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 Cedric Lynch,<br/>Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, UK
Michael Le Page says an important part of reducing the contribution of household heating to climate change is to install heat pumps, powered by clean electricity, in rural and suburban areas ( 17 November 2018, p 22 ). I see very little effort to promote these. I got my heat pump from a firm that …
16 January 2019
From Susan Payne,<br/>Cape Elizabeth, Maine, US
Thank you for addressing the most critical threat to our long-term survival: global warming and climate disruption ( 8 December 2018, p 31 ). Each step described is important to reduce carbon emissions. But how can we bridge the gap between being aware of the problem and taking the system-wide steps needed to address it? …
16 January 2019
AI still can't figure out how to tell the difference between black people though Woke bae of pigs sees a flaw in artificial intelligence identifying genetic disorders by the shape of someone's face ( 12 January, p 15 )
16 January 2019
From Michael Hendy,<br/>Portobello, New Zealand
Emma Young's article on human navigation prompted me to reflect on my own ability ( 15 December 2018, p 38 ). After living for 35 years south of the equator and easily navigating around unfamiliar locations in New Zealand and Australia, I was perplexed at discovering it nearly impossible to find my way around London, …
16 January 2019
From Stephen Kirk, Blackbutt, New South Wales, Australia
While my wife Roslyn and I rarely become lost in New South Wales, a trip to Hawaii demonstrated that we use different means to navigate. I consistently turned north when I meant to turn south and swore blind that I was going in the right direction while my wife indicated the opposite direction, and was …
16 January 2019
From Niall Leslie,<br/>Yarker, Ontario, Canada
There have been extensive discussions of the pros and cons of autonomous vehicles (for example Letters, 17 November 2018 ). But I have seen no mention of their use by elderly people. When issues with such vehicles are effectively solved, car travel will be as safe and as easy for the old as for others. …
16 January 2019
From Tim Stevenson,<br/>Prestwood, Buckinghamshire, UK
You report that a tyre recovering electrical energy could save 800 kilojoules a year ( 8 December 2018, p 19 ). You could have knocked me down with a motor car! That's 0.22 kilowatt-hours, which is the energy in 0.024 litres of petrol.
16 January 2019
From Kee Nethery,<br/>Sebastopol, California, US
Karen Hinchley asks whether Elon Musk will retrieve and recycle obsolete satellites in his plan to provide internet access from orbit (Letters, 1 December 2018 ). These satellites would be in low Earth orbits and would eventually burn up. On the same page, Robert Hill notes that keeping 4425 working satellites in orbit may require …
16 January 2019
From Guy Cox, St Albans, New South Wales, Australia
Eric Kvaalen notes the sun's contribution to tides on Earth (Letters, 15 December 2018 ), in response to my letter on the importance of lunar tides to life moving from the oceans to land ( 3 November 2018 ). With respect, I didn't suggest that there would be no tides on Earth without our large …
16 January 2019
• Cave bears died out around the last glacial period within the recent ice age ( 22/29 December 2018, p 54 ). • The photo used to illustrate frost flowers was of hair ice, which exudes from logs. Water is more likely to supercool if particulate impurities are absent ( 22/29 December 2018, p 52 …
