Join the conversation in New Scientist's Letters section, where readers can share their thoughts and opinions on articles and see responses from experts and enthusiasts across a range of science topics. To submit a letter, please see our terms and email letters@newscientist.com
16 January 2019
From Steve Dalton,<br/>Chipstead, Kent, UK
Peter Lemme is right to ask where the division of responsibility lies between automated aviation systems and pilots, and right to conclude that pilots should be ready and able to take over ( 22/29 December 2018, p 24 ). I would add that "able" means no aircraft should prevent the pilot taking control, and "ready" …
23 January 2019
From Iain Climie,<br/>Whitchurch, Hampshire, UK
Paul Marks mentions replacing aviation kerosene with biofuels ( 5 January, p 32 ). One problem with this is that aircraft engines will still generate various oxides of nitrogen at the high temperatures involved. Another is that emissions, including carbon dioxide and water vapour, occur at altitude, where they have a disproportionate effect on climate. …
23 January 2019
From Julian Goodkin,<br/>London, UK
Another measure for reducing the environmental impact of air travel is curtailing or abolishing first class and business class. I have seen estimates that a first-class seat takes between five and seven times as much space as an average economy seat, and this doesn't take into account extra crew to service these passengers. It seems …
23 January 2019
From Brian Tagg,<br/>Taunton, Somerset, UK
Marks mentions electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. To suggest that these might replace commuter trains is, frankly, frightening. According to figures from the UK Department for Transport , there were some 1.7 billion rail journeys in the country in 2017-18, of which over half were commutes or for business purposes. If just 1 …
23 January 2019
Many women return to work 'part time' but do their previous job in less time for less money EDgypsy responds to the suggestion that flexible working is more productive and healthy ( 12 January, p 39 )
23 January 2019
From Richard Hind,<br/>York, UK
David Robson talks about the extended infancy in humans that allows us time to develop cognitive skills through play and its role in enabling innovation ( 22/29 December 2018, p 65 ). This brought to mind an insight expressed by musician Brian Eno in his 2015 John Peel Lecture ( bit.ly/EnoLecture ). He says children …
23 January 2019
From Guy Cox, St Albans,<br/>New South Wales, Australia
Leah Crane describes a Bose-Einstein condensate of caesium atoms 26 micrometres across as "the size of some bacteria". A few bacteria are this size, and I've spent a large part of my career researching them. But your average bacterium is less than a tenth as large.
23 January 2019
From Philip Ledger,<br/>Carlton, Bedfordshire, UK
For several months, I have detected an increased number of New Scientist articles covering our dire position with respect to climate change. You appear to have taken the position that global warming is a fact and that extreme measures will have to be taken for us to be successful to combat it. We should ask …
23 January 2019
From Graham Legg,<br/>Ragged Appleshaw, Hampshire, UK
I thank Mike Aris for sharing his technique for handwriting with Parkinson's disease (Letters, 22/29 December 2018 ). My wife Brenda was most distressed to lose her writing abilities. Using Aris's method of sounding the letters, she has regained a lot. She was amazed that she could produce a recognisable set of initials on a …
23 January 2019
• Vitamin B12 supplements may be synthesised from scratch, derived from animal products or extracted from bacteria (The Last Word, 5 January ). • We are still in the Quaternary Ice Age, and the previous interglacial period within it ended 115,000 years ago ( 22/29 December 2018, p 54 ). • The image by artist …
