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Risk rank
See newscientist.com for letters on: ● Risk rank ● Placebo envy ● Life under several suns ● The first Rubik solution ● Teaching theory of knowledge
University as your interviewee Jacques Stern, and many others, believe (16 August, p 42). The late James Ellis of the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), a friend and colleague, told me in 1995 that in 1969, bound to secrecy and working alone, he developed an “existence theorem” for encipherment using separate public and private keys. For three years GCHQ struggled to find the one-way function needed, then Clifford Cocks, a Cambridge mathematician, joined and together they solved it. The Stanford team reached the same point in 1975. By the early 1980s the US National Security Agency knew of James’s work and Diffie came to meet him at GCHQ. Sadly the political climate of the time meant that the idea was never patented in the UK. The matter is well covered in Simon Singh’s The Code Book (Fourth Estate, 2000). James died just one month before Cocks was allowed to break the long silence by giving a talk at GCHQ. Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, UK
The green stuff From John Bayes, Seasalter Shellfish I read with dismay the claim that phytoplankton could be the fuel of the future (16 August, p 34). My career started in the early 1960s, researching the prospect of cultivating plankton using warm water and carbon dioxide discharged by Poole power station. The project fizzled out for lack of support. Producing phytoplankton to feed bivalve molluscs is now vital to my business. It is possible to sustain production of around 100 grams per cubic metre per day in sterile, sealed containers, using a cocktail of nutrients ranging from large amounts of nitrogen to traces of B vitamins. If I could sustain cultures like this in open tanks, the aquaculture world, including China, would beat a path to my door to see how I do it. Reculver, Kent, UK www.newscientist.com
Water not everywhere From James Mackay I was shocked at the omission of some basic elements from Jonathan Chenoweth’s analysis of water consumption (23 August, p 28). His entire analysis is predicated on global trade in agricultural products constituting a trade in “virtual water” – insofar as arid countries may import foods that take a lot of water to grow, rather than addressing inadequacies in their own water supply – and that this virtual water can substitute for the real stuff. He also claims desalination is a “cheap” alternative. There is the certainty that in the not-too-distant future oil will become scarcer and harder to access. Both desalination of seawater and the transport of “virtual water” will then become very expensive options. The ability of countries whose income depends on oil exports to trade for “virtual water” will reduce. If Chenoweth’s analysis were implemented, it could easily tempt developing countries to abandon agriculture. This is happening in my country, Cyprus, which has suffered serious drought for two years. The government decided it was easier to compensate farmers than to develop water conservation. Land is not being cultivated, which means that erosion and water leaching are becoming worse. If a poorer and less-developed country were to run down its agricultural resources in this way, and was then hit by rapidly rising food prices – due to sanctions or
civil war, say – it would not be easy to restart widespread subsistence farming at perhaps only a few months’ notice. Self-sufficiency in water, intelligent recycling and conservation measures remain the only sensible way to combat water shortages. Larnaca, Cyprus
however, would have quickly led to the conclusion that the war that the US had dismally in mind should have never been waged and that other strategies to remove Saddam Hussein and his cronies from power should have been considered. Rome, Italy
From Douglas Hawes As a retired agronomist, I would say that the supposed high water efficiency of the Netherlands, the UK and Uruguay might be more due to the low evaporation rate and other climate factors of those countries than to real efficiency. Water pricing probably plays a role, too. Plano, Texas, US
History at stake From Richard Harris The brief contents-page listing for the two books in your Bookends section for 23 August states: “Warming death; on Giordano Bruno”. Taken together, this surely is a rather extreme understatement, given the recent discussion of why Bruno was sent to the stake (26 July, p 21). Sturminster Newton, Dorset, UK
Polypublishing From Jennifer Kirton Perhaps one answer to the problems facing scientific publishing in the developing world that Priya Shetty reported (12 July, p 20) is to allow duplicate publishing – first in an international journal, then in a locally published title, with acknowledgement. Authors would gain recognition and leading publishers would maintain their position as the first to publish original content. Reproducing the paper in the local language would increase exposure of local research to readers in the region, improving the viability of the local journal, particularly if it could establish partnerships with international publishers. Wollongbar, New South Wales, Australia
For the record
Anthropology on time
Letters should be sent to: Letters to the Editor, New Scientist, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS Fax: +44 (0) 20 7611 1280 Email: [email protected]
From Roberto Ruggiu I agree with Hugh Gusterson’s view that it is improper to have anthropologists embedded within the armed forces in Iraq (2 August, p 20). I believe some field work before the invasion,
● We should have said that arsenic occurs naturally in groundwater as a result of minerals leaching from rocks (30 August, p 7). ● Scott Tremaine is the Richard Black Professor of Astrophysics in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study (6 September, p 19). Though located in Princeton, New Jersey, the Institute is not affiliated with Princeton University. We also said that black holes could grow to 30 times the width of the solar system – that should have been three times. ● The correct DOI for the study of cyclones by James Elsner and colleagues is 10.1038/nature07234 (6 September, p 20). ● The correct DOI for the paper by Hasse Walum and colleagues on vasopressin and pair-bonding is 10.1073/pnas.0803081105 (6 September, p 16).
Include your full postal address and telephone number, and a reference (issue, page number, title) to articles. We reserve the right to edit letters. Reed Business Information reserves the right to use any submissions sent to the letters column of New Scientist magazine, in any other format.
20 September 2008 | NewScientist | 19
University as your interviewee Jacques Stern, and many others, believe (16 August, p 42). The late James Ellis of the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), a friend and colleague, told me in 1995 that in 1969, bound to secrecy and working alone, he developed an “existence theorem” for encipherment using separate public and private keys. For three years GCHQ struggled to find the one-way function needed, then Clifford Cocks, a Cambridge mathematician, joined and together they solved it. The Stanford team reached the same point in 1975. By the early 1980s the US National Security Agency knew of James’s work and Diffie came to meet him at GCHQ. Sadly the political climate of the time meant that the idea was never patented in the UK. The matter is well covered in Simon Singh’s The Code Book (Fourth Estate, 2000). James died just one month before Cocks was allowed to break the long silence by giving a talk at GCHQ. Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, UK
The green stuff From John Bayes, Seasalter Shellfish I read with dismay the claim that phytoplankton could be the fuel of the future (16 August, p 34). My career started in the early 1960s, researching the prospect of cultivating plankton using warm water and carbon dioxide discharged by Poole power station. The project fizzled out for lack of support. Producing phytoplankton to feed bivalve molluscs is now vital to my business. It is possible to sustain production of around 100 grams per cubic metre per day in sterile, sealed containers, using a cocktail of nutrients ranging from large amounts of nitrogen to traces of B vitamins. If I could sustain cultures like this in open tanks, the aquaculture world, including China, would beat a path to my door to see how I do it. Reculver, Kent, UK www.newscientist.com
Water not everywhere From James Mackay I was shocked at the omission of some basic elements from Jonathan Chenoweth’s analysis of water consumption (23 August, p 28). His entire analysis is predicated on global trade in agricultural products constituting a trade in “virtual water” – insofar as arid countries may import foods that take a lot of water to grow, rather than addressing inadequacies in their own water supply – and that this virtual water can substitute for the real stuff. He also claims desalination is a “cheap” alternative. There is the certainty that in the not-too-distant future oil will become scarcer and harder to access. Both desalination of seawater and the transport of “virtual water” will then become very expensive options. The ability of countries whose income depends on oil exports to trade for “virtual water” will reduce. If Chenoweth’s analysis were implemented, it could easily tempt developing countries to abandon agriculture. This is happening in my country, Cyprus, which has suffered serious drought for two years. The government decided it was easier to compensate farmers than to develop water conservation. Land is not being cultivated, which means that erosion and water leaching are becoming worse. If a poorer and less-developed country were to run down its agricultural resources in this way, and was then hit by rapidly rising food prices – due to sanctions or
civil war, say – it would not be easy to restart widespread subsistence farming at perhaps only a few months’ notice. Self-sufficiency in water, intelligent recycling and conservation measures remain the only sensible way to combat water shortages. Larnaca, Cyprus
however, would have quickly led to the conclusion that the war that the US had dismally in mind should have never been waged and that other strategies to remove Saddam Hussein and his cronies from power should have been considered. Rome, Italy
From Douglas Hawes As a retired agronomist, I would say that the supposed high water efficiency of the Netherlands, the UK and Uruguay might be more due to the low evaporation rate and other climate factors of those countries than to real efficiency. Water pricing probably plays a role, too. Plano, Texas, US
History at stake From Richard Harris The brief contents-page listing for the two books in your Bookends section for 23 August states: “Warming death; on Giordano Bruno”. Taken together, this surely is a rather extreme understatement, given the recent discussion of why Bruno was sent to the stake (26 July, p 21). Sturminster Newton, Dorset, UK
Polypublishing From Jennifer Kirton Perhaps one answer to the problems facing scientific publishing in the developing world that Priya Shetty reported (12 July, p 20) is to allow duplicate publishing – first in an international journal, then in a locally published title, with acknowledgement. Authors would gain recognition and leading publishers would maintain their position as the first to publish original content. Reproducing the paper in the local language would increase exposure of local research to readers in the region, improving the viability of the local journal, particularly if it could establish partnerships with international publishers. Wollongbar, New South Wales, Australia
For the record
Anthropology on time
Letters should be sent to: Letters to the Editor, New Scientist, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS Fax: +44 (0) 20 7611 1280 Email: [email protected]
From Roberto Ruggiu I agree with Hugh Gusterson’s view that it is improper to have anthropologists embedded within the armed forces in Iraq (2 August, p 20). I believe some field work before the invasion,
● We should have said that arsenic occurs naturally in groundwater as a result of minerals leaching from rocks (30 August, p 7). ● Scott Tremaine is the Richard Black Professor of Astrophysics in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study (6 September, p 19). Though located in Princeton, New Jersey, the Institute is not affiliated with Princeton University. We also said that black holes could grow to 30 times the width of the solar system – that should have been three times. ● The correct DOI for the study of cyclones by James Elsner and colleagues is 10.1038/nature07234 (6 September, p 20). ● The correct DOI for the paper by Hasse Walum and colleagues on vasopressin and pair-bonding is 10.1073/pnas.0803081105 (6 September, p 16).
Include your full postal address and telephone number, and a reference (issue, page number, title) to articles. We reserve the right to edit letters. Reed Business Information reserves the right to use any submissions sent to the letters column of New Scientist magazine, in any other format.
20 September 2008 | NewScientist | 19