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With the recent news of some possible signs of ancient life on the Martian surface, there will naturally follow the usual comments – that even if there were any life long ago, there won't be any living now, due to the hostile surface conditions( 20 September, p 12 ). However, once life started on Earth, …

Sophie Attwood's comment piece questioned why people resist fake meat but embrace synthetic bodily enhancements. Two points struck me. First, Botox has been around for decades longer than artificial meat. Comparing public attitudes without accounting for the time each technology has had to become familiar feels misleading. It would be fairer to compare reactions at …

The indications that reductions in particulate pollution may be exposing the real extent of climate change is disturbing. But for some to argue we should therefore ease pollution rules is like trying to say that two wrongs make a right( 13 September, p 40 ).

Previously, proponents of geoengineering solutions to global warming have suggested that reflective aerosol particles could be sprayed into the upper atmosphere to achieve the same sunlight-reflecting effect as aerosol pollution. Opponents argue that this idea seems risky. I would have thought that what has been observed in the Pacific and Indian oceans as a result …

I would like to comment on your review of the book Ferment . I am a German artisan baker, mostly making German sourdough. I also grew up with lots of fermented foods and I would say I have some good knowledge about them. A crucial factor is which of the microorganisms in these foods survive …

Fortunately, there are more ways to store carbon dioxide than just underground. Trees and other plants also store it and when we use them to, say, build high-rise buildings or furniture, or make car parts (flax and hemp can be used in door panels and dashboards), we store CO 2 for years, and possibly for …

When it comes to the phrase space-time, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein ponders what is in a hyphen? Space answers to the question "where?", time to the question "when?". Space-time answers to the question "when and where?". "Spacetime" answers to no question at all. It is a new concept that needs a lot of explaining ("what?") and probably …

Robert Sugden says otroverts, people who naturally don't conform to groups, will never form their own groups for the obvious reason. But a few decades ago, people would have said the same about autistic people. Yet since the arrival of the internet, they have formed online groups to share experiences, developing guidelines that have since …

Sugden's witty letter about being an otrovert prompted me to reread Rami Kaminski's original article. I happened to be stroking my cat, whom I respect and admire, at the time, and it struck me that cats are extreme otroverts, the polar opposite to dogs. Our cat exploits us mercilessly, while being totally indifferent to our …

How to make it to 100? I'm determined to live to 200. Or die trying( 20 September, p 36 ).