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Letters archive

Join the conversation in New Scientist's Letters section, where readers can share their thoughts and opinions on articles and see responses from experts and enthusiasts across a range of science topics. To submit a letter, please see our terms and email letters@newscientist.com


30 August 2023

Could ageotypes help us fend off some cancers?

From Gautam Menon, Walsall, West Midlands, UK

Graham Lawton's article on "ageotypes" was very interesting ( 12 August, p 32 ). The rates at which our organs age could be related to different cellular senescence processes, and perhaps identifying an ageotype could facilitate intervention in the form of drugs such as telomerase inhibitors or senomodulators targeted at those particular bodily systems that …

30 August 2023

For the record

The age of the Perucetus colossus whale fossil was estimated using argon-argon dating (12 August, p 14) .

6 September 2023

On the call for less doom in climate messaging (1)

From John Davnall, Manchester, UK

While I accept your positive idea of easing up on doom-mongering in messages about climate change, I fear your article doesn't address one of the great climate unknowns ( Leader, 19 August ). You state that "climate change is happening, and we can stop it if we choose to". But we really don't know how …

6 September 2023

On the call for less doom in climate messaging (2)

From Phil Elmes, Blacksmiths, New South Wales, Australia

I am pleased you are encouraging a less catastrophist approach to the messaging on climate change. I despair to see young people frightened to the point of feeling hopeless about the future. Our message to them should be one of optimism. We will have technologies in place to reduce our influence on the rise in …

6 September 2023

Nuclear must be at heart of the carbon-free push

From Jon Elmendorf, Houston, Texas, US

Your latest special issue on climate change was generally fair and objective, but other than a brief parenthetical reference to China's nuclear power programme, there was no recognition of nuclear power as a major and near-term contributor to reducing our carbon emissions. No "green" movement can be taken seriously without a full-throated endorsement of this …

6 September 2023

If you win $50 billion, please use it wisely

From Robert Wright, London, UK

In "Unnatural disasters" by Friederike Otto, we learn that Multnomah county in Oregon is suing fossil fuel companies for $50 billion in damages caused by a 2021 heatwave. Thanks to Google Street View, I was able to see the nature of the place. Everywhere I looked, I saw nice houses, many with visible air conditioning …

6 September 2023

Upsides of the great personal data grab

From Eric Kvaalen, Les Essarts-le-Roi, France

I agree that we need to be cautious about how we use the internet and phones because of firms trying to get our data. But I don't agree that this is "a game you can only lose", as one contributor put it. If you exercise, then your data should help you with your health insurance …

6 September 2023

Still searching for the real cause of obesity epidemic

From Jon Arch, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK

The fundamental problem with obesity isn't that the real cause of it has yet to be confronted, but that the real cause isn't known. If it is only that ultra-processed foods support over-consumption, as Pauline Keyne suggests, why is it that food intake in the US was stable at roughly 2200 kilocalories per day from …

6 September 2023

Sometimes, gestures can be misleading

From Sam Edge, Ringwood, Hampshire, UK

I read your piece on the power of gestures accompanying speech with interest. However, the conclusion, and especially the assertion that other people's gestures "offer a window into the thoughts that speakers have but don't express in their words", seems at odds with previous research demonstrating that people are better at detecting if others are …

6 September 2023

Shedding light on a burning issue

From Nick Baker, Rowhedge, Essex, UK

The flame you used to illustrate geologic hydrogen is incandescent. It looks more like methane to me ( 5 August, p 12 ).

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