- Email: [email protected]
Seems familiar
For more letters and to join the debate, visit www.NewScientist.com/letters
plastic bottle, shaking it with the lid partially on and then promptly tightening it demonstrates the pressure drop of water vapour condensing. Hotter water gives a greater effect. Highbury, Wellington, New Zealand
Seems familiar From Christian Holscher, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster Your article on déjà vu prompted me to experience an episode of it myself (28 March, p 28). A few years ago, I worked at the University of Oxford monitoring the neuron response of primates that performed visual memory tasks. We found that many neurons responded most when a new image was shown. However, there was also a population of neurons that responded most to familiar images. This was not to specific images, as one would expect, but rather to all familiar images (Neural Plasticity, vol 9, p 41, European Journal of Neuroscience, vol 18, p 2037). The brain area we were looking at was the perirhinal cortex in the temporal lobe, next to the perirhinal cortex mentioned in the article, which works hand in hand with the visual long-term memory system. We concluded that there must be an independent system that associates visual information with a “familiarity” response if the conditions are right. If this system exists, then it could go awry. When it fails to work, we just call it amnesia. If it works all the time, symptoms of constant déjà vu can appear. Coleraine, Londonderry, UK
Reporting science From Toshi Knell In his article complaining about media distortion of science, Simon Baron-Cohen says, quite rightly, that “every time the media
misreports science, it chips away at the credibility of both enterprises” (28 March, p 26). But researchers themselves have a part to play in this. To avoid misrepresentation in the media, they must take extreme care to ensure that what they and their press releases say is accurate and clear. Knowledge gained incrementally is the bedrock of science; no hyperbole is needed. The media, by contrast, want to make every story as sensational as possible. As a result, the public and governments are barraged with reported studies and conclusions that often don’t stand up to scrutiny. Worryingly, these reports can influence policy decisions. Both sides have a duty to raise their standards. Scientists must ensure they represent fairly the import of their work, along with its motivations and funding, and the context in which it was done. Similarly, journalists are dutybound to report dispassionately, check their facts, and avoid sensationalism unless it is genuinely warranted. Nowra, New South Wales, Australia
economic and sociological factors lie behind the antisocial nature of excessive drinking and “binge” culture. But could components of the modern westernised diet also be partly responsible? Stockport, Greater Manchester UK
I want that one... From Frances Jacobson Our tendency not to notice when someone presents us with an item we didn’t choose, rather then one we did, is clearly another example of the limits of human conscious awareness (18 April, p 26). It would be interesting to understand why in 25 per cent of the trials undertaken by Lars Hall and Petter Johansson the substitution was detected. Did the subjects who spotted the switch have some anomalous cognitive skills or were they just paying more attention? Ossining, New York, US From David Roffe My cat Shandy was smarter than most, but even she was not immune to choice blindness. She
for thought I do not know. It eventually did for me, though. Congleton, Cheshire, UK
Biomark-ears From Michael Chial, University of Wisconsin Paul Marks discusses the possibility of using otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) as a biometric marker that could be used to identify individuals (11 April, p 16). This is rather hopeful, as OAEs rely on the outer hair cells in the cochlea being in a healthy condition. OAEs are used to assess the hearing of newborns and to detect noise-induced hearing loss in adults. Even the mild sensory hearing loss that is common in people over the age of 50 can weaken OAEs to the point where they are no longer measurable. In the US, hearing loss may affect 10 to 12 per cent of the population. No one would consider using fingerprints or irises as biomarkers if so many people didn’t have them. Madison, Wisconsin, US
Quantum cash Binge culture From Christopher Palmer Andy Coghlan’s article on controlling alcohol consumption using money as a motivation made me wonder if there could be a link between obesity and drinking (28 March, p 22). Over-dependence upon foods of high glycaemic load contributes to weight gain, and in some individuals seems to lead to a loss of control in limiting appetite, resulting in subsequent “addictive” overeating. Those affected seem to be drawn to foods with a high sugar and simple carbohydrate content but low nutrient diversity and density. Most people would probably subscribe to the opinion that
From Tim Poston, National Institute of Advanced Studies I was charmed to come across the letter from Fred Ramsey about whether the universe is fundamentally random, which concluded with “I know where my money is” (26 April 2008, p 21). I wonder if it is still there… or, indeed, anywhere? Bangalore, India was partial to cheese, as most cats are, but would carefully sniff it before eating. She would examine the second and third pieces, but by the fourth she would wolf down the offering straight away. At that point I would offer a pickled onion, which she invariably consumed with relish. Whether her onion breath ever gave her pause (or even paws)
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.
9 May 2009 | NewScientist | 25
plastic bottle, shaking it with the lid partially on and then promptly tightening it demonstrates the pressure drop of water vapour condensing. Hotter water gives a greater effect. Highbury, Wellington, New Zealand
Seems familiar From Christian Holscher, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster Your article on déjà vu prompted me to experience an episode of it myself (28 March, p 28). A few years ago, I worked at the University of Oxford monitoring the neuron response of primates that performed visual memory tasks. We found that many neurons responded most when a new image was shown. However, there was also a population of neurons that responded most to familiar images. This was not to specific images, as one would expect, but rather to all familiar images (Neural Plasticity, vol 9, p 41, European Journal of Neuroscience, vol 18, p 2037). The brain area we were looking at was the perirhinal cortex in the temporal lobe, next to the perirhinal cortex mentioned in the article, which works hand in hand with the visual long-term memory system. We concluded that there must be an independent system that associates visual information with a “familiarity” response if the conditions are right. If this system exists, then it could go awry. When it fails to work, we just call it amnesia. If it works all the time, symptoms of constant déjà vu can appear. Coleraine, Londonderry, UK
Reporting science From Toshi Knell In his article complaining about media distortion of science, Simon Baron-Cohen says, quite rightly, that “every time the media
misreports science, it chips away at the credibility of both enterprises” (28 March, p 26). But researchers themselves have a part to play in this. To avoid misrepresentation in the media, they must take extreme care to ensure that what they and their press releases say is accurate and clear. Knowledge gained incrementally is the bedrock of science; no hyperbole is needed. The media, by contrast, want to make every story as sensational as possible. As a result, the public and governments are barraged with reported studies and conclusions that often don’t stand up to scrutiny. Worryingly, these reports can influence policy decisions. Both sides have a duty to raise their standards. Scientists must ensure they represent fairly the import of their work, along with its motivations and funding, and the context in which it was done. Similarly, journalists are dutybound to report dispassionately, check their facts, and avoid sensationalism unless it is genuinely warranted. Nowra, New South Wales, Australia
economic and sociological factors lie behind the antisocial nature of excessive drinking and “binge” culture. But could components of the modern westernised diet also be partly responsible? Stockport, Greater Manchester UK
I want that one... From Frances Jacobson Our tendency not to notice when someone presents us with an item we didn’t choose, rather then one we did, is clearly another example of the limits of human conscious awareness (18 April, p 26). It would be interesting to understand why in 25 per cent of the trials undertaken by Lars Hall and Petter Johansson the substitution was detected. Did the subjects who spotted the switch have some anomalous cognitive skills or were they just paying more attention? Ossining, New York, US From David Roffe My cat Shandy was smarter than most, but even she was not immune to choice blindness. She
for thought I do not know. It eventually did for me, though. Congleton, Cheshire, UK
Biomark-ears From Michael Chial, University of Wisconsin Paul Marks discusses the possibility of using otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) as a biometric marker that could be used to identify individuals (11 April, p 16). This is rather hopeful, as OAEs rely on the outer hair cells in the cochlea being in a healthy condition. OAEs are used to assess the hearing of newborns and to detect noise-induced hearing loss in adults. Even the mild sensory hearing loss that is common in people over the age of 50 can weaken OAEs to the point where they are no longer measurable. In the US, hearing loss may affect 10 to 12 per cent of the population. No one would consider using fingerprints or irises as biomarkers if so many people didn’t have them. Madison, Wisconsin, US
Quantum cash Binge culture From Christopher Palmer Andy Coghlan’s article on controlling alcohol consumption using money as a motivation made me wonder if there could be a link between obesity and drinking (28 March, p 22). Over-dependence upon foods of high glycaemic load contributes to weight gain, and in some individuals seems to lead to a loss of control in limiting appetite, resulting in subsequent “addictive” overeating. Those affected seem to be drawn to foods with a high sugar and simple carbohydrate content but low nutrient diversity and density. Most people would probably subscribe to the opinion that
From Tim Poston, National Institute of Advanced Studies I was charmed to come across the letter from Fred Ramsey about whether the universe is fundamentally random, which concluded with “I know where my money is” (26 April 2008, p 21). I wonder if it is still there… or, indeed, anywhere? Bangalore, India was partial to cheese, as most cats are, but would carefully sniff it before eating. She would examine the second and third pieces, but by the fourth she would wolf down the offering straight away. At that point I would offer a pickled onion, which she invariably consumed with relish. Whether her onion breath ever gave her pause (or even paws)
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.
9 May 2009 | NewScientist | 25