Â鶹´«Ã½

Graham Lawton claims that a type of simulation called multi-agent artificial intelligence is about to upend the world with "highly detailed" simulations of "entire artificial societies" with "extraordinary accuracy" ( 5 October, p 38 ). For argument's sake, let's grant that we can construct such simulations – even though we cannot yet simulate even a …

Peter White argues that some people without language can think (Letters, 7 September ) and David Werdegar insists that thought does depend on language (Letters, 26 October ). That exchange on the subject reminded me, being bilingual, of questions I am often asked: "in which language do you think" and "in which language do you …

I write this letter in a state of hypnosis ( 9 November, p 34 ). Now I'm going deeper still, repeating, as you suggest, an "affirmation" that helps me achieve my desired outcome. "This letter will be published. This letter will be..."

Helen Thomson describes the potential of self-hypnosis. What is the difference between this and mindfulness meditation? They seem, to me, to involve exactly the same processes. The editor writes: There are certainly many parallels between the two and there is likely to be shared neurobiology. For many people, the states of mind are very similar. …

• Meat and dairy production accounts for 85 per cent of the UK's total agricultural footprint, in the UK and elsewhere ( 26 October, p 24 ). • When Scottish greyface ewes are injected with male levels of testosterone, it is their daughters that show the symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome ( 23 November, p …

Daniel Cossins describes the complex, sometimes surprising things that we should think about before we die ( 23 November, p 38 ). Compassion in Dying is a charity that offers free advice and help with living wills and lasting powers of attorney. If we put off the practical steps that go along with thinking about …

Your feature on The End was very entertaining. I hadn't heard of alkaline hydrolysis before, and would have liked to learn more. My long-preferred funerary option, cremation, has recently been shown to be somewhat ecologically irresponsible. A woodland burial in a cardboard box had previously seemed like the best choice. But have you seen the …

You observe that "pagers used by the UK's National Health Service are leaking medical data over radio waves, possibly to the 1980s, where pagers belong" (in print only, 9 November, p 19). I appreciate that this was in jest, but I wouldn't like my hospital to use, for example, SMS text messages to contact staff …

As Dana Mackenzie notes, a renowned mathematician once played 2000 games of solitaire and "won only 36.6 per cent ( 23 November, p 12 ). Later, computers won more than 80 per cent." But the computers used the variant in which they knew the location of all the cards that were face down or still …

Edd Gent reports on parcel delivery drones piggybacking on buses ( 9 November, p 14 ). Low bridges would cause untold hiccups to this system.