Letters archive

New weight-loss treatments all seem to concentrate on making you feel full. For a couple of hours after I wake, despite being hungry, the thought of eating chocolate or cake is very unappealing. Come late morning and for the rest of the day, even when full, I can crave these foods ( 16 March, p …

I was interested in your piece on miso fermentation on the International Space Station. However, I'm not sure any conclusions can be drawn by comparing one jar fermented in space with two on Earth ( 9 March, p 13 ). Different results from two identical preparations fermented in the same facility aren't uncommon, the same …

Empathetic artificial intelligence would be like virtual reality for the emotions. As it learns, no doubt it would say just the words I need to hear. As lives get busier, the quick fix offered by such an AI would become more tempting ( 9 March, p 32 ). While my real friends may ring me …

Since the measured average drop in IQ for those who have had a covid-19 infection was small, according to the study you report on, one has to wonder how much was due to a possible correlation between lower IQ and incidence of infection. Lower IQ tends to lead to the kind of jobs in which …

In "To leap or not?" ( 16 March, p 32 ), we should have said snowy albatrosses nest on Possession Island in the Southern Ocean. It was the use by King Louis XIV of France of estiquettes (small cards) to advise on rules of behaviour that led to the word etiquette ( 9 March, p …

I like the clarity and brevity of Eric Schwitzgebel's summary of the reality problem: "What is the underlying structure of the universe and how does human consciousness fit into it?" I think the underlying structure is something that won't be described by some synthesis of quantum physics and general relativity. Those two descriptions will turn …

"Positing Zorg the Destroyer, hidden at the galactic core and pulling on protons with invisible strings, would rightly be laughed away as an explanation for anything," writes Schwitzgebel. But that is exactly the explanation for everything in our daily experience. We call "Zorg the Destroyer" the "Sagittarius A* black hole", and it pulls on protons …

David Robson wonders whether the spirituality of science could provide the perks of religion. When, years ago, I read Richard Dawkins's The Ancestor's Tale: A pilgrimage to the dawn of life , I felt a deep unity with all living things. I thought it funny that the world's best-known atheist caused my spiritual experience. Later, …

A space-based solar power station sounds doable with advances in rockets. As for where to put the many large rectennas required on Earth to collect the energy beamed down, Australia has a lot of land and not all of it is remote from coastal populations. We aren't short of ideas and technology is galloping along …

It seems unlikely that generating vast quantities of renewable energy to suck carbon dioxide from the air and deposit it somewhere would be more effective than simply using the same amount of renewable energy to displace the use of fossil fuels.