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Could the spatial expansion of the universe discussed by Amanda Gefter be explained if the distribution of galaxies were fractal (8 March, p 32) ? That is, if the distribution were mathematically similar to the pattern found in "Cantor dust", and the space interspersed within it were also fractal. This would imply that the number …

Charles Nightingale proposes a worldwide register of studies so negative results can be fully taken into account (8 March, p 20) . I am not sure this would help. Especially in my old field of experimental psychology, as soon as Bloobs and Carfoops report an interesting result, hundreds of young postgraduates searching for a decent …

While I applaud your call for more rapid action from governments to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases (1 March, p 5) , you understated the urgency of the message by muddling the units used for greenhouse gas concentrations (p 14) . Jim Giles's report says that to limit temperature increase to 2 °C, "carbon …

Quantum mechanics may well rest on an underlying determinism, as Mark Buchanan suggests (22 March, p 28) , but this does not imply that "predicting the future would be as simple as knowing the fundamental quantum rules and current conditions in enough detail". If the uncertainty of quantum mechanics is a consequence of a deterministic …

Michael Brooks sensibly advises scientists to accept donations from groups such as the John Templeton Foundation and make good use of the money for science (15 March, p 20) . I can't help wondering why the Templeton prize is singled out, when adverts in Â鶹´«Ã½ regularly offer money to scientists for working on nuclear …

The problems currently being experienced by the Trident nuclear warhead programme (8 March, p 15) provide an excellent opportunity for a step towards eventual nuclear disarmament. Instead of trying to make them operate as thermonuclear or hydrogen bombs, why not limit them to less-destructive fission or atom bombs only? The ability to destroy any target …

It is outrageous for Carlo Bernardini to say that Catholics are averse to pain treatment for terminally ill patients (1 March, p 48) . I am not a Catholic, but I worked for years with Catholic colleagues who have been in the forefront of pain control for cancer patients and others. And while Bernardini is …

Contrary to the fears of many, including Michael Zimmerman (2 February, p 16) , creationism is not gaining popularity in western democracies. Anyone tempted to spread claims that its popularity is rising would be wise to check the numbers. The Gallup polling organisation has been asking a consistent set of questions for decades. Since the …

Donald Prothero concludes his discussion of the numerous transitional fossils: "Creationists simply have no answer to such irrefutable evidence" (1 March, p 35) . Oh, but they think they do! In the course of a long online debate I was repeatedly challenged to demonstrate transitions within a species. The examples I provided were dismissed as …

You report that the Ambient Corporation is developing a device to convert thought into words through the use of sensors (8 March, p 23) . The obvious next step is to transmit this signal to a similar device worn by someone else, which would send it to their brain as a thought message. T-mail, perhaps?

Recent issues have underlined how much information our brains have to handle when listening to music (23 February, p 34) and how much our perception depends on filtering (1 March, p 44) . This may explain some puzzling features of deafness. I have been deaf ("moderate" tending towards "severe") all my life, and have used …

Your timely commentary on hunger neglected to mention the fact that the rapid spread of wheat rust reflects the way that plant breeding to create successful "green revolution" crops has narrowed their genetic base ( 15 March, p 5 and report, p 14 ). Nor did you mention that much public crop-breeding science has now …

What a horrific concept conflict forecasting is (15 March, p 26) . It is surely obvious that unstable societies in which violence is likely are a result of deprivation, unemployment, hunger, lack of opportunity, insecurity and a visible gap between the rich and the poor. Detecting the places where violence is most likely to occur …