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Blaming his tools
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dream to this day. The simple and effective solution to this problem, at least for the safety of my wife, was for us to swap sides of the bed. Ever since then, the most dramatic effect has been for these struggles to be brutally terminated by my falling 2 feet to the floor, leaving many surreal memories of fights to the death, while my wife snoozes happily at my back. Harlow, Essex, UK
Rainforest fears From Iain Climie Discussing the destruction of rainforests for financial gain, Eric Worrall rightly points out that rich countries are in no position to lecture poorer ones on conservation (10 October, p 27). But he fails to consider that there are means by which rainforest areas can be used without wrecking them, such as those noted by E. O. Wilson in The Diversity of Life, his book on ecosystems in crisis. Cultivation of trees, integrated farming and game ranching are all alternatives. In the UK, old-fashioned mixed farming is often cited as the basis of today’s biodiversity. Of course, putting these ideas into practice requires investment and a willingness to cut down on luxuries, or even forgo them entirely. Though it is ecologically insane to clear rainforests for cheap foodstuffs, biofuels and minerals, the destruction is lucrative for some, and generates jobs in the short term. Sounder alternatives need investment up front and a desire to put both local people and conservation ahead of western consumers’ convenience. Whitchurch, Hampshire, UK From Bryn Glover Eric Worrall seems to believe that the destruction of rainforests provides significant long-term benefit for these areas’ indigenous peoples. While such activities
may allow a few individuals and their families to lift themselves out of poverty, the greatest beneficiaries will be the investors from the developed world who are behind the deforestation. Any local benefits will be shortlived; poverty will return once all the timber has gone. He also repeats the notion that the rainforests belong to the indigenous peoples. Human beings have long acted as if the world exists for their benefit: the rich world has pursued this fallacy for centuries, and the result has been environmental chaos. It will only get worse if we continue on the same path. Worrall suggests that the only way to protect the remaining rainforests may be for the rich world to buy off the poor world. If that really is the only option, then however much it may cost, and for however long it is necessary, that is what must happen. Cracoe, North Yorkshire, UK
Noddy in space? From Peter Norton Feedback mocks the statement made by Noddy Holder of Slade in the lyrics of their song Far Far Away, “I’ve seen the sunset in the East and in the West”, suggesting the band must have travelled to Venus in order to achieve this (Feedback, 28 November). Seeing “the sunset in the east” is not the same as seeing “the sun set in the east” as you know very well. A ticket to John O’Groats on the furthest tip of Scotland would give Feedback an opportunity to see the sunset in the North. New York, US From Andrew Fisher Holder need not go to Venus to see the sun set in the east. In nearEarth orbit travelling east to west he could see the sun set in the east every 90 minutes or so. A westward-travelling Concorde would also have done the trick, and even a subsonic airliner at
high latitudes can provide this experience. Weybridge, Surrey, UK From John MacLeary The most plausible explanation for Slade having seen the sun set in the east is that the band have actually been around since before
telescope being used and the apparent darkening of the edge of the sun’s disc due to light being absorbed by gases surrounding the sun. These effects imposed about 1 minute of uncertainty on observations of 18th and 19th-century transits of Venus – far greater than the effect of human error. Williamstown, Massachusetts, US
Fly like a bird
the last geomagnetic reversal. Before the Brunhes-Matuyama reversal, approximately 780,000 years ago, the sunrise would have been in the west. Winsford, Cheshire, UK
Blaming his tools From Jay Pasachoff Paul Collins’s review of Jimena Canales’s book A Tenth of a Second states that Canales argues that the effect of human reaction time was highlighted by “astronomers recording the transit of Venus in 1874: precisely timing anything through an eyepiece was bedevilled by human error” (24 October, p 49). However, Glenn Schneider and I have shown that the accuracy of the transit-of-Venus results were in fact bedevilled by the “blackdrop effect” – the distortion of the outline of Venus as it completes its passage across the face of the sun (see, for example, Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, vol 2004, p 242). Based on space observations of a transit of Mercury, we showed that the black-drop effect can be explained as a composite of the inherent resolution limit of the
From Alan Wheeley The wingsuit adventurers who wish to land without parachutes might benefit from an afternoon’s observation of the goings-on in my backyard (14 November, p 41). When birds come in to land on a tree, they swoop lower than the branch they are aiming for, then glide upwards. This slows them almost to a standstill as they land on their chosen perch. The wingsuit flyers could follow their example: select a place like the Grand Canyon, swoop into the canyon just below the rim, then glide upwards to clear the rim and cut their speed. Do it right, and they may not even need to bend their knees on landing. It would, of course, be safer to overshoot slightly than to fail to reach the rim. Ashgrove, Queensland, Australia
For the record ■ The Ordnance Survey’s 3D maps are more precise then we reported (28 November, p 24). They are accurate to 4 centimetres in each direction. 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] 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.
19/26 December 2009 & 2 January 2010 | NewScientist | 31
dream to this day. The simple and effective solution to this problem, at least for the safety of my wife, was for us to swap sides of the bed. Ever since then, the most dramatic effect has been for these struggles to be brutally terminated by my falling 2 feet to the floor, leaving many surreal memories of fights to the death, while my wife snoozes happily at my back. Harlow, Essex, UK
Rainforest fears From Iain Climie Discussing the destruction of rainforests for financial gain, Eric Worrall rightly points out that rich countries are in no position to lecture poorer ones on conservation (10 October, p 27). But he fails to consider that there are means by which rainforest areas can be used without wrecking them, such as those noted by E. O. Wilson in The Diversity of Life, his book on ecosystems in crisis. Cultivation of trees, integrated farming and game ranching are all alternatives. In the UK, old-fashioned mixed farming is often cited as the basis of today’s biodiversity. Of course, putting these ideas into practice requires investment and a willingness to cut down on luxuries, or even forgo them entirely. Though it is ecologically insane to clear rainforests for cheap foodstuffs, biofuels and minerals, the destruction is lucrative for some, and generates jobs in the short term. Sounder alternatives need investment up front and a desire to put both local people and conservation ahead of western consumers’ convenience. Whitchurch, Hampshire, UK From Bryn Glover Eric Worrall seems to believe that the destruction of rainforests provides significant long-term benefit for these areas’ indigenous peoples. While such activities
may allow a few individuals and their families to lift themselves out of poverty, the greatest beneficiaries will be the investors from the developed world who are behind the deforestation. Any local benefits will be shortlived; poverty will return once all the timber has gone. He also repeats the notion that the rainforests belong to the indigenous peoples. Human beings have long acted as if the world exists for their benefit: the rich world has pursued this fallacy for centuries, and the result has been environmental chaos. It will only get worse if we continue on the same path. Worrall suggests that the only way to protect the remaining rainforests may be for the rich world to buy off the poor world. If that really is the only option, then however much it may cost, and for however long it is necessary, that is what must happen. Cracoe, North Yorkshire, UK
Noddy in space? From Peter Norton Feedback mocks the statement made by Noddy Holder of Slade in the lyrics of their song Far Far Away, “I’ve seen the sunset in the East and in the West”, suggesting the band must have travelled to Venus in order to achieve this (Feedback, 28 November). Seeing “the sunset in the east” is not the same as seeing “the sun set in the east” as you know very well. A ticket to John O’Groats on the furthest tip of Scotland would give Feedback an opportunity to see the sunset in the North. New York, US From Andrew Fisher Holder need not go to Venus to see the sun set in the east. In nearEarth orbit travelling east to west he could see the sun set in the east every 90 minutes or so. A westward-travelling Concorde would also have done the trick, and even a subsonic airliner at
high latitudes can provide this experience. Weybridge, Surrey, UK From John MacLeary The most plausible explanation for Slade having seen the sun set in the east is that the band have actually been around since before
telescope being used and the apparent darkening of the edge of the sun’s disc due to light being absorbed by gases surrounding the sun. These effects imposed about 1 minute of uncertainty on observations of 18th and 19th-century transits of Venus – far greater than the effect of human error. Williamstown, Massachusetts, US
Fly like a bird
the last geomagnetic reversal. Before the Brunhes-Matuyama reversal, approximately 780,000 years ago, the sunrise would have been in the west. Winsford, Cheshire, UK
Blaming his tools From Jay Pasachoff Paul Collins’s review of Jimena Canales’s book A Tenth of a Second states that Canales argues that the effect of human reaction time was highlighted by “astronomers recording the transit of Venus in 1874: precisely timing anything through an eyepiece was bedevilled by human error” (24 October, p 49). However, Glenn Schneider and I have shown that the accuracy of the transit-of-Venus results were in fact bedevilled by the “blackdrop effect” – the distortion of the outline of Venus as it completes its passage across the face of the sun (see, for example, Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, vol 2004, p 242). Based on space observations of a transit of Mercury, we showed that the black-drop effect can be explained as a composite of the inherent resolution limit of the
From Alan Wheeley The wingsuit adventurers who wish to land without parachutes might benefit from an afternoon’s observation of the goings-on in my backyard (14 November, p 41). When birds come in to land on a tree, they swoop lower than the branch they are aiming for, then glide upwards. This slows them almost to a standstill as they land on their chosen perch. The wingsuit flyers could follow their example: select a place like the Grand Canyon, swoop into the canyon just below the rim, then glide upwards to clear the rim and cut their speed. Do it right, and they may not even need to bend their knees on landing. It would, of course, be safer to overshoot slightly than to fail to reach the rim. Ashgrove, Queensland, Australia
For the record ■ The Ordnance Survey’s 3D maps are more precise then we reported (28 November, p 24). They are accurate to 4 centimetres in each direction. 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] 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.
19/26 December 2009 & 2 January 2010 | NewScientist | 31