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Over the past nine months, I have had major surgery and proton beam therapy ( 25 July, p 16 ). I have also lost 17 per cent of my body weight. I am pleased about this, as it has taken me from an overweight BMI into the normal range. I have been trying to achieve …

Adam Vaughan's interview with Friederike Otto discusses climate change litigation ( 25 July, p 42 ). Obvious targets are coal companies, but other people have suggested that those in the litigation cross hairs might include a variety of environmental groups, specifically those opposed to nuclear power. I suggest we would still have a climate problem …

You report that searching for "Star Tugs", machines capable of moving a sun, could be a new way to find alien civilisations ( 18 July, p 15 ). Given the low likelihood of having to dodge a supernova, the example given for ET doing this, perhaps we would do better to seek signs of other, …

Max Tegmark says "we can use to solve the climate crisis, to lift everybody from poverty" ( 18 July, p 34 ). We already know how to deal with the climate crisis and how to lift everybody from poverty. What we lack is the collective personal, national and international will to do it. This is …

It is suggested that the pirate Blackbeard may have crashed his ship on purpose ( 11 July, p 17 ). Rather than being used for plugging holes, isn't it more likely that the lead sheets on the Queen Anne's Revenge were antifouling sheathing? This use of lead to repel barnacles and so on had already …

Why is mask wearing so divisive? Maybe because we are connected in large communities and must trade some personal freedom for the benefits of cooperation ( 8 August, p 8 ). Some of us highly value what we gain from this and will sacrifice more freedom. We forgo comforts and conveniences to save the environment, …

You report that "odd radio circles", or ORCs, have been detected ( 11 July, p 14 ). They are "symmetrical and their edges are brighter than their interiors". I know nothing about radio astronomy, but I can tell you what that description reminds me of: a rainbow. Of course, I am not suggesting that reflection …

In her review of The End of Everything , Leah Crane writes: "What all the endings have in common is to highlight the vastness of the universe, and the banality of our everyday existence ( 1 August, p 24 )." I think it is our existence that gives meaning to the universe. Without us, it …

You report suggestions that life may have originated in hydrothermal systems on land ( 8 August, p 34 ). This brings to mind earlier research by Pascal Lee and Gordon Osinski, who, among others, have studied the hydrothermal systems at the Haughton impact crater in the Canadian Arctic archipelago. Hydrothermal systems are usually formed in …

The front cover, flagging up the feature on discoveries resulting from the first direct image of a black hole in a galaxy that is about 55 million light years away, should have read: "Last year we saw our first black hole ( 1 August, p 30 ). Now we know it will be seeing us …