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I share Michael Brooks's concerns about low levels of numeracy and high levels of "maths anxiety" ( 27 November 2021, p 25 ). But I don't think the solution simply lies in a "more utilitarian approach" to the subject. This would risk taking the wonder and imagination out of maths, which is what inspires people …

When a new coronavirus variant arrives and is highly infectious, it seems to wipe out older varieties ( 11 December 2021, p 7 ). Why couldn't we engineer a variety that is very transmissible but not deadly? Perhaps this would be better than vaccination.

Owen Mooney,Hamilton, New Zealand In her look at decarbonising shipping, Nicola Jones reviews multiple propulsion options for commercial vessels, but doesn't include nuclear power ( 27 November 2021, p 45 ). This is both the most green and most economical option for shipping propulsion. There are currently over 160 ships powered by more than 200 …

Annalee Newitz hopes the allegedly forthcoming metaverse won't reduce humanity to "gibbering crash-heads" ( 27 November 2021, p 26 ). I assume Newitz doesn't know anyone who has been swept up into the social media-induced epidemic of conspiracy theory disinformation. I do, and it seems to me that we are already halfway there.

Excellent analysis by Newitz, one that applies just as well to science in general. If something is capable of misuse, then it surely will be so used. Beware the MetaZuckerFaceBerg – what you see is merely its innocuous-looking tip.

Trevor Randall advocates for carbon capture and storage ( Letters, 27 November 2021 ). I agree with the first part (capture), but not the second. Storing vast quantities of carbon dioxide underground is a recipe for a future environmental disaster. What's more, this is a valuable resource that should be used. We should be bubbling …

Kate Ravilious makes a powerful case that it was the benevolence and social skills of Homo sapiens that ensured its survival when other hominins were wiped out by environmental changes 40,000 to 50,000 years ago ( 27 November 2021, p 38 ). This may well be part of the story, but it rather ignores the …

Johnjoe McFadden's article paid a welcome acknowledgement to William of Ockham and his great idea that we should always look for the simplest explanation for things that happen (18/25 December 2021, p 70). However, I disagree with McFadden's statement: "It is as impossible to disprove as to prove a hypothesis." Surely it is possible to …

Thank you Emma Marris for laying out arguments in "The myth of the wild" that some of us have been trying to make for decades ( 4 December 2021, p 42 ). In the mid-1990s, as a lead investigator on a project to integrate the health of people, other animals and the ecosystems we share, …

With regard to rationality, Steven Pinker totally emphasises logical thinking ( 11 December 2021, p 46 ). He doesn't mention that any given situation also has an emotional state. If we are comfortable in that state, we don't like to be questioned about it because it makes us feel insecure, so we stubbornly stick to …