- Email: [email protected]
Art appreciation
OPINION LETTERS Emperor’s clothes From Steve Wilson Your article on the corrupting effect of power (7 July, p 28) did not mention research from 1970s management studies showing that hierarchical systems encourage people to “gild the lily” to their superiors, who in turn do the same to those above them and so on, distorting reality at every step in the process. In countries where a large amount of power is concentrated in one person, this can mean the leader has virtually no idea of the reality in their own country because no one will dare tell them. As a result every whim is taken as an order, implemented and reported back as a huge success. I am sure Russian president Vladimir Putin is being told that Russia and the wider world are hugely impressed by his macho, bare-chested photos. Who would dare say, “actually Vlad, you’re beginning to look a right plonker”? The most severe recent case may have been that of Romania’s Communist-era leader Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena, who right up until their execution in 1989 seemed bemused that anyone in their socialist
“paradise” would want to kill them. He never saw the poverty of his people because everywhere he went shops were filled with goods before he arrived and emptied after he left. He got the blame for this, but it is difficult to see who else this was intended to impress. Studies have shown that people in powerless situations can become delusional by continually being lied to. Perhaps it works at the opposite end of the power spectrum, too. London, UK
Odour eater
From Ian Simpson Mairi Macleod’s look at the possible use of bodily scents in perfume was interesting, but I was dismayed at the presumption that
Enigma Number 1708
Pentagon RICHARD ENGLAND From a point on one side of a rectangular sheet of paper I drew two straight lines, one of them to a point on one adjacent side and the other to a point on the other adjacent side. My sheet of paper
was now divided into two triangles and a pentagon. The lengths of the sides of the triangles were all integers, the lengths of the sides of the pentagon were, in some order, five consecutive integers, each less than 50. What were the dimensions of the sheet of paper?
WIN £15 will be awarded to the sender of the first correct answer opened on Wednesday 29 August. The Editor’s decision is final. Please send entries to Enigma 1708, New Scientist, Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS, or to [email protected] (please include your postal address). Answer to 1702 All the sixes: The sum is 818181 The winner Graham Holmes of Ipswich, Suffolk, UK
26 | NewScientist | 28 July 2012
synthetic compounds that can affect our biological and neurological processes should be used (12 May, p 36). I do not want to taste other people’s perfumes. Smoking was banned for its passive toxicity, and the fragrance industry should be forced to prove the safety of its ingredients or face a similar package of restrictions. I don’t believe even naturally occurring compounds should be allowed if they interfere with our reactions to other people or our environment. It is a dangerous road to go down. London, UK
Modified thinking
Anarchy and science
From Jack Lass Like Kat Austen, it wasn’t until I saw some of Jackson Pollock’s works in their original size at the Museum of Modern Art in New York that I finally experienced the “aha” moment of appreciation (14 July, p 42). Until then, in common with other sceptics, I felt that the process of dripping paint on canvas was not art. The moment I walked into the gallery in which these large, colourful works were hung I realised how wrong I had been. Paintings were dancing across the walls, filling the gallery with joyous motion and rippling colour. I could hardly tear myself away, and I went back several times with friends who had been equally dubious. All of them left, as I had, with their heads swimming and a feeling as if there had been not only a visual but also a musical experience. I have also always liked Dutch abstract artist Piet Mondrian’s work, and now I have a better understanding of why. Bethesda, Maryland, US
From James Jeffery In response to Randall Amster’s suggestion that one day anarchists may embrace science (7 July, p 26), he may be pleased to know that some already have. I’m a hacktivist, and regrettably my anarchism has landed me in prison for the next 17 months. Science never interested me until I came to prison, and it was thanks to some articles in New Scientist that I became fascinated with theoretical physics. I am now studying this with plans to contribute to science by combining my new passion with my degree and experience in software engineering. Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK From Jess Rowley Randall Amster hints at uniting anarchist ideals with science, or “anarchist science” as he calls it. Enter the Zeitgeist Movement. It shares many of the principles of anarchism such as the eradication of the monetary system, the state and other hierarchies. But instead of viewing science and technology as the cause of consumption, corporate globalisation, war and pollution, it recognises it as a fundamental part of the solution. Manchester, UK
From James Budd The letter from Pete Riley of campaign group GM Freeze questioning a field trial of genetically modified wheat illustrates one of the defects of the environmentalist philosophy (16 June, p 32). He equates practical with moral objections. The fact that a modification might not “work” is taken as a moral argument that it should not be tested in the first place. Stockport, Manchester, UK
Art appreciation
Getting warmer From Guy Cox Your editorial on gaining new temperature information from tree rings, states: “Climate
“paradise” would want to kill them. He never saw the poverty of his people because everywhere he went shops were filled with goods before he arrived and emptied after he left. He got the blame for this, but it is difficult to see who else this was intended to impress. Studies have shown that people in powerless situations can become delusional by continually being lied to. Perhaps it works at the opposite end of the power spectrum, too. London, UK
Odour eater
From Ian Simpson Mairi Macleod’s look at the possible use of bodily scents in perfume was interesting, but I was dismayed at the presumption that
Enigma Number 1708
Pentagon RICHARD ENGLAND From a point on one side of a rectangular sheet of paper I drew two straight lines, one of them to a point on one adjacent side and the other to a point on the other adjacent side. My sheet of paper
was now divided into two triangles and a pentagon. The lengths of the sides of the triangles were all integers, the lengths of the sides of the pentagon were, in some order, five consecutive integers, each less than 50. What were the dimensions of the sheet of paper?
WIN £15 will be awarded to the sender of the first correct answer opened on Wednesday 29 August. The Editor’s decision is final. Please send entries to Enigma 1708, New Scientist, Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS, or to [email protected] (please include your postal address). Answer to 1702 All the sixes: The sum is 818181 The winner Graham Holmes of Ipswich, Suffolk, UK
26 | NewScientist | 28 July 2012
synthetic compounds that can affect our biological and neurological processes should be used (12 May, p 36). I do not want to taste other people’s perfumes. Smoking was banned for its passive toxicity, and the fragrance industry should be forced to prove the safety of its ingredients or face a similar package of restrictions. I don’t believe even naturally occurring compounds should be allowed if they interfere with our reactions to other people or our environment. It is a dangerous road to go down. London, UK
Modified thinking
Anarchy and science
From Jack Lass Like Kat Austen, it wasn’t until I saw some of Jackson Pollock’s works in their original size at the Museum of Modern Art in New York that I finally experienced the “aha” moment of appreciation (14 July, p 42). Until then, in common with other sceptics, I felt that the process of dripping paint on canvas was not art. The moment I walked into the gallery in which these large, colourful works were hung I realised how wrong I had been. Paintings were dancing across the walls, filling the gallery with joyous motion and rippling colour. I could hardly tear myself away, and I went back several times with friends who had been equally dubious. All of them left, as I had, with their heads swimming and a feeling as if there had been not only a visual but also a musical experience. I have also always liked Dutch abstract artist Piet Mondrian’s work, and now I have a better understanding of why. Bethesda, Maryland, US
From James Jeffery In response to Randall Amster’s suggestion that one day anarchists may embrace science (7 July, p 26), he may be pleased to know that some already have. I’m a hacktivist, and regrettably my anarchism has landed me in prison for the next 17 months. Science never interested me until I came to prison, and it was thanks to some articles in New Scientist that I became fascinated with theoretical physics. I am now studying this with plans to contribute to science by combining my new passion with my degree and experience in software engineering. Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK From Jess Rowley Randall Amster hints at uniting anarchist ideals with science, or “anarchist science” as he calls it. Enter the Zeitgeist Movement. It shares many of the principles of anarchism such as the eradication of the monetary system, the state and other hierarchies. But instead of viewing science and technology as the cause of consumption, corporate globalisation, war and pollution, it recognises it as a fundamental part of the solution. Manchester, UK
From James Budd The letter from Pete Riley of campaign group GM Freeze questioning a field trial of genetically modified wheat illustrates one of the defects of the environmentalist philosophy (16 June, p 32). He equates practical with moral objections. The fact that a modification might not “work” is taken as a moral argument that it should not be tested in the first place. Stockport, Manchester, UK
Art appreciation
Getting warmer From Guy Cox Your editorial on gaining new temperature information from tree rings, states: “Climate