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Bili ape myths
Letters– European ignorance
In their pockets?
From John Looney Regarding your article on the attitude of Americans to evolution, I was shocked to find that 24 per cent of my fellow Irish answered “false” (19 August, p 11). In the US at least, the issue is political and gets discussed in the news, so people can have a chance of learning both sides of the argument. But in many European countries we have a much larger problem with ignorance than we thought. Dublin, Ireland
From Viorel Tulica Since you chose to publish an article on antioxidants from a writer associated with a drug company, when can we expect articles on global warming from an oil company and on forest conservation from a timber company (5 August, p 40)? Is New Scientist that much in need of drug companies’ advertising dollars and euros? Providence, Rhode Island, US
Near dead do rise From Eric Kvaalen I contest your statement that the “so-called ‘Lazarus phenomenon’ has never been documented in brain-dead patients” (5 August, p 6). If a flat electroencephalogram is taken as an indication of brain death, then there are documented cases. An article in December 2001 in The Lancet (vol 358, p 2039) refers to the case of a young woman “who had complications during brain surgery for a cerebral
The editor writes: ● The Novartis Foundation is a scientific and educational charity formed in 1947 by the Swiss company Ciba (now Novartis). Although Novartis, the pharmaceutical company, provides financial support, the foundation has no ties with the company’s business and is operationally independent. From Clare Marsh I was surprised to see that selenium had been included in the list of supposed antioxidants. The mechanism of selenium is fairly well understood. It acts as a cofactor for enzymes involved in the immune response. Glasgow, UK
Bug free? Impossible
aneurysm. The EEG of her cortex and brainstem had become totally flat. After the operation, which was eventually successful, this patient proved to have had a very deep NDE [near death experience]”. This included an out-of-body experience, during which she observed things that happened during the period of the flat EEG and that were subsequently verified. La Courneuve, Paris, France 18 | NewScientist | 2 September 2006
From Kae Verens Richard Day says that writing computer programs without bothering to iron out the bugs is like a surgeon not sewing up a patient after an operation (12 August, p 18). As a professional programmer, I find it incredible that a reader of your magazine could even consider that analogy to be fair. A bug-free program of any real purpose (ie not a five-line example, but a mature application) is just as likely to be created as a bug-free human is to be reared, and would be just as hard to maintain in that pristine state once released to interact with the world. Any experienced programmer
will tell you that it is impossible to produce bug-free code. All one can do is strive towards bug-resistant code. To return to a more apt medical analogy: one cannot permanently cure a human of all disease, but one can improve the human’s disease-resistance. Monaghan, Ireland
Bili ape myths From Cleve Hicks, University of Amsterdam Two points in your article about our work on Bili’s “giant apes” require correction (1 July, p 14). It is an exaggeration to say that the chimps’ skulls have a sagittal crest. Only one skull has been found with a small sagittal crest. You also state that recordings exist of the Bili apes howling at the moon. If these recordings exist, we would very much like to hear them. It must be stated very clearly: the Bili apes do not howl at the moon. One of the main goals of this study has been to puncture the myths surrounding the Bili apes and paint a more realistic portrait of the genetics, behaviour and ecology of these chimpanzees, which, it is now clear, are not a hybrid or a new species. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Social collapse From Malcolm Whitmore I am very disillusioned with your presentation of the article about Easter Island (29 July, p 30). Your description of a few new archaeological findings that raise new theories of what caused the collapse of civilisation on Easter Island has no bearing on “The truth about civilisation” as you proclaimed on your cover. In no way do they represent a conclusive rejection of the theories put forward about mankind’s current headlong rush to the potential collapse of civilisation. In his book Collapse Jared Diamond cites examples of the
collapse of many societies in the world and highlights the progress of our global society towards a major collapse that may be triggered by a number of potential threats. For example, global warming causing water and food shortages and thus bringing mass starvation is one prominent threat and atomic warfare between different belief systems is another. Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK
The art of imagination From Paul Mealing What is missing from the discussion of Vilayanur Ramachandran’s theory of art is the role of imagination, which inhabits all art, be it visual, dramatic, poetic or musical (5 August, p 44). I am one of those who believes that it was art that first separated us from the other primates because it not only allowed expression for flights of the imagination, but also allowed us to project our ideas, thoughts and emotions. Art is distinguished from other forms of expression because it conveys an emotional message as well as an intellectual one. Music epitomises this better than any other medium, but it applies to all art. My own area of expression is writing, and fiction must convey an emotional message or it is dead. It is not just the ability to create or copy scenarios, narratives and characters that distinguishes fiction from nonfiction like this letter, but the necessary conveyance of feelings, sensations and emotions. www.newscientist.com
In their pockets?
From John Looney Regarding your article on the attitude of Americans to evolution, I was shocked to find that 24 per cent of my fellow Irish answered “false” (19 August, p 11). In the US at least, the issue is political and gets discussed in the news, so people can have a chance of learning both sides of the argument. But in many European countries we have a much larger problem with ignorance than we thought. Dublin, Ireland
From Viorel Tulica Since you chose to publish an article on antioxidants from a writer associated with a drug company, when can we expect articles on global warming from an oil company and on forest conservation from a timber company (5 August, p 40)? Is New Scientist that much in need of drug companies’ advertising dollars and euros? Providence, Rhode Island, US
Near dead do rise From Eric Kvaalen I contest your statement that the “so-called ‘Lazarus phenomenon’ has never been documented in brain-dead patients” (5 August, p 6). If a flat electroencephalogram is taken as an indication of brain death, then there are documented cases. An article in December 2001 in The Lancet (vol 358, p 2039) refers to the case of a young woman “who had complications during brain surgery for a cerebral
The editor writes: ● The Novartis Foundation is a scientific and educational charity formed in 1947 by the Swiss company Ciba (now Novartis). Although Novartis, the pharmaceutical company, provides financial support, the foundation has no ties with the company’s business and is operationally independent. From Clare Marsh I was surprised to see that selenium had been included in the list of supposed antioxidants. The mechanism of selenium is fairly well understood. It acts as a cofactor for enzymes involved in the immune response. Glasgow, UK
Bug free? Impossible
aneurysm. The EEG of her cortex and brainstem had become totally flat. After the operation, which was eventually successful, this patient proved to have had a very deep NDE [near death experience]”. This included an out-of-body experience, during which she observed things that happened during the period of the flat EEG and that were subsequently verified. La Courneuve, Paris, France 18 | NewScientist | 2 September 2006
From Kae Verens Richard Day says that writing computer programs without bothering to iron out the bugs is like a surgeon not sewing up a patient after an operation (12 August, p 18). As a professional programmer, I find it incredible that a reader of your magazine could even consider that analogy to be fair. A bug-free program of any real purpose (ie not a five-line example, but a mature application) is just as likely to be created as a bug-free human is to be reared, and would be just as hard to maintain in that pristine state once released to interact with the world. Any experienced programmer
will tell you that it is impossible to produce bug-free code. All one can do is strive towards bug-resistant code. To return to a more apt medical analogy: one cannot permanently cure a human of all disease, but one can improve the human’s disease-resistance. Monaghan, Ireland
Bili ape myths From Cleve Hicks, University of Amsterdam Two points in your article about our work on Bili’s “giant apes” require correction (1 July, p 14). It is an exaggeration to say that the chimps’ skulls have a sagittal crest. Only one skull has been found with a small sagittal crest. You also state that recordings exist of the Bili apes howling at the moon. If these recordings exist, we would very much like to hear them. It must be stated very clearly: the Bili apes do not howl at the moon. One of the main goals of this study has been to puncture the myths surrounding the Bili apes and paint a more realistic portrait of the genetics, behaviour and ecology of these chimpanzees, which, it is now clear, are not a hybrid or a new species. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Social collapse From Malcolm Whitmore I am very disillusioned with your presentation of the article about Easter Island (29 July, p 30). Your description of a few new archaeological findings that raise new theories of what caused the collapse of civilisation on Easter Island has no bearing on “The truth about civilisation” as you proclaimed on your cover. In no way do they represent a conclusive rejection of the theories put forward about mankind’s current headlong rush to the potential collapse of civilisation. In his book Collapse Jared Diamond cites examples of the
collapse of many societies in the world and highlights the progress of our global society towards a major collapse that may be triggered by a number of potential threats. For example, global warming causing water and food shortages and thus bringing mass starvation is one prominent threat and atomic warfare between different belief systems is another. Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK
The art of imagination From Paul Mealing What is missing from the discussion of Vilayanur Ramachandran’s theory of art is the role of imagination, which inhabits all art, be it visual, dramatic, poetic or musical (5 August, p 44). I am one of those who believes that it was art that first separated us from the other primates because it not only allowed expression for flights of the imagination, but also allowed us to project our ideas, thoughts and emotions. Art is distinguished from other forms of expression because it conveys an emotional message as well as an intellectual one. Music epitomises this better than any other medium, but it applies to all art. My own area of expression is writing, and fiction must convey an emotional message or it is dead. It is not just the ability to create or copy scenarios, narratives and characters that distinguishes fiction from nonfiction like this letter, but the necessary conveyance of feelings, sensations and emotions. www.newscientist.com