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Graham Lawton ponders the transport-related environmental costs of driving his cat to the vet amid the pandemic, rather than using the bus ( 3 July, p 24 ). This is part of a wider discussion on his fading hope that lockdowns would persuade us to lead greener lives, especially through decreased travel. The push to …

Lawton cites research that blames the fossil fuel industry for sending the message that action by individuals is the answer to climate change. Well, it is the main answer. I don't remember the oil industry trying to get us to drive more or heat our homes more. It is consumers who demanded gasoline and heating …

Regarding questions of getting vaccines to the wider world ( 22 May, p 8 ). Amid the talk of a third, booster shot in the UK, surely it is better to send these jabs to lower-income, under-vaccinated nations than for richer ones like the UK to hog supplies? I would seriously consider refusing my booster …

The suggestion that consciousness might be substrate-dependent – in other words, that protoplasmic brains can be conscious but silicon can't – is an example of vitalism, the idea that living things have properties that are inexplicable by the rules of physics and chemistry ( 10 July, p 34 ). This concept has been in retreat …

You ask: "Is consciousness detectable in the brain?" The answer is: not always. People can have conscious experiences when their brains are "flatlining" (see, for example, the near-death case of Pam Reynolds ). Any theory of consciousness that can't account for such facts is insufficient. If some of the theories for consciousness are correct, then …

You report the idea of making pavements softer and safer ( 10 July, p 46 ). As a full-time wheelchair user, I spend a lot of time looking at the surface I am about to wheel over. I suspect a softer surface will require more effort to push on, much as hard, dry, close-cropped grass …

The account of J. S.'s pain not being taken seriously because she was a woman will resonate with many women on many levels ( 26 June, p 25 ). I have come to the conclusion that, as well as displaying the prejudices against women described in the article, some doctors feel the unknown is a …

I greatly welcome geneticist Adam Rutherford's attempts to clean up the language of his profession, but I fear for his success ( 10 July, p 23 ). Some 40 years ago, I tried a very similar thing for the membership of one of the UK's largest trade unions. My simple (and, as I saw it, …

It is a basic mistake to imagine that forbidding words has the power to forbid thoughts. I would rather current geneticists spent their time on breakthrough genetic research than language choices.

Glowing in the dark will remain a platypus mystery ( 8 May, p 41 ). These animals close their eyes when swimming underwater and find prey with their sensitive "rubbery" bills.