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
18 July 2018
From Janet Yates, Taunton, Somerset, UK
You are concerned by biological bias in clinical trials (Leader, 30 June ). In the late 1980s, I was studying for a master's degree in public health. We were told even then that women were excluded from many clinical trials because of "hormone fluctuation". I had two questions: if drugs are not tested on women …
18 July 2018
From Brett Porter, Burleigh Heads, Queensland, Australia
Clare Wilson reports research on a variant of the "trolley problem", in which people were told they could save five mice from an electric shock by choosing to inflict pain on one ( 19 May, p 14 ). I don't recall anyone addressing why people presume they have a right, let alone are obligated, to …
25 July 2018
From Stephanie Woodcock, Carnon Downs, Cornwall, UK
Clare Wilson is not entirely convinced by Edward Bullmore's argument in The Inflamed Mind that mental adversity causes inflammation, which then causes depression ( 30 June, p 46 ). Our bodies may be facing many potential hidden stressors, so I wonder why emphasis is placed on psychological stress as the most important driver of the …
25 July 2018
I remember at school being told people used to use spiderwebs on injuries to help clotting Eve Coy makes an old connection with new work on artificial skin grown from spider silk that could help heal wounds ( 21 July, p 17 )
25 July 2018
From Brian Horton, West Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
You report that wearing a tie restricts blood flow to the brain ( 14 July, p 20 ). This confirms my long-held view that I don't think better when wearing a tie, so I refuse to wear one. You have also reported online ( 24 May 2004 ) that half of doctors' ties carry disease-causing …
25 July 2018
From William Cole, Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, UK
Your encouragement in one issue to think about both consciousness ( 30 June, p 30 ) and Schrödinger's cat ( p 34 ) raises interesting questions. When Schrödinger originally formulated his conundrum, he postulated that a single conscious entity making an observation would determine the fate of his poor entrapped moggy. Subsequently the conundrum was …
25 July 2018
From Chris Evans, Earby, Lancashire, UK
Schrödinger's cat is one of the great non-questions. Anyone who has ever owned (or rather been staff for) a cat will know that it is conscious and self-aware, so would be perfectly capable of collapsing the wave function itself. Maybe it would be worth discussing "Schrödinger's bacterium"?
25 July 2018
From Matthew Vandenberg, Gosford, New South Wales, Australia
Roger Taylor mentions that to battle the absence of reason in government, there is a need for engaging the public (Letters, 23 June ). I suggest posters in issues of New Scientist , detailing – with diagrams, pictures and graphs – the most pressing issue reported that week. Readers could display these publicly.
25 July 2018
From Celia Berrell, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Rob Bayly asks why you don't post New Scientist in a paper pack and you say you are reviewing this (Letters, 23 June ). I live in the tropical far north of Queensland in Australia, and look forward to seeing my magazine each week in the mailbox at the end of our drive. During the …
25 July 2018
• When 900,000-year-old skulls were found at Yunxian in China, Homo sapiens was generally thought to have evolved in Africa at some time between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago ( 7 July, p 28 ). • The genome-edited soybeans that are being grown commercially in the US this year were created using a genome-editing technique …
