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I have been a classic middle-class microdoser when it comes to the weight-loss drug Wegovy. For nine months, I took 0.5 milligrams a week (instead of the recommended maintenance dose of 2.4 mg) and lost over 20 kilograms. It was amazing. However, I became increasingly grumpy, so I decided to stop for a while. Ten …

Your article on the mathematical breakthrough bringing together three sets of equations relating to particles and fluids ends with a line saying that the implications of the work aren't yet understood. With the techniques being grounded in Richard Feynman's work on quantum field theory, and with the obvious parallels with particles vs fluids and waves, …

An important point regarding bodily energy levels is missed. If things aren't going well in our lives, we will feel depressed. The level of which will depend on how bad the situation is. In this state we feel tired and maybe want to sleep more than usual. We can't feel full of energy while like …

As a life-long introvert, I was taken aback by the advice in the book Me, But Better , which was reviewed in your pages. Forcing yourself to conform to perceived societal expectations around sociability is a recipe for disaster in the long term. Accepting yourself, on the other hand, fosters self-compassion that brings long-term happiness …

If researcher Oswald Schmitz is correct about fish storing such large amounts of carbon, then we need to stop commercial fishing immediately. We know that world stocks of larger species have dipped to less than 10 per cent of what they were before industrial fishing took over. We could tackle the problem of excessive carbon …

I loved Menno Schilthuizen's take on the (relatively) new urban natural history discoveries to be made. Unfortunately, he falls into the trap of thinking that only urbanites are living in landscapes that are "completely different from natural habitats". The rural landscapes of Europe (especially the UK), North America and many other places are artificial too, …

There is an alternative explanation other than extra education for the reduced incidence of dementia in UK adults born four years after the cut-off birth date for the 1972 increase in the school-leaving age, from 15 to 16, compared with those born four years prior ( 15 March, p 14 ). The older cohort were …

I read with interest your interview with Jaap de Roode on self-medication in animals. My research focuses on domestic livestock self-medicating against gut parasites using medicinal plants. De Roode mentions that farm animals lack a varied diet for better health. At Lincoln University's Integral Health Dairy Farm in New Zealand, we introduced woodland strips with …

Your review of Adam Kucharski's book Proof refers to "truth" and "truth-seeking" in science. I don't know if Kucharski's book uses these terms much, but perhaps it should be added that indisputable truth isn't available in science, and that seeking evidence for something is less important than seeking evidence against it. Nowhere is this better …

In their study on world population, the researchers used data from dam projects as the basis for their assertion that rural populations had been significantly underestimated. Could there be another explanation for the apparent discrepancies( 29 March, p 17 )? No doubt in many cases, people living in the area to be flooded were offered …