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12 September 2018
From Alan Taman, Birmingham, UK
Clare Wilson and Andy Coghlan cover many of the possible explanations for the decrease in the improvement of life expectancy in the UK ( 25 August, p 20 ). But they miss one out. The effect is historically far more noticeable in the poor than the wealthy. There is a measurable gradient of difference across …
12 September 2018
From Peter Basford, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, UK
Penny Sarchet discusses what causes allergies ( 11 August, p 29 ). In an earlier article on the non-specific effects of vaccines, Michael Brooks writes that some may protect against allergies, while others encourage them ( 17 August 2013, p 38 ). Nigel Curtis of the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne and the University of Melbourne, …
12 September 2018
Who's testing our thoughts to see how well we understand them? Dave Probert responds to our report that AIs are being tested to see how well they understand our thoughts ( 8 September, p 10 )
12 September 2018
From Catherine Sinclair, Kirk Ireton, Derbyshire, UK
I was pleased to see the variety of speakers depicted in your ad for Â鶹´«Ã½ Live (25 August). It is great to see the scientific community become more inclusive and thereby enriched and inspirational. However, I am disturbed by the cartoon accompanying Ian Angus's comment on population ( 25 August, p 22 ). All …
12 September 2018
From Mike Whittaker, Stapleton, Shropshire, UK
Sally Adee mentions work on more secure computer hardware carried out by Ruby Lee and Howie Shrobe ( 11 August, p 36 ). From the late 1970s, the late Roger Needham and others, including Bjarne Stroustrup , who went on to design the C++ programming language, worked on the CAP computer , which embodied a …
12 September 2018
From Anne Barnfield, London, Ontario, Canada
I agree with Ian Adam in finding Stephen Harris's claims regarding foxes killing cats unconvincing (Letters, 18 August ). If a fox had "weak jaws", why would it chew off, and then remove, the head (which it presumably could not then eat), rather than going for the "soft underbelly" where the internal organs would be …
12 September 2018
From Brian Horton, West Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Douglas Heaven suggests five commandments for robots ( 4 August, p 38 ). I agree with the last commandment, that a robot should have an off switch, but I think the others need more work. For example, the first prevents a robot from allowing a human to come to harm "unless it is supervised by …
12 September 2018
From Alastair Mouat, Broughton, Peeblesshire, UK
Bob Holmes describes the importance of yeast to the flavour of alcoholic drinks ( 18 August, p 32 ). This brings to mind a weekly event in the laboratory of the brewery in Edinburgh where I began my career in the 1960s. The company owned several breweries throughout the UK, which all produced the same …
12 September 2018
From Echo Gonzalez, Chicago, Illinois, US
Rowan Hooper was disappointed by talks at the International Dream Conference ( 14 July, p 10 ). I share his sceptical opinion of parapsychology. But isn't it just as dangerous to dismiss hypotheses simply because they are difficult or impossible to prove via the scientific method? Say someone has anecdotal dream-related experiences that cannot be …
12 September 2018
• Actual allergy to gluten does exist , but is very rare ( 11 August, p 28 ). • In a nuclear reactor, a moderator slows neutrons after they are released ( 1 September, p 32 ). • A study finds that eukaryotic cells first appeared between 1.21 and 1.84 billion years ago ( 25 …
