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Hidden cost of wind
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case in court, with pathologists and paediatricians testifying against them, and removal and adoption of their children and a prison sentence the likely outcome. Confessing to a crime they may not have committed could allow the other parent to keep the remaining children. Cambridge, UK
Let there be dark From Anthony Wheeler Peter Aldhous reports that nighttime lighting is having a disruptive effect on nocturnal animals, and suggests we dim the lights for their sake (17 July, p 8). We might do so for our sake too. As a certified snake-catcher with a permit to relocate venomous snakes away from habitation, I frequently speak to people about how they can reduce the risk of encountering an undesired reptile.
p 34). However, it confuses a number of aspects regarding the Battle of Britain. The “big wing” strategy involving large formations of aircraft was certainly not the favoured strategy in the earlier phase of the battle. The paper you cite (Naval Research Logistics, DOI: 10.1002/nav20328) comes to no definitive conclusion over the strategy’s effectiveness, other than to observe that there is no evidence that a greater concentration of RAF numbers led to greater fighting strength. It does, however, note that Lanchester’s key insight – that loss rates are proportional to enemy numbers – was broadly correct for the RAF but less so for the Luftwaffe. Fortunately, the RAF had prepared for the attrition that war would bring by planning for high rates of aircraft production and a comprehensive pilot-training programme, underpinned by an extensive logistic organisation with significant repair capability. As a result, the RAF got steadily stronger as the battle progressed – unlike the Luftwaffe, which became steadily weaker. London, UK
Spark of invention
One tactic is to use minimal outside lighting at night. Lights attract insects, insects attract frogs, toads, geckos, skinks and other animals, which in turn attract hungry snakes. For our own safety, let there be dark. Mackay, Queensland, Australia
War in the air From Peter Dye, Royal Air Force Museum Kate Ravilious’s article “Patterns of war” is correct to highlight the influence of Frederick Lanchester’s ideas on military thinking (31 July,
From Pat O’Dea and Jenny Brookes Catherine Brahic notes in her article about the origins of cooking that the earliest confirmed archaeological evidence of fire at a site of human habitation goes back to 790,000 years ago (17 July, p 12). But people could well have been making fire in a domestic setting much earlier. In this semi-rural area of New Zealand, there is a wandering, shallow stream whose shores and bed are covered with large rounded rocks and pebbles of all sizes. Some years ago, a small band of local children found that if you strike these rocks together they create sparks. After lots of time and many attempts, these children managed to ignite small campfires. Since the earliest archaeological
Flying for breath
record of stone tools is around 2 million years ago, we imagine that this process of discovery and invention must have occurred many times. The question is, were ancient hominids as bright and inquisitive as modern human 10-year-olds? Papakura, New Zealand
Hidden cost of wind From John Etherington In their defence of wind power, Jérôme Guillet and John Evans state: “You end up paying less for your electricity when wind power is part of the mix” (24 July, p 24). This is simply untrue. Industrialscale wind power is so capitally expensive per megawatt-hour generated that it would not be commercially viable, in the UK at least, without the Renewables Obligation, which obliges electricity suppliers in the UK to source a proportion of their electricity from renewable sources. The CEO of the UK power and gas company E.ON UK is on record as saying: “Without the Renewable Obligation certificates nobody would be building wind farms” (The Daily Telegraph, 26 March 2005). The Renewables Obligation in effect delivers a subsidy that more than doubles the value of electricity from onshore wind farms, and in some cases more than trebles it offshore. It also compels the sale of renewably generated power, which because of its unpredictability, would not otherwise be marketable. Llanhowell, Pembrokeshire, UK
From John MacDonald When discussing the controversy over atmospheric oxygen levels during the age of the dinosaurs, Stephen Battersby asks: “Did the dinosaurs have to breathe heavily despite their efficient bird-like lungs?” (17 July, p 38). A more interesting question is, what evolutionary imperatives resulted in the development of those efficient lungs, which were later important in the flight ability of birds? If oxygen was plentiful, as suggested by researcher Tim Lenton in the article, there would have been no need for highly efficient breathing systems. Robert Berner’s competing model of low oxygen levels seems far more likely, and might be supported by the steady increase in the size of flying dinosaurs before they became extinct: as the air became thinner, bigger wings would be needed for flight to be possible. London, UK
Gorilla in the midst From Yonatan Silver When viewing a video of people moving around and throwing a ball, many observers fail to notice a gorilla enter the scene (26 June, p 32). But is there a difference between watching an event in a two-dimensional video and experiencing it in real life? Did the experimenters compare people watching the video with those seeing the same scene live? Jerusalem, Israel
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.
21 August 2010 | NewScientist | 27
case in court, with pathologists and paediatricians testifying against them, and removal and adoption of their children and a prison sentence the likely outcome. Confessing to a crime they may not have committed could allow the other parent to keep the remaining children. Cambridge, UK
Let there be dark From Anthony Wheeler Peter Aldhous reports that nighttime lighting is having a disruptive effect on nocturnal animals, and suggests we dim the lights for their sake (17 July, p 8). We might do so for our sake too. As a certified snake-catcher with a permit to relocate venomous snakes away from habitation, I frequently speak to people about how they can reduce the risk of encountering an undesired reptile.
p 34). However, it confuses a number of aspects regarding the Battle of Britain. The “big wing” strategy involving large formations of aircraft was certainly not the favoured strategy in the earlier phase of the battle. The paper you cite (Naval Research Logistics, DOI: 10.1002/nav20328) comes to no definitive conclusion over the strategy’s effectiveness, other than to observe that there is no evidence that a greater concentration of RAF numbers led to greater fighting strength. It does, however, note that Lanchester’s key insight – that loss rates are proportional to enemy numbers – was broadly correct for the RAF but less so for the Luftwaffe. Fortunately, the RAF had prepared for the attrition that war would bring by planning for high rates of aircraft production and a comprehensive pilot-training programme, underpinned by an extensive logistic organisation with significant repair capability. As a result, the RAF got steadily stronger as the battle progressed – unlike the Luftwaffe, which became steadily weaker. London, UK
Spark of invention
One tactic is to use minimal outside lighting at night. Lights attract insects, insects attract frogs, toads, geckos, skinks and other animals, which in turn attract hungry snakes. For our own safety, let there be dark. Mackay, Queensland, Australia
War in the air From Peter Dye, Royal Air Force Museum Kate Ravilious’s article “Patterns of war” is correct to highlight the influence of Frederick Lanchester’s ideas on military thinking (31 July,
From Pat O’Dea and Jenny Brookes Catherine Brahic notes in her article about the origins of cooking that the earliest confirmed archaeological evidence of fire at a site of human habitation goes back to 790,000 years ago (17 July, p 12). But people could well have been making fire in a domestic setting much earlier. In this semi-rural area of New Zealand, there is a wandering, shallow stream whose shores and bed are covered with large rounded rocks and pebbles of all sizes. Some years ago, a small band of local children found that if you strike these rocks together they create sparks. After lots of time and many attempts, these children managed to ignite small campfires. Since the earliest archaeological
Flying for breath
record of stone tools is around 2 million years ago, we imagine that this process of discovery and invention must have occurred many times. The question is, were ancient hominids as bright and inquisitive as modern human 10-year-olds? Papakura, New Zealand
Hidden cost of wind From John Etherington In their defence of wind power, Jérôme Guillet and John Evans state: “You end up paying less for your electricity when wind power is part of the mix” (24 July, p 24). This is simply untrue. Industrialscale wind power is so capitally expensive per megawatt-hour generated that it would not be commercially viable, in the UK at least, without the Renewables Obligation, which obliges electricity suppliers in the UK to source a proportion of their electricity from renewable sources. The CEO of the UK power and gas company E.ON UK is on record as saying: “Without the Renewable Obligation certificates nobody would be building wind farms” (The Daily Telegraph, 26 March 2005). The Renewables Obligation in effect delivers a subsidy that more than doubles the value of electricity from onshore wind farms, and in some cases more than trebles it offshore. It also compels the sale of renewably generated power, which because of its unpredictability, would not otherwise be marketable. Llanhowell, Pembrokeshire, UK
From John MacDonald When discussing the controversy over atmospheric oxygen levels during the age of the dinosaurs, Stephen Battersby asks: “Did the dinosaurs have to breathe heavily despite their efficient bird-like lungs?” (17 July, p 38). A more interesting question is, what evolutionary imperatives resulted in the development of those efficient lungs, which were later important in the flight ability of birds? If oxygen was plentiful, as suggested by researcher Tim Lenton in the article, there would have been no need for highly efficient breathing systems. Robert Berner’s competing model of low oxygen levels seems far more likely, and might be supported by the steady increase in the size of flying dinosaurs before they became extinct: as the air became thinner, bigger wings would be needed for flight to be possible. London, UK
Gorilla in the midst From Yonatan Silver When viewing a video of people moving around and throwing a ball, many observers fail to notice a gorilla enter the scene (26 June, p 32). But is there a difference between watching an event in a two-dimensional video and experiencing it in real life? Did the experimenters compare people watching the video with those seeing the same scene live? Jerusalem, Israel
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.
21 August 2010 | NewScientist | 27