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27 February 2019
From Brian Pollard, North Hill, Cornwall, UK
Michael Le Page reports some clever ideas about wirelessly charging electric cars ( 16 February, p 22 ). This leaves me feeling quite dismayed. There is an assumption that we can solve our roadside pollution problems by switching to electric cars. But you have previously reported that half the fine particulate matter that gets into …
27 February 2019
From Michael Crick, Corbridge, Northumberland, UK
Paul Davies, for whom I have the greatest respect, seems to be invoking a "ghost in the machine" in proposing that we need to consider information as a physical quantity to explain how something made of matter can exhibit the behaviours of life ( 2 February, p 28 ). This seems to be invoking an …
27 February 2019
From Krista Nelson, Rokeby, Tasmania, Australia
Davies spends a lot of effort trying to explain how life's organised, self-sustaining complexity doesn't really fly in the face of the most sacred law of physics, the second law of thermodynamics, which says entropy in an isolated system tends to increase. It is simple: life doesn't break this law. It merely creates a local, …
27 February 2019
If research shows harm, report that. I don't think they have a secret anti-cheese agenda Andrew Coe responds to critical tweets after we highlighted the environmental and welfare costs of cheese ( 16 February, p 30 )
27 February 2019
From Trevor Jones, Sheringham, Norfolk, UK
Sitting in front of my gas fire with faux logs, reading your account of Neanderthal homemakers, I'm reassured that the hearth is the psychological centre of the home, a phrase attributed to architect Frank Lloyd Wright ( 9 February, p 28 ). Laura Spinney's description of the oldest known fireplaces, found in Neanderthal homes, provides …
27 February 2019
From David Hoskin, Driffield, East Yorkshire, UK
Readers gave several excellent answers to a question about how many rotors on a key safe one should move to lock it (The Last Word, 26 January ). These will doubtless find applications in others' everyday lives. A problem is that, sadly, not all honest householders read New Scientist and, presumably, a number of intelligent …
27 February 2019
From Tony Green, Ipswich, Suffolk, UK
With Kayt Sukel's guide to keeping your mind sharp, you present food recommendations measured in "servings", defined as roughly half a cup ( 26 January, p 30 ). Who measures vegetables in "cups"? According to my kettle, the cup I use for coffee holds two cups; my coffee maker thinks it's three. The editor writes: …
6 March 2019
From Roger Taylor, Meols, Wirral, UK
Charles Swanton debates ditching the term "cancer" when referring to low-risk tumours ( 2 February, p 24 ). This is long overdue, and I would go further. It would be hard to imagine a less suitable name for a disease. Cancer is, after all, Latin for "the crab", an unsettling creature with ferocious claws that …
6 March 2019
From Mary Voice, Melbourne, Australia
Your report on rethinking when kangaroos first hopped made me recall a question I have long pondered ( 16 February, p 20 ). Members of the kangaroo family exhibit magnificent racing and jumping ability due to their long hind leg tendons, elasticity of stride and counterbalancing tail, with smaller but useful front paws. Many dinosaurs …
6 March 2019
From John van Someren, London, UK
Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura invented the blue light-emitting diode in the early 1990s. For this, they received the 2014 Nobel prize for physics ( 11 October 2014, p 6 ). More than 25 years later, nobody can agree what it signifies. A blue LED shines when my TV is on standby but …
