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Sophie Attwood's observations made me nod in agreement. It is nonsensical to reject "artificial" foodstuffs while allowing synthetic materials to be pumped into our bodies for cosmetic ends and eating meat from animals stuffed with pharmaceuticals and industrially made cattle feed( 30 August, p 19 ). Touching on another of her insights, companies that now …

Your look at ageing was another great article from Graham Lawton. Interesting and informative with a good dose of optimism( 16 August, p 28 ). There is an aspect of ageing that isn't generally addressed. I have witnessed a number of my female relatives age, becoming "too old" by their own reckoning. I have also …

The realisation that different kinds of noises affect different people in different ways struck a chord with me. In my work with a small non-profit that advocated for small airports, it was common for a homeowner who lived close to such an airport to be extremely bothered by the sound of a small plane flying …

What a fascinating article about deciphering animal languages with AI. It is about time because, to date, a few dogs and chimpanzees seem to have learned far more of ours than we have of theirs( 30 August, p 36 ). I hope someone tries it with wild Brazilian macaws (which would be easy to set …

Your feature describes ideas about the origin of dogs, that is, how wolves were domesticated. Why, I wonder, is there no speculation on Darwinian evolution: mutations and selection of the fittest? I like to relate an example of such domestication: a cousin of mine had a small mink farm of about 200 minks. One day, …

"All life that we know of needs liquid water." All life that we know of also exists on Earth. If we are searching for alien life, it is perhaps convenient to concentrate on water, but the possibility that life might exist without it shouldn't be overlooked. Life might also exist at sizes too small or …

Rami Kaminski makes an interesting observation of a new personality type, the otrovert, yet creates a problem at the same time. I immediately recognised myself in his description and realised there is a group of other such people out there. But I also quickly realised that I can't, by definition, join this group of otroverts …

I found the article exploring the variation in chocolate flavours depending on the microbes present during the fermentation process very interesting and thought-provoking( 30 August, p 17 ). Mainly, how can I volunteer to be a chocolate taster for the recommended study extensions? Please? Pretty please? With chocolate sprinkles on top?

A question about petrol lawnmowers ( Last Word, 23 August ) was posed by Hugh Meteyard.