Letters archive

Sally Adee says that proposed systems to tie all internet activity to real-world user identities "would solve the problem of hauling someone known only as 'Haxxor420' into the dock" ( 31 March, p 22 ). But any such system would have holes, ones which those intent on criminal activity would not hesitate to exploit. A …

Your special report on patriarchy goes some good way towards raising the profile of science in what appears to have been the province of social science ( 21 April, p 34 ). How far the magazine has come! Gendering pressure is administered in patriarchal societies through households even before infants are socialised. All, including mothers, …

Your excellent report gives many explanations for the profusion of patriarchal societies and asks: how did we get here? Part of that was an enormous change that occurred within Western society in the early 4th century. Up until then, in the early days of Christianity, women and men were equally involved: women as well as …

My wife, Jennifer Darnley, has suggested to me that one major reason for the development of patriarchal communities was the realisation that sex is required for a pregnancy, and that children were not in fact created spontaneously by the magical powers and choices of women alone. This switched the power balance towards men by creating …

Anil Ananthaswamy and Kate Douglas relate the origins of patriarchy to patrilocality: women moving to their spouse's place. Indeed, research into the history of one English county shows that the elder sons of landowners remained with the land. But the men of working-class families travelled to find work and women remained in their village of …

Don't hold your breath waiting for such a ban to happen in the US Melissa Liechty responds to the news of a European Union ban on neonicotinoid pesticides outdoors, to save bees ( 5 May, p 7 )

Andy Coghlan reports research and discussion about when our ancestors left Africa and arrived in various places around the world ( 14 April, p 10 ). An important aspect of being human is that we are a migratory species. Migration has sustained our existence for most of human history and has carried ideas and technical …

Michael Marshall reports proposals for converting carbon dioxide into useful products ( 17 March, p 34 ). I am sceptical. Let's start with converting CO2 to synthetic fuel. In reversing the combustion process you need to put in at least as much energy as you once got out. In practice, given inefficiencies, you need far …

Jessica Hamzelou writes about memories being encoded into recognisable patterns in the brain, and how this might have therapeutic uses ( 14 April, p 6 ). I was once on a trolley outside the operating theatre awaiting an elective caesarean, when another woman emerged having just had hers – while awake to see it. Naturally …

• Coming of age in New York: Margaret Mead in fact studied at Columbia University ( 28 April, p 42 ).