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Mind and body
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Fasting fan From John Hann I can personally vouch for the efficacy of the 5:2 diet, in which you strictly limit calorie intake two days a week (17 November, p 46). After two operations for cancer at the beginning of this year, plus a warning over kidney function, I adopted this regime. After just over two months I was told I would not need to be prescribed statins, and my blood test results were much improved. This was very reassuring to an 80-year-old. Hurst Green, East Sussex, UK
Mind and body From Alan Hayward Ambitious attempts to copy the human brain (27 October, p 26) omit reference to those long nerves that convey gut feelings. A brain without a body can only be part human – as neurologist Antonio Damasio has argued (27 November 2010, p 50). Ngaparou, Senegal
energy-efficient halogen, LED and metal-halide bulbs, all of which emit more blue light. Cudworth, Somerset, UK
Speak up From Marleen Susman Like many scientists, I was concerned by the recent jailing of six Italian seismologists for failing to adequately communicate earthquake risks before the L’Aquila quake struck in 2009 (27 October, p 3 and 4) In your editorial, you suggested that scientists should speak for themselves and that, as in the Italian case, allowing a civil servant to translate their message for the public is inappropriate. I agree. Scientists must be responsible for putting their research findings in a social context and ensuring they are not misconstrued to fulfil political agendas. They must also take responsibility for how their work is presented to the wider public. Equally, governments must learn the importance of including experts in the process. Kew, Victoria, Australia
Virtual tidying
Too blue From Annemieke Wigmore Colour-tunable LED bulbs are good news not just for insomniacs keen to influence circadian cycles, but also, for those of us who have, or will develop, macular degeneration (17 November, p 24). Causes of this eye condition are thought to include too much light in the blue wavelength. Increasingly, incandescent bulbs are being replaced by more
From Darrell Smith In your 10 November issue, one article discusses the increasing sophistication of telepresence technologies (p 38), and another the difficulties faced by orbiting robots trying to repair satellites (p 46). I was struck by the statement in the latter that crewed repair missions offer an advantage, as “humans are adept at changing tactics on the fly”. It seems to me that the first article contains the answer to the problem raised in the second… Leeds, UK From Martin Gregorie The telepresence concept goes back further than the 1980s. As far as I can tell, the first mention was
in former US navy engineer Robert A. Heinlein’s short story Waldo, published in 1942. Arguably, we should be calling a telepresence device a Waldo. Harlow, Essex, UK
Diet for the planet From Clive Semmens Fred Pearce says that everyone should put their shoulder to the wheel to double global food production by 2050 (13 October, p 50). Then when challenged, it is made clear this target is not because of the predicted increase in population from 7 to 9 billion, but because of rising demand, especially demand for meat (10 November, p 33). A far better wheel to put our shoulders to is reducing consumption, especially of meat, by the wealthy. This would not only be good for the global environment, but for health, too. I’m not advocating vegetarianism, merely moderation. Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK
Ocean seeding From Graham Cox In his letter, Alec Dunn suggests that pumping nutrient-rich deep ocean water to the surface would stimulate plankton growth and hence capture atmospheric carbon (18 August, p 32). This could be complemented by ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) (22 November 2008, p 28). OTEC is a relatively marginal alternative energy source that uses cold deep water and warm surface water to run the equivalent of a reverse fridge cycle. Cold water is pumped to the surface to liquify a working fluid and then discarded. If value is given for the indirect carbon dioxide captured in this way through carbon credits or subsidies like those given to wind and nuclear energy, the overall economics may be supportable.
Alternatively, especially when located far from land, the OTEC cycle can be used simply to power the water pumping. Hothfield, Kent, UK
What’s the buzz? From Gavin Lawrence A while ago you reported that bee flight had finally been modelled, and suggested that this would lead to new designs for aircraft
propellers and improved aircraft stability (3 December 2005, p 17). Has this breakthrough found any real life application, such as in wind turbine blade design? Surbiton, Surrey, UK
Ancient Barbie? From Andy Jones April Nowell questions the interpretation of ice age “Venus” figurines as sexual objects (10 November, p 29). But why infer any adult meaning? We see the same miniature, exaggerated appearance in children’s dolls. Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, 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.
1 December 2012 | NewScientist | 31
Fasting fan From John Hann I can personally vouch for the efficacy of the 5:2 diet, in which you strictly limit calorie intake two days a week (17 November, p 46). After two operations for cancer at the beginning of this year, plus a warning over kidney function, I adopted this regime. After just over two months I was told I would not need to be prescribed statins, and my blood test results were much improved. This was very reassuring to an 80-year-old. Hurst Green, East Sussex, UK
Mind and body From Alan Hayward Ambitious attempts to copy the human brain (27 October, p 26) omit reference to those long nerves that convey gut feelings. A brain without a body can only be part human – as neurologist Antonio Damasio has argued (27 November 2010, p 50). Ngaparou, Senegal
energy-efficient halogen, LED and metal-halide bulbs, all of which emit more blue light. Cudworth, Somerset, UK
Speak up From Marleen Susman Like many scientists, I was concerned by the recent jailing of six Italian seismologists for failing to adequately communicate earthquake risks before the L’Aquila quake struck in 2009 (27 October, p 3 and 4) In your editorial, you suggested that scientists should speak for themselves and that, as in the Italian case, allowing a civil servant to translate their message for the public is inappropriate. I agree. Scientists must be responsible for putting their research findings in a social context and ensuring they are not misconstrued to fulfil political agendas. They must also take responsibility for how their work is presented to the wider public. Equally, governments must learn the importance of including experts in the process. Kew, Victoria, Australia
Virtual tidying
Too blue From Annemieke Wigmore Colour-tunable LED bulbs are good news not just for insomniacs keen to influence circadian cycles, but also, for those of us who have, or will develop, macular degeneration (17 November, p 24). Causes of this eye condition are thought to include too much light in the blue wavelength. Increasingly, incandescent bulbs are being replaced by more
From Darrell Smith In your 10 November issue, one article discusses the increasing sophistication of telepresence technologies (p 38), and another the difficulties faced by orbiting robots trying to repair satellites (p 46). I was struck by the statement in the latter that crewed repair missions offer an advantage, as “humans are adept at changing tactics on the fly”. It seems to me that the first article contains the answer to the problem raised in the second… Leeds, UK From Martin Gregorie The telepresence concept goes back further than the 1980s. As far as I can tell, the first mention was
in former US navy engineer Robert A. Heinlein’s short story Waldo, published in 1942. Arguably, we should be calling a telepresence device a Waldo. Harlow, Essex, UK
Diet for the planet From Clive Semmens Fred Pearce says that everyone should put their shoulder to the wheel to double global food production by 2050 (13 October, p 50). Then when challenged, it is made clear this target is not because of the predicted increase in population from 7 to 9 billion, but because of rising demand, especially demand for meat (10 November, p 33). A far better wheel to put our shoulders to is reducing consumption, especially of meat, by the wealthy. This would not only be good for the global environment, but for health, too. I’m not advocating vegetarianism, merely moderation. Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK
Ocean seeding From Graham Cox In his letter, Alec Dunn suggests that pumping nutrient-rich deep ocean water to the surface would stimulate plankton growth and hence capture atmospheric carbon (18 August, p 32). This could be complemented by ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) (22 November 2008, p 28). OTEC is a relatively marginal alternative energy source that uses cold deep water and warm surface water to run the equivalent of a reverse fridge cycle. Cold water is pumped to the surface to liquify a working fluid and then discarded. If value is given for the indirect carbon dioxide captured in this way through carbon credits or subsidies like those given to wind and nuclear energy, the overall economics may be supportable.
Alternatively, especially when located far from land, the OTEC cycle can be used simply to power the water pumping. Hothfield, Kent, UK
What’s the buzz? From Gavin Lawrence A while ago you reported that bee flight had finally been modelled, and suggested that this would lead to new designs for aircraft
propellers and improved aircraft stability (3 December 2005, p 17). Has this breakthrough found any real life application, such as in wind turbine blade design? Surbiton, Surrey, UK
Ancient Barbie? From Andy Jones April Nowell questions the interpretation of ice age “Venus” figurines as sexual objects (10 November, p 29). But why infer any adult meaning? We see the same miniature, exaggerated appearance in children’s dolls. Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, 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.
1 December 2012 | NewScientist | 31