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1 January 2020
From Sam Edge, Ringwood, Hampshire, UK
Alun Anderson reviews The Feeling of Life Itself by Christof Koch and claims that computers can never be conscious ( 2 November 2019, p 28 ). I recall you reporting Danko Nikolic saying that machines "cannot exceed human intelligence, ever" ( 26 March 2016, p 23 ). Before this, many others said that a computer …
8 January 2020
From Martin Bide, Hope Valley, Rhode Island, US
Textile fibres are a significant source of microplastic pollution, as Graham Lawton points out ( 7 December 2019, p 38 ). Beyond the many unknowns and confusions outlined in the article, textiles provide one more. Humans have lived with textile fibres for millennia, and we are all familiar with the dust and lint that accumulate …
8 January 2020
From Peter Urben, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, UK
Lawton mentions plastic particles smaller than a nanometre. As atomic diameters are about a tenth of a nanometre, a sub-nanometre lump should surely be a small molecule, not a polymer.
8 January 2020
From Roger Lord, Brisbane, Australia
I read with interest the case of a man who was intoxicated due to a gastrointestinal tract (GIT) infection with brewer's yeast ( Saccharomyces cerevisiae ) ( 26 October 2019, p 14 ). The condition is thought to have arisen after prolonged antibiotic use, which would have decreased GIT bacterial flora and allowed an opportunistic …
8 January 2020
From Emma Lamerton, Roche, Cornwall, UK
The many hypotheses as to why berries found under power lines may be larger and juicier than those elsewhere are fascinating (Letters, 23 November 2019 ). Looking out of the window at birds on a wire makes me wonder about waste products from birds falling under the cables, adding fertiliser and perhaps making the berries …
8 January 2020
From Anna Timmins, Perth, Western Australia
Bird excrement contains nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus – all essential macronutrients for fruit production , as gardeners know.
8 January 2020
From Hazel Beneke, Bribie Island, Queensland, Australia
While at school in the middle of last century, I remember learning that for deficient soils, power lines were a source of copper, which stimulated crop growth.
8 January 2020
From Steve Taylor, Leeds, UK
You suggest that near-death experiences (NDEs) may be caused by lack of oxygen to the brain ( 23 November 2019, p 40 ). But this usually produces chaotic, hallucinatory experiences, confusion and memory loss. NDEs are unlike this. They are serene, structured and well-integrated. It has been suggested they may be caused by psychedelic chemicals …
8 January 2020
From Helmut Krueger, Munich, Germany
Archaeological evidence for afterlife beliefs goes back at least 12,000 years, when bodies started to be buried with useful stuff to take to the other side, says Graham Lawton . But there are other reasons to bury such items. Those left behind may gain a feeling of closure by burying their loved one with things …
8 January 2020
From Henryk Urbanski, Beaverton, Oregon, US
Humans aren't the only land mammals to undergo menopause ( 9 November 2019, p 16 ). Adult female rhesus macaque monkeys ( Macaca mulatta ) have menstrual cycles of approximately 28 days. Those that live long enough experience menopause at some point between 24 and 29 years of age.
