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Pitching in again
To join the debate, visit www.NewScientist.com/letters
Expanding Earth From Rob Basto Over the past 20 years we seem to be getting a double whammy of disasters – the climate-related alongside an apparent increase in the frequency and severity of earthquakes. Are they linked? There is debate over whether glaciers melting and releasing pressure on the Earth’s crust contribute to earthquakes. Another factor in their frequency could be the expansion of the Earth’s crust as it warms. The atmosphere has warmed by around 0.8 °C over the last century, and the oceans by somewhat less. This warming will affect the thermal gradient of the lithosphere and we could well be starting to see the effects of this. Simple calculations show that if a 1000-kilometre-long sheet of rock is heated by 0.5 °C per century, then this translates into an expansion of around 2.7 centimetres per year in basalt and 4.3 in granite. This is the same order of magnitude as the movement of the tectonic plates that triggers earthquakes. Reigate, Surrey, UK The editor writes: n It seems to take a very long time for temperatures changes to permeate a significant thickness of the crust: so probably not yet.
Never grow old From Stephen Wilson So what makes humans different from our nearest relatives is that we have lost some regulatory DNA (12 March, p 3 and p 6) which controls how genes are expressed. This may help revive a centuryold theory. Louis Bolk, and later Gavin De Beer, Desmond Morris and Stephen Jay Gould, observed that human beings have more in common with infant chimpanzees than with their adult
parents. We have managed to work out the function of two of the 510 chunks of DNA that we have lost and they seem to allow juvenile development (brain growth in this case) to continue longer than it was “meant” to. If the other 508 have similar functions it looks as though the neoteny theory has fared very well indeed. Ape ancestors growing like an infant for much longer by losing regulatory DNA makes sense as a theory for the origin of humanity. Perhaps we will have to change the name of our species to Peter Pan troglodytes – the chimp that never grew up. London, UK
Regeneration blues From David Ivory Colin Barras described a connection between unicellular animals and cancer cells, which suggests that cancers may lie at the origin of the animal kingdom (12 March, p 12). Fifty years ago, I came across the suggestion that the rapid proliferation of undifferentiated cells that a lizard needs to grow a replacement tail was similar to the growth of a tumour. Presumably a network of blood vessels develops in the new tail, as it does in some tumours, which would add weight to the idea. We may not need to go back to our single-cell state to find a relationship with tumours; just to when we were reptiles. Wellesbourne, Warwickshire, UK
Pitching in again From Erik Wahlström Absolute pitch is not “the secret of musical genius” as your cover proclaims (26 February). Real music in natural settings is concerned with relative, not absolute, pitch. Your mates in the pub start belting out Roll out the Barrel beginning with and ending on any old pitch, and you’re expected to sing along successfully. Your choir tires in performance and sinks, so you end up in a slightly sharp E major instead of the original F. On the other hand, your orchestra plays sharper as the instruments warm up, so you approach a flat F sharp in the finale. Or you’re a pianist accompanying a singer who says “I’m out of sorts today; let’s lower the next song a semitone”. That’s real music. And composers couldn’t care less about absolute pitch. Their work is to create a soundscape in which tones only have meaning in relation to other tones. How long until someone tells us that great authors are sensitive to the absolute sounds of letters? Esbo, Finland
Homecoming cat From Ian Glendon Roger Highfield’s observation that the return journey feels faster than the outward (19 February, p 34) might also apply to animals. Our (rather overweight) cat likes to follow us on our occasional night walks along the river near our home. Once we leave his familiar territory he indicates his increasing distress, as his pitiful miaows become louder and more frequent the further away from home we travel. As we approach our regular turnaround point he generally sits down to await our return journey, during which he makes no noise at all, and even rests from time to time, being well aware that this is the way home. We have
observed a similar pattern of vocalisations on trips to and from the vet, despite the fact that he is in his cat box the whole time. Maybe he has a built-in homing device. Chirn Park, Queensland, Australia
Bait switch From Geoffrey Thomas Is SUSY dead or missing as your headline asked (19 March, p 10)? Nah, she’s not coming to the party until those with what you dub “baited breath” use a good mouthwash. Presumably they’re using a Large Halitosis Collider? We wait with bated breath for her arrival. Merthyr Tydfil, Mid-Glamorgan, UK The editor writes: n Our shame is unabated.
For the record n We described nematode researcher Cori Bargmann as a “he” – our apologies to her (19 March, p 21). n Astrobiotic, creator of the Red Rover, is no longer partnered with the Raytheon corporation (5 March, p 46). 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.
2 April 2011 | NewScientist | 29
Expanding Earth From Rob Basto Over the past 20 years we seem to be getting a double whammy of disasters – the climate-related alongside an apparent increase in the frequency and severity of earthquakes. Are they linked? There is debate over whether glaciers melting and releasing pressure on the Earth’s crust contribute to earthquakes. Another factor in their frequency could be the expansion of the Earth’s crust as it warms. The atmosphere has warmed by around 0.8 °C over the last century, and the oceans by somewhat less. This warming will affect the thermal gradient of the lithosphere and we could well be starting to see the effects of this. Simple calculations show that if a 1000-kilometre-long sheet of rock is heated by 0.5 °C per century, then this translates into an expansion of around 2.7 centimetres per year in basalt and 4.3 in granite. This is the same order of magnitude as the movement of the tectonic plates that triggers earthquakes. Reigate, Surrey, UK The editor writes: n It seems to take a very long time for temperatures changes to permeate a significant thickness of the crust: so probably not yet.
Never grow old From Stephen Wilson So what makes humans different from our nearest relatives is that we have lost some regulatory DNA (12 March, p 3 and p 6) which controls how genes are expressed. This may help revive a centuryold theory. Louis Bolk, and later Gavin De Beer, Desmond Morris and Stephen Jay Gould, observed that human beings have more in common with infant chimpanzees than with their adult
parents. We have managed to work out the function of two of the 510 chunks of DNA that we have lost and they seem to allow juvenile development (brain growth in this case) to continue longer than it was “meant” to. If the other 508 have similar functions it looks as though the neoteny theory has fared very well indeed. Ape ancestors growing like an infant for much longer by losing regulatory DNA makes sense as a theory for the origin of humanity. Perhaps we will have to change the name of our species to Peter Pan troglodytes – the chimp that never grew up. London, UK
Regeneration blues From David Ivory Colin Barras described a connection between unicellular animals and cancer cells, which suggests that cancers may lie at the origin of the animal kingdom (12 March, p 12). Fifty years ago, I came across the suggestion that the rapid proliferation of undifferentiated cells that a lizard needs to grow a replacement tail was similar to the growth of a tumour. Presumably a network of blood vessels develops in the new tail, as it does in some tumours, which would add weight to the idea. We may not need to go back to our single-cell state to find a relationship with tumours; just to when we were reptiles. Wellesbourne, Warwickshire, UK
Pitching in again From Erik Wahlström Absolute pitch is not “the secret of musical genius” as your cover proclaims (26 February). Real music in natural settings is concerned with relative, not absolute, pitch. Your mates in the pub start belting out Roll out the Barrel beginning with and ending on any old pitch, and you’re expected to sing along successfully. Your choir tires in performance and sinks, so you end up in a slightly sharp E major instead of the original F. On the other hand, your orchestra plays sharper as the instruments warm up, so you approach a flat F sharp in the finale. Or you’re a pianist accompanying a singer who says “I’m out of sorts today; let’s lower the next song a semitone”. That’s real music. And composers couldn’t care less about absolute pitch. Their work is to create a soundscape in which tones only have meaning in relation to other tones. How long until someone tells us that great authors are sensitive to the absolute sounds of letters? Esbo, Finland
Homecoming cat From Ian Glendon Roger Highfield’s observation that the return journey feels faster than the outward (19 February, p 34) might also apply to animals. Our (rather overweight) cat likes to follow us on our occasional night walks along the river near our home. Once we leave his familiar territory he indicates his increasing distress, as his pitiful miaows become louder and more frequent the further away from home we travel. As we approach our regular turnaround point he generally sits down to await our return journey, during which he makes no noise at all, and even rests from time to time, being well aware that this is the way home. We have
observed a similar pattern of vocalisations on trips to and from the vet, despite the fact that he is in his cat box the whole time. Maybe he has a built-in homing device. Chirn Park, Queensland, Australia
Bait switch From Geoffrey Thomas Is SUSY dead or missing as your headline asked (19 March, p 10)? Nah, she’s not coming to the party until those with what you dub “baited breath” use a good mouthwash. Presumably they’re using a Large Halitosis Collider? We wait with bated breath for her arrival. Merthyr Tydfil, Mid-Glamorgan, UK The editor writes: n Our shame is unabated.
For the record n We described nematode researcher Cori Bargmann as a “he” – our apologies to her (19 March, p 21). n Astrobiotic, creator of the Red Rover, is no longer partnered with the Raytheon corporation (5 March, p 46). 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.
2 April 2011 | NewScientist | 29