel, because it doesn't add to the carbon dioxide burden. However, the world must cut the total energy it consumes, and so any non-fossil fuel, such as hydrogen, ought to be used to replace fossil fuels in everyday life, not for a new …

While the idea that the possible underlying structure of space-time could be to do with a strange geometric entity is fascinating, I suggest this raises another issue for many: the impossibility of comprehending the reality behind such descriptions ( 25 January, p 10 ).