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The idea in "Playing with words" that our language abilities evolved and developed thanks to charades-like exchanges struck a chord ( 26 March, p 38 ). Like a lot of monolingual English speakers, I get by abroad with some basic French learned at school and a smattering of greetings in other languages. It is one …

I object to the idea of using CRISPR gene editing "to make hypoallergenic cats" and some of the language used to describe this ( 2 April, p 9 ). You can't "make" cats, as cats aren't objects; they are creatures made via evolutionary nature, influenced by breeding. No one has the right to alter genes …

Regarding the "Emotional touch" part of your look at chemical haptics, and the "mild stress" inflicted on rats for a study ( 19 March, p 46 ). Surely it wouldn't have been hard to find students mildly stressed by exams or something similar who didn't mind being stroked beforehand to test the ideas being considered. …

The waste of effort represented by the "struggle to define a planet" is beyond me ( 2 April, p 16 ). I could try to argue that there is an absolute qualitative difference between big and very big that everyone on Earth should follow, based on my arbitrary definition of the line between the two. …

Adam Vaughan's article "Time to green your home" is a welcome contribution, but it omits a proverbial elephant in the living room ( 2 April, p 20 ). In fuel poverty circles, we often talk about the "heat or eat" dilemma, but in the UK we are rapidly heading towards the point where many people …

Vaughan mentions the high cost of insulating solid walls in older homes. What is needed are plastic vacuum insulation panels. These exist, but are costly. It should be possible to mass produce them cheaply in a form that could easily be mounted on an exterior wall.

The only way for science to overcome its problems with replication is for the "scientific model", which is overly reductionist and resistant to change, to be more convincingly challenged and fearlessly exposed ( 9 April, p 45 ).

The energy crisis takes me back to the time I campaigned for the UK coal industry on behalf of fellow trade union members ( 26 March, p 18 ). Part of that was to ensure security of supply as part of a diverse energy mix. I spent years lobbying on behalf of clean coal – …

I must raise a point regarding "Consciousness in the cosmos" ( 2 April, p 38 ). Even in the block universe, to say that "past, present and future all exist at once" is still an oxymoron. "At once" implies being at the same point on the time axis, suggesting this axis has zero length. That …

The problem of "vampire power" use by devices on standby may be hard to eradicate ( 2 April, p 30 ). In our house, the internet router, telephones, radio clock, boiler, burglar alarm and thermostat stay on. Sometimes, the TV is on standby so it can record. Turning these off, some of which would need …