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Lawrence Krauss relates the problems of publishing articles that challenge anthropogenic climate change (16 August, p 46) . It seems to me that the problems arise from the habit of portraying the exposition of dissenting views as "a debate". A true debate allows each side to refute arguments made by the other, iteratively if necessary, …

I was horrified to see Fred Pearce and Michael Le Page use the term "climate-change deniers" in reporting on mid-term climate forecasting (16 August, p 26) . It is clearly intended to associate climate-change sceptics with holocaust deniers, a simple smear. There is a world of difference between denying concrete historical facts to support a …

Your editorial states that "the present crisis was not caused by poor economic models" (19 July, p 5) . You are right as regards the credit crisis itself, but not as regards the overall global crisis concerning the economy, energy and environment. For 5000 years, our wealth has been based primarily on the extraction of …

Responding to Mark Buchanan's criticism of economic theory (19 July, p 32) , Christopher May asserts that markets are social phenomena that rather than evolving are "facilitated by governments, often prompted by commercial interests" (9 August, p 20) . This is too narrow. Governments and commercial interests are themselves evolved outcomes. We can conceptualise them, …

The apparently quantum commands issued by London Underground and reported by Feedback (most recently on 9 August ) can be better understood if you realise that, to those running the network, the substance called "passenger" is a moderately compressible fluid. Their job includes pumping this fluid into and out of trains as fast as possible. …

Richard Dawkins wriggles when confronted with a serious challenge to his pet "selfish gene" theory (12 July, p 28) . First he is patronising: "The 'transgenerational' effects now being described are mildly interesting." Then he goes into denial: "They cast no doubt whatsoever on the theory of the selfish gene." Finally, he provides himself with …

The three trials of circumcision in Africa that were curtailed (19 July, p 40) suffered from other problems too. I calculate from the published results that more than twice as many circumcised men dropped out (327) – their HIV status unknown – as the number of non-circumcised men who were eventually found to have HIV …

In your article about using injections of an anti-inflammatory to treat Alzheimer's patients, Amgen seems to think the reported rapid clinical response after the treatment – which neutralises tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) – doesn't make sense (9 August, p 32) . But this assumes that TNF-α acts in this disease only in its "traditional" role …

You report the phenomenon of hormesis, in which small doses of a harmful substance are protective (9 August, p 36) . Is this not an underlying principle of homeopathy, an idea constantly being criticised in your magazine? The editor writes: • Hormesis and homeopathy are superficially similar but actually very different. The basic tenet of …

It was interesting to read of others sometimes being unsure of pronunciation (21 June, p 27) . I am a distance-learning science undergraduate with the UK's Open University . One tutor at an OU summer school, who had also taught in brick universities, commented that she could often tell brick students from distance learners: the …

Your report on plans for a "Nuke in a box" (2 August, p 34) ignores the Canadian CANDU reactor design, on which the Indian reactor is based. CANDU can use natural uranium fuel, whereas light-water reactors use enriched fuel. It can also be refuelled while in operation. While Phil McKenna reports concerns that refuelling poses …

You claimed that plutonium does not occur naturally (12 July, p 36) . Small amounts of plutonium-239 are found in uranium ores – about 1 part in 10 11 of uranium – and plutonium-244 has been detected in the spectrum of the sun. All nuclear-reactor fission nuclides have also been found in the Earth's geological …

Bill de Mott and Feedback appear to be a bit literal-minded in querying what other kind of CDs can exist besides the "fully digital" (9 August) . Most classical CDs are classed as follows: AAD, meaning digitally mastered from an analogue recording which was edited on an analogue system; ADD, digitally edited and mastered from …

Plans by governments to open up the western Amazon to oil and gas exploration do not only threaten "pristine" rainforest and exotic species (online news, 13 August) : they pose enormous dangers to some of the world's last uncontacted tribes. As the report by Save America's Forests makes clear, much of the land now open …

If you want hilarious creation myths, you don't need to invent a Flying Spaghetti Monster (9 August, p 21) , There are already dozens of bizarre ancient creation myths all over the world. They involve animals, birds, giants, axes, oak trees, bridges, caves, dreams, tobacco, islands, seeds, eggs and fingernails, as even a very hasty …