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
10 October 2018
From Christine Rogers, London, UK
I was interested in your article on fat acceptance and the argument over the effects of being overweight ( 29 September, p 20 ). I am 79, female and overweight, and my weight rose from 7.5 stone (48 kilograms) in my 20s to 76 kg today. I have weighed as much as 90 kg but …
17 October 2018
From Jon Arch, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK
Claire Wilson explains that as many as a third of people who are overweight have good scores for blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure (29 September, p 20). But why is this? Many factors apart from body fat affect these scores. Another, underappreciated factor is that not all fat is equal. The main component of …
17 October 2018
From Nick Pattinson, Stockport, Greater Manchester, UK
Economics is "not an exact science, after all", says Pascal Boyer ( 22 September, p 40 ). Economics is not a science at all. Where's the largely agreed body of prior knowledge? Where are the experiments capable of falsifying? Where – crucially – are the advances made by disproving previous theories? How come the same …
17 October 2018
From John King, Humberston, Lincolnshire, UK
Pascal Boyer makes assertions that he is entitled to make in the field of psychology, but he makes claims in the field of economics that he is certainly not. If you had asked a psychologist to write an article in which he discussed astronomy, and in that article he asserted that no planet has a …
17 October 2018
From David Clarke, Seaford, East Sussex, UK
I am not sure why Steve Swift is having trouble with his electricity tariff timings ( Letters, 29 September ). He says his meter takes its timing from the mains frequency; I understood that most Economy 7 meters switch tariffs as a result of a signal broadcast on BBC Radio 4 longwave. I remember working …
17 October 2018
From Malcolm Hunter, Leicester, UK
I read your article about biological materials inspiring attempts to produce metals incorporating layers, or gradients in their composition or structure, in order to combine hardness and toughness ( 29 September, p 40 ). Surely there is a long history of layering steel or iron to make weapons such as swords – with a hard, …
17 October 2018
From Edward Shields, Neebing, Ontario, Canada
As a biologist and a space science enthusiast, I strongly object to Robert Zubrin's push for immediate human exploration of Mars ( 8 September, p 22 ). As humanity is witnessing on almost a daily basis, robotics and machine intelligence are opening vast swathes of knowledge and new fields of space enquiry. The huge amount …
17 October 2018
From Andrew Shand, Irvine, Ayrshire, UK
You say that you surveyed a "representative sample of 2026 UK adults" to report on the public understanding of science and technology ( 22 September, p 6 ). But then you say "all interviews were conducted online". So, did you just guess the views of those who are not? The editor writes: • Our survey …
17 October 2018
From Chris Hildred, Whitby, Ontario, Canada
Enid Smith reports that her self-sufficiency is thwarted because she can't find a washing machine that doesn't use a cold water fill, which is heated with expensive electricity ( Letters, 8 September ). She should try using cold water washing detergent — we've been using it for years!
17 October 2018
From Quentin Macilray, Limassol, Cyprus
Cixin Liu postulates that highly civilised aliens would be as incomprehensible to us as we are to ants ( 8 September, p 42 ). Could this be the solution to Fermi's paradox, "Where is everyone?" Answer: they're already here.
