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Reading "How to stop superspreaders" reminded me of an experience I had the other day when at lunch with a friend ( 8 August, p 10 ). Although elderly, he refuses to wear a mask – but, of course, you can't wear a mask when eating anyway. I suddenly noticed a cooling effect on my …

Your article raises more questions than the title suggests. Every test and trace case should provide valuable information about the spread of the virus. How did person A contract it? How did they pass it on to person B? And why didn't they infect persons C, D and E, with whom they were also in …

Your promotional piece for The Brain: A user's guide refers to the "better-than-average effect", or "the statistically impossible effect in which the majority of people rate themselves more favourably than average" ( 1 August, p 46 ). Assuming average here means the mean rather than the median, it isn't impossible for a majority to be …

Sharon Moalem's explanation for differences in life expectancy between men and women raises another question ( 1 August, p 42 ). Why has natural selection led to the X chromosome being the location for so many genes related to our immune system? Why aren't they on chromosomes 1 to 22, where both men and women …

Reading Anders Sandberg and Thomas Moynihan's article on the 75th anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan brought back other reflections from visiting these cities several years ago ( 8 August, p 21 ). Amid the heart-rending stories and factual accounts, I found it hard to understand why it …

The article promoting The Brain: A user's guide discusses the difficulty we face in making the right decision as our brains have inbuilt biases. However, it too falls foul of "blind-spot bias" when it assumes what constitutes a good decision. For example, when discussing the endowment effect, it fails to consider the emotional satisfaction an …

I agree with Maninder Ahluwalia about the problem of using biological material without the subject's consent or knowledge ( 15 August, p23 ). The complete disregard for Henrietta Lacks , whose cancer cells were used in labs without her consent, is the tip of the iceberg. We also need to protect against the use of …

Those of us who come from cultures in which one seldom, if ever, hugs a friend or relative have watched the covid-19-related agonising of the more hug-dependent with a mixture of sympathy and bemusement ( 8 August, p 11 ). This reached a crescendo for me with your story, which contained a detailed list of …

I enjoyed reading "Life's big bang" and its new take on the origin of life on Earth ( 8 August, p 34 ). Michael Marshall covered a large part of recent research in this area, notably that by David Deamer, Jack Szostak and John Sutherland. But there were omissions. Marshall alludes to the widely accepted …

Your pandemic coverage asks: "What are the most promising medicines?" Vaccines are among them, but we don't yet know if they will work well ( 1 August, p 9 ). In any event, many people will be without a vaccine for a very long time. So, as you say, we also need therapeutics to treat …