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15 August 2018
From Ilkka Savolainen, Helsinki, Finland
Our climate seems to be changing faster than estimated ( 28 July, p 5 ). The goal of climate policy, set out in the Paris Agreement , is to keep the global average temperature rise well below 2°C. We would be more likely to attain this if we gave more weight to methane as a …
15 August 2018
From Peter Fritsch-Kosmider, London, UK
Graham Lawton says it is often difficult to discuss biodiversity because of insufficient data ( 28 July, p 28 ). The reasons for this are unclear, but I expect time and money considerations play a role. Could those in need of such data turn to citizen science? This involves members of the public giving such …
15 August 2018
From Neil Doherty, Wilthorpe, South Yorkshire, UK
You quote UK TV naturalist Chris Packham saying he saw no butterflies over two days in his Hampshire garden. I recently joined a staff member of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and another volunteer on a butterfly counting "transect" near my home. It may give Packham hope that we recorded more than 100 butterflies belonging to …
15 August 2018
So if I supervise my robot, she can harm another human? Kool. Susan Trexler comments on a suggested law that a robot may not injure a human... unless it is being supervised ( 4 August, p 38 )
15 August 2018
From David Muir, Edinburgh, UK
Robert Milne discusses the definition of a species (Letters, 30 June ). This was interesting but, counter-intuitively, a species is not a natural concept. It is a human construct, an idea to help categorise and log, an aid to our understanding of the rich variety of life. Its origins are in religious texts and the …
15 August 2018
From Mike Brown, Ollerton, Cheshire, UK
Mick O'Hare asks whether anyone is prepared to vouch for the veracity or otherwise of his three tall tales (Old Scientist, 21 July ). I would direct him to snopes.com , where he will find that the jet-assisted car and exploding cookie dough stories are urban myths, whereas the Rich Bastard incident took place largely …
15 August 2018
From Campbell Wallace, Redon, France
You quote Luciano Floridi saying there is no such thing as an independent fake-news bot unleashed on the web like some sort of alien life taking root ( 14 July, p 22 ). Does this mean it is impossible, or merely that no one is known to have done it yet? Is it impossible for …
15 August 2018
• The axis of rotation of Uranus lies close to the plane of its orbit, and by the time it and Neptune formed solid cores it would be too late to gather up a thick atmosphere ( 28 July, p 40 ). • A fairly close shave: the star S2 gets within 20 billion kilometres …
22 August 2018
From Steve Dalton, Chipstead, Kent, UK
Stephanie Woodcock responds to your review of Edward Bullmore's The Inflamed Mind by suggesting we should consider the role of infection when looking at the link between inflammation and depression (Letters, 28 July ). This prompted me to consider the natural state for humans. Have we adapted to be most healthy when dealing with a …
22 August 2018
From Denise Taylor, London, UK
Woodcock asks for consideration of infection , as well as mental adversity, causing inflammation leading to depression. Bullmore does contend that underlying inflammatory physical conditions could trigger some depression. He suspects too many practitioners look only at psychological stress, rather than a directly physical cause for depression. So he does include infection as a cause …
