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Congratulations to Grace Wade for succeeding in her New Year's resolution to run a half-marathon last year. I'm a little sceptical about some of the claims derived from countless PR-fodder surveys about New Year's resolutions, but it does seem to ring true that our tradition of setting big, long-term goals at the start of January …

The behaviour described in The Lonely Crowd does indeed seem very applicable to modern social media, as Annalee Newitz argues. However, it's been very common for at least a century ( 24 January, p 20 ). Every generation thinks they're being more individual by "rebelling" and becoming a flapper, teddy boy, mod, biker, rocker (that …

I was saddened to see effective altruism included in "The 5 worst ideas of the 21st century". The idea in question is simply that when we give, we should try to do so thoughtfully, using evidence and reasoning to help others more effectively. In a century where many bright-sounding ideas have soured, from the gig …

I, too, am sceptical of the existence of a giant iron meteorite in the Sahara desert, but the two letters published on this question miss the point that Gaston Ripert didn't just see the object from a distance. He climbed over it and indeed brought back a sample that is clearly a rare type of …

Did bread or beer come first? Michael Marshall claims it is still undecided. But his evidence doesn't go back far enough ( 13/20 December 2025, p 46 ). Grindstones with traces of grain, found at Cuddie Springs in New South Wales, have been dated to 30,000 years ago. And with evidence for occupation at Madjedbebe …

I am somewhat mollified that Richard Smyth has aired some unpalatable but necessary facts on our relationship with nature. Some say they are nature lovers, but only the bits of nature with bike paths, horse riding or 4WD tracks, and with trees removed to see the view. I so often find that people's expressed love …

I read with interest your article "Is it checkmate for the standard version of chess?". As the great-grandson of the mathematician Frank Morley, who started his life as an avid chess player at age 10, I was introduced to chess by my grandfather, his youngest son ( 10 January, p 13 ). As a youngster, …

Calling the current water crisis "water bankruptcy" is more than a metaphor; it is an accurate diagnosis. Like financial collapse, it results not from a single dramatic failure but from countless routine decisions that quietly overspend a finite resource. What stands out is not a lack of knowledge. The science is clear, and has been …

I speculate that part of the reason for junk DNA is to make it difficult for viruses to manipulate our genomes. A side effect of this is that it will be difficult for us to manipulate our genomes ( 10 January, p 12 ).