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Men regularly play as female avatars that bear little or no resemblance to themselves. In addition, many virtual worlds have different races of creature that you can play as. How can you compare the face of a weathered green orc with that of a pale-skinned teenager? A much simpler way to track virtual criminals would be through the use of a unique ingame username and user account. Nuneaton, Warwickshire, UK The editor writes: n The point the researchers were making is that many avatars are created using a photo of a real person as a starting point, and that tracking usernames is not possible on peer-to-peer networks.
Logical extension From Elizabeth Matka I agree with Byron Rigby’s letter calling for the scientific method to be taught in schools (31 March, p 30), but would go further. We should teach the principles of deductive and inductive logic underpinning all rational thought. Our children might then mature into adults who can think for themselves and assess any argument, from the sound chains of reasoning underpinning good science, through the more dubious claims of our economists and politicians, to the wishful thinking of climate sceptics, creationists and the tabloid press. Birmingham, UK
Generation jump From Helen Ghiradella I read with interest your report on the recent surge in autism rates (7 April, p 5). This and other presentations dismiss any connection between autism and the mercury-containing compound thiomersal, used in older forms of vaccines, on the grounds that an increasing number of autistic youngsters have never been exposed to it. But, in view of increasing evidence of epigenetic effects of various compounds on subsequent generations, is it possible that exposure of parents or grandparents to thiomersal might cause changes in gene expression in later generations? Albany, New York, US
other measures. From a publichealth perspective, we need interventions that are effective at population level, that help to improve disability-adjusted life years – a measure of the impact of disability and premature death – and that are cost-effective. Methods that frequently come out worst on these measures are individual lifestyle programmes, such as weight-loss clubs. The best seem to be fiscal measures, such as a “fat tax”, or restrictions on advertising junk food. Somewhere
Bored to death From Brian Horton The study in which mice given heart transplants survived for longer when forced to listen to Verdi’s La Traviata or a selection of Mozart than when listening to Enya or a monotone could just be down to variety (31 March, p 16). Most of Enya’s songs are somewhat repetitive and even different songs have a very similar style, so maybe the mice died of boredom. I would hate to discount the potential benefits of classical music, but it should be compared with a much wider variety of music before we get too excited. West Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Fat busting From Brett Sutton A new generation of anti-obesity pills (14 April, p 32) re-ignites the debate over medication versus willpower. Willpower alone will work for some people, but with about 50 per cent of people overweight or obese in the US and Australia, we need to look at
Their defence? “My algorithms made me do it.” London, UK
Going offline From Ian Tindal I have a Mac computer. It has a “turn wireless off” option, in common I assume, with other computers. If you believe humans have self control, then surely using this makes more sense for the 300,000 people who downloaded Fred Stutzman’s internet blocking app (31 March, p 27). As for hacking a computer back to a typewriter, all you need to do is keep a plain text application then dump all other applications apart from the core operating system and printer software. Rudgwick, West Sussex, UK
Mind the gap in the middle come diet pills and gastric bands, which seem to work for the morbidly obese or other high-risk individuals. Highett, Victoria, Australia
Smart defence From Doug Iles There is always something in New Scientist to make me smile, and as I read Helen Knight’s article on how smartphones influence our decisions (14 April, p 36), I chuckled. The description of them as the butlers of the early 21st century made me hoot. The piece makes it clear that so-called smartphones are in their infancy, at the almost-clever stage. Just imagine what they could be like when they reach adolescence. By that time, most criminal lawyers will have clients whose prime defence will be: “My smartphone made me do it.” And, not long after that, the really clever smartphones will find themselves in the dock.
From Terry Cannon You reported on research into possible relationships between journeys on London’s public transport and measures of social deprivation using data from underground and overground train trips in London recorded through the Oyster ticket system (14 April, p 16). This omits bus journeys, for which Oyster cannot record origin or destination. These make up about a third of all journeys, many for getting to and from train stations. Also, since buses are favoured by poorer people, because of their lower fares, a section of society is missed out. London, UK 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.
5 May 2012 | NewScientist | 29
Men regularly play as female avatars that bear little or no resemblance to themselves. In addition, many virtual worlds have different races of creature that you can play as. How can you compare the face of a weathered green orc with that of a pale-skinned teenager? A much simpler way to track virtual criminals would be through the use of a unique ingame username and user account. Nuneaton, Warwickshire, UK The editor writes: n The point the researchers were making is that many avatars are created using a photo of a real person as a starting point, and that tracking usernames is not possible on peer-to-peer networks.
Logical extension From Elizabeth Matka I agree with Byron Rigby’s letter calling for the scientific method to be taught in schools (31 March, p 30), but would go further. We should teach the principles of deductive and inductive logic underpinning all rational thought. Our children might then mature into adults who can think for themselves and assess any argument, from the sound chains of reasoning underpinning good science, through the more dubious claims of our economists and politicians, to the wishful thinking of climate sceptics, creationists and the tabloid press. Birmingham, UK
Generation jump From Helen Ghiradella I read with interest your report on the recent surge in autism rates (7 April, p 5). This and other presentations dismiss any connection between autism and the mercury-containing compound thiomersal, used in older forms of vaccines, on the grounds that an increasing number of autistic youngsters have never been exposed to it. But, in view of increasing evidence of epigenetic effects of various compounds on subsequent generations, is it possible that exposure of parents or grandparents to thiomersal might cause changes in gene expression in later generations? Albany, New York, US
other measures. From a publichealth perspective, we need interventions that are effective at population level, that help to improve disability-adjusted life years – a measure of the impact of disability and premature death – and that are cost-effective. Methods that frequently come out worst on these measures are individual lifestyle programmes, such as weight-loss clubs. The best seem to be fiscal measures, such as a “fat tax”, or restrictions on advertising junk food. Somewhere
Bored to death From Brian Horton The study in which mice given heart transplants survived for longer when forced to listen to Verdi’s La Traviata or a selection of Mozart than when listening to Enya or a monotone could just be down to variety (31 March, p 16). Most of Enya’s songs are somewhat repetitive and even different songs have a very similar style, so maybe the mice died of boredom. I would hate to discount the potential benefits of classical music, but it should be compared with a much wider variety of music before we get too excited. West Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Fat busting From Brett Sutton A new generation of anti-obesity pills (14 April, p 32) re-ignites the debate over medication versus willpower. Willpower alone will work for some people, but with about 50 per cent of people overweight or obese in the US and Australia, we need to look at
Their defence? “My algorithms made me do it.” London, UK
Going offline From Ian Tindal I have a Mac computer. It has a “turn wireless off” option, in common I assume, with other computers. If you believe humans have self control, then surely using this makes more sense for the 300,000 people who downloaded Fred Stutzman’s internet blocking app (31 March, p 27). As for hacking a computer back to a typewriter, all you need to do is keep a plain text application then dump all other applications apart from the core operating system and printer software. Rudgwick, West Sussex, UK
Mind the gap in the middle come diet pills and gastric bands, which seem to work for the morbidly obese or other high-risk individuals. Highett, Victoria, Australia
Smart defence From Doug Iles There is always something in New Scientist to make me smile, and as I read Helen Knight’s article on how smartphones influence our decisions (14 April, p 36), I chuckled. The description of them as the butlers of the early 21st century made me hoot. The piece makes it clear that so-called smartphones are in their infancy, at the almost-clever stage. Just imagine what they could be like when they reach adolescence. By that time, most criminal lawyers will have clients whose prime defence will be: “My smartphone made me do it.” And, not long after that, the really clever smartphones will find themselves in the dock.
From Terry Cannon You reported on research into possible relationships between journeys on London’s public transport and measures of social deprivation using data from underground and overground train trips in London recorded through the Oyster ticket system (14 April, p 16). This omits bus journeys, for which Oyster cannot record origin or destination. These make up about a third of all journeys, many for getting to and from train stations. Also, since buses are favoured by poorer people, because of their lower fares, a section of society is missed out. London, UK 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.
5 May 2012 | NewScientist | 29