It's a washout
The Met Office’s report does indeed predict that despite the increase in intense downpours, there will be longer periods of drought in summer, and summers will become drier overall by 2100.
For the record
鈥� We were left mopping our brows after printing a claim that koalas sweat (7 June, p 7). They don’t.
鈥� The legislative body created by the 1707 Acts of Union was the parliament of Great Britain (31 May, p 15)
False French
Rod Ward’s discussion of English phrases rendered phonetically in French (7 June, p 30) brought to mind the apocryphal story of the motto of the French navy, which is said to read: “A l’eau, c’est l’heure.”
Cockermouth, Cumbria, UK
East-facing
I read Graham Lawton’s fascinating review of religious decline in the West (3 May, p 30). May I offer an observation from the East?
When I post an article using Western terms such as prayer and Christ-focused centering, I receive a torrent of sceptical headshakes explaining that science has disproved all that rubbish.
But if the same online article uses Eastern terms such as meditation and chakra-focused mindfulness it is greeted with widespread agreement that science has proved these techniques to be highly beneficial.
I have no explanation for the discrepancy, but I wonder if the Archbishop of Canterbury would like some Hindi lessons?
Hong Kong
Special delivery
Using wormholes to send messages to our past sounds interesting (24 May, p 11). The form of negative energy suggested as a way of keeping wormholes open 鈥� called Casimir energy 鈥� has been in discussion for some years now.
Future scientists may well be waiting for us to open that first small and unstable wormhole, ready to use their advanced knowledge to prop it wide open.
This is conceivably how our greatest scientific leap happens in this timeline.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
War woes
When I first read Ian Morris’s article on the benefits of war I thought he was pushing our reality buttons or making a joke (19 April, p 28).
The US has been remarkably untouched by war, so from his office in California, war might seem theoretical, and therefore not so bad. But few other countries in the world have been so lucky.
History is riddled with wars that crippled or destroyed civilisations and created endless agonies and massive setbacks on the evolutionary climb from barbarism.
If humanity’s bloody and destructive wars could have been curtailed we might have seen a Renaissance blossom in Europe 1500 years ago.
Instead we got a war that destroyed Greco-Roman civilisation, a time of grief and misery that rivalled the Stone Age in its murderous destruction.
Woodland Hills, California, US
Fairy-tale universe
Richard Dawkins mused that children should be taught that frogs do not turn into princes because it is statistically too improbable. Lisa Grossman, however, in her article describing the theory of infinite multiverses, states that “everything that has even a slight chance of happening is virtually certain to happen” (17 May, p 8).
I feel certain our cosmologists will be able to find a universe where frogs do indeed turn into princes. And there is bound to be one with a God!
Hangerberry, Gloucestershire, UK
Speaking in code
At the age of 25, I learned to speak Russian; but at the age of 43 I was forced to learn Dutch while at the same time taking a crash refresher course to upgrade my schoolboy French. This was a result of moving to bilingual Belgium for work.
I had no difficulty, and found learning Dutch to be both useful and very interesting. I see no reason why older people shouldn’t while away winter evenings learning a new language.
Bridge, Kent, UK
Speaking in code
Your story on how bilingualism slows mental decline shows yet another benefit of learning a second language (7 June, p 14). It also highlights the hypothesis that the benefit comes from the mental workout involved in choosing the correct expression.
I believe an interesting test would compare these results with people who have learned a computer programming language, which has no spoken component. This should provide some idea of whether the benefit comes from the need to choose the correct word from multiple languages, or from some other mechanism.
The increased teaching of computer science in schools could provide an interesting study group for researchers.
Barlborough, Derbyshire, UK
Unreasonable views
Chris Mooney asks science enthusiasts to “show us not just that science is cool and fascinating, but that science denial is destructive or even immoral” (7 June, p 26).
When I agreed to a request to write a chapter on “climate change denial” for a proposed book, I had no aspiration to transform the raison d’锚tre of the likes of Nigel Lawson, member of the UK parliament’s House of Lords, or US senator Jim Inhofe. Having found myself at the receiving end of Lawson’s ridicule before, I knew contrarians aren’t moved by rational arguments.
Instead I hoped to inspire my readers to resist these politicians’ blandishments by pointing out that climate change denial is a double wrong in its rejection of scientific evidence as well as its refusal to take account of the harm to other people and the natural world.
After all, as Nicholas Stern wrote in his book A Blueprint for a Safer Planet, “there is no getting away from the fact that making policy towards climate change unavoidably requires one to take a stand on ethical questions”.
Birmingham, UK
It's a washout
From Martin Savage.
I was interested to learn that summer downpours in southern England are predicted to be five times as frequent by 2100 (7 June, p 16). However, your article neglected to include an important detail. Will these extra storms be in addition to the normal rainfall in the UK, or will there be a corresponding reduction in the usual summer drizzle?
Jomtien, Thailand
Scottish science
As a research scientist living in Scotland, I face a conundrum with regard to the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence (31 May, p 12).
If I vote “yes” there is the possibility of reduced funding from the UK research councils or their successors, given that Scotland receives a disproportionately high share of the UK research budget.
The professed ambition of the Scottish Nationalists is to make science one of the bases for a reformed economy in Scotland, so that shortfall may or may not be significant.
However, if I vote “no” and the UK as a whole then votes in 2015 to leave the European Union, I will be cut off from the valuable international collaboration and funding that stems from Europe-wide research involvement.
Penicuik, Midlothian, UK
GM chestnuts
In your leader on the project to reinstate American chestnut trees in the US using disease-resistant genetically modified variants, you say “die-hard anti-GM campaigners are unlikely to hold back, given their resistance to projects that might help feed the world” (7 June, p 5).
This disappoints me as it suggests you believe anti-GM campaigners are irrational and misunderstand the science.
If the disease-resistant American chestnut variant had been in the vanguard of GM projects, it might have become a persuasive ambassador for the technology. Instead we got Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soybeans.
In a previous article, Andy Coghlan quotes Helen Wallace of GeneWatch UK (22 March, p 6). I find its website a fact-heavy, propaganda-light source of information.
The publicly funded BBC has balance written into its charter, so is bound to give weight to both sides of a controversy, but from 快猫短视频 I would expect a bit more healthy scepticism at times. Your leader left this “anti-GM nut” less than happy.
Liverpool, UK
鈥� The editor replies:
We agree that not all opposition to GM is irrational or anti-scientific. However, opposition to the clear-cut case of Golden Rice, for example, suggests that there are some anti-GM campaigners who are either ignorant of or indifferent to the science (2 November 2013, p 30).
Dangerous dose
My dad insists that paracetamol acts as a mild sleeping tablet. He knows that it’s not good to take it regularly, but tells of others in his village who swear by it for a good sleep, every night. This regular off-label use of paracetamol may be an undocumented and widespread problem.
Berlin, Germany
Dangerous dose
It doesn’t surprise me that paracetamol is linked to increased internal bleeding. While the drug itself doesn’t interfere with vitamin K metabolism 鈥� vital to blood coagulation 鈥� one of its metabolites does interfere with the activities of enzymes dependent on vitamin K. So, in a sense, paracetamol has warfarin-like properties, and if we take too much warfarin, we bleed.
I was teaching that to third-year medical students years ago. Why all the fuss now?
Belfast, UK
Dangerous dose
As a soon-to-be doctor, I read Tiffany O’Callaghan’s article about the shifting understanding of the risks around paracetamol (acetaminophen) and the mounting concerns regarding its efficacy and side effects with great interest (31 May, p 34).
I was very surprised, however, by how much of the discussion into the dangers of paracetamol toxicity was about doses far above the maximum recommended dosage of 4 grams per day. A vast number of drugs routinely prescribed by physicians would be extremely dangerous if taken above the maximum doses for prolonged periods of time. These include basic heart medications such as diuretics, beta blockers, ACE inhibitors and digoxin.
O’Callaghan goes on to note that 6 per cent of US adults are routinely prescribed doses above 4 grams. If this were any other drug, the focus would be on dangerous prescribing by physicians rather than a lack of safety in the drug itself.
Instead of suggesting that paracetamol use should be discontinued, the article should serve as a wake-up call to doctors not to become complacent about routinely prescribed medications.
Croydon, Surrey, UK
Unreasonable views
Mooney’s article includes a phrase which to me epitomises the issue: “a greater valuing of scientific authorities”. I think the issue is actually mistrust of authority, not mistrust of science.
“Authority” implies unconditional acceptance. Why should people accept on trust the words of “scientific authority”? How many scientists accept unconditionally the statements of political or financial authorities?
The best thing scientists and the media can do is to drop the over-inflated press releases, educate the public on the nature of science and lodge debates in a more balanced framework where alternative lobbies are not simply dismissed by “scientific authority”. This requires a huge change of approach by the popular media. It’s up to scientists to set that agenda.
Burntwood, Staffordshire, UK