Editor's pick: Stress destroys unconscious perfection
Jessica Hamzelou's article on the default mode network in the brain was intriguing (28 October, p 9). We instinctively tend to think that accuracy is borne out of focusing intently on the job in hand, yet the article appears to contradict this. Rather, the DMN apparently helps us achieve speed and accuracy in skills at which we are already highly adept, without the need to cogitate deeply.
This makes me think about skilled performers who “choke” under pressure. A tennis ace may suddenly miss shots when victory is in sight, despite achieving near 100 per cent accuracy on the practice courts. A talented musician or actor may suffer a memory lapse on stage, or a fluent public speaker may suddenly dry up. All of these swear to perfection in the comfort of their living room.
Could it be that stress deactivates the DMN, making us more prone to “overthink” when we are under intense pressure? Could it really be that despite our teachers' relentless warnings, we really do achieve more when we “couldn't care less”?
The price of specimens and what they show us
Your article on Lionel Rothschild's natural history collection reminded me of a visit to its museum in Tring, Hertfordshire (4 November, p 40). I was fascinated by a that had been stuffed around 1900. The difference between the breeds then, when they were selected for purposes other than winning at dog shows, and the exaggerated versions that are their modern counterparts was striking.
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…say scientists after a vat of LSD overturns in the lab. Also, drywall tastes of marshmallow Elon Musk that if driverless cars will save lives, perhaps armed machines can as well (11 November, p 22)
The price of specimens and what they show us
You mention the human adventurers who succumbed to dysentry or charging buffaloes while collecting for Rothschild. It would seem only right to mention that all the “specimens” lost their lives. Today, the Smithsonian and other museums have drawer upon drawer of specimens that can only be described, even by enthusiasts, as overkill.
Plant species also lie undetected in collections
Christopher Kemp's account of new species being discovered in old collections fascinated me (21 October, p 36). It is devoted to animals, and it is worth noting that plants suffer this fate too.
A particularly poignant case involves the plants the botanist David Nelson collected in the interior of the island of Hawaii in 1779 on James Cook's third and very final voyage of exploration. These lay in the British Museum apparently untouched until, almost 200 years later, they were studied by Harold St John of the University of Hawaii. He described 19 new species. Many had since gone extinct and have not been seen again.
The nature of a universe made of mathematics
Ed Subitzky asks: if the universe consists of mathematics and Kurt Gödel showed that mathematics powerful enough to define arithmetic is incomplete, is the universe incomplete (Letters, 4 November). Gödel's famous result applies only to formal systems, whose theorems are the output of a strictly logical process like a computer program.
If we consider arithmetic to be part of our theory of the universe, then Gödel's result implies that any consistent formal theory of the universe that we construct will be incomplete.
If we do not include arithmetic, it is conceivable that there could be a complete, consistent formal theory of such a stripped-down physical universe. After all, Alfred Tarski famously showed that the elementary theory of Euclidean geometry is both complete and consistent.
The nature of a universe made of mathematics
Subitzky refers to cosmologist Max Tegmark's contention that the universe is mathematics. Mathematics only makes sense in terms of a mind or minds capable of conceiving or grasping it. So this implies that, as astronomer Arthur Eddington put it in 1928, “the stuff of the universe is mind-stuff”. Some scientists seem to be pretty close to what philosophers call holding that reality itself is a form of thought.
Seeing people around corners – to shoot them
Douglas Heaven reports work to pinpoint people's locations using only light reflected on the floor in a doorway (14 October, p 9). He notes in passing that it was funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The probable uses of this technology include killing people by sniper fire directly through walls.
Whether that is a positive development depends upon your opinion of the morality of US military actions. 快猫短视频s must think about ethical implications of their research: the alternative, that we seem to be sliding towards rather quickly nowadays, is guaranteed to be dystopian.
Organic produce doesn't do you more good
Ann Wills claims organic produce is more nutritious (Letters, 7 October). Intake isn't the same as uptake. Experiments using organic tomatoes with 50 per cent higher levels of vitamin C and the vitamin A precursor lycopene failed to find any increase over controls of these constituents in blood (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, ).
Of four detailed analyses of the scientific literature comparing the composition of organic with conventional produce, only that supported by the organic industry reported higher antioxidant levels. It was heavily criticised by academic nutritionists for using very weak studies that should have been excluded.
Particles are the real problem in exhaust
You report that about 80 per cent of early deaths from air pollution are due to fine particles (21 October, p 4). Reducing all other pollutants to zero could not reduce early death from this cause by more than 20 per cent.
In the UK, at least, the target for nitrogen oxides is breached more often than that for particles. This suggests to me that the targets for particles in the emission standards we apply may be far too lax.
The particles produced by petrol engines are extremely small: they measure of the order of 0.03 micrometres and there are a lot in a microgram. For this reason, the most recent European Union standard, Euro 6, specifies both a particle mass and a particle count limit for both petrol and diesel cars. With new petrol cars routinely failing to meet the Euro 6 particle count limit, we should be asking whether they should be fitted with particle filters.
Artificial intelligence with no one to sell to
Michael Brooks discusses how scaremongering stops us asking the right questions about artificial intelligence (7 October, p 28). The likes of Amazon's Alexa will never take over and eliminate humans. They exist to obtain data from humans to sell more unnecessary stuff to other humans. If they took over, they would have no one to obtain data from or sell to.
Artificial intelligence with no one to sell to
As data privacy and usage concerns increase, what are the optimal mechanisms for protecting online users in a business model where those whose data is being used by the platforms don't pay for access and aren't compensated for having their personal data and usage characteristics collected? Could we use experience from other industries and seek to regulate by making people accountable as opposed to the technology?
Changes to financial industry regulation since the crises of 2008 have moved towards making individuals responsible for what their companies do or don't do, to protect clients and the market.
Taxing short-term trades could tame algorithms
Alec Cawley wonders whether when most stock trades are done by algorithms we may as well abolish the stock market (Letters, 4 November). When humans did all the short-term trading, this tended to reduce instability because everyone had their own ideas about what to buy and sell, so anything below normal value would be snapped up by someone.
Now it is likely that a small number of algorithms will dominate the market, making instability much worse. Rather than abolish the market, though, a 1 per cent tax on transactions would have little effect on investors, but would remove the profits in short-term trading.
Autonomous cars should report ethical status
Abigail Beall describes the idea that a self-driving vehicle could have an “ethical knob” giving a human a choice over who it sacrifices in a crash (21 October, p 11). I have no objection, provided the ethical status of the vehicle is clearly displayed in real time, in a way that communicates this to all other road users in all weather and traffic conditions. Ethical status should also be reported electronically to other autonomous vehicles.
What's in a name?
You seem coy about the “F” in Elon Musk's “BFR” to go to Mars (7 October, p 7). Surely it is a riff on Roald Dahl's well-known story of the BFG – the Big Friendly Giant.
For the record
• The study of mouse pup weight compared 34 pups, delivered by caesarean section to five mice, with a control group of 35 born to six mice (21 October, p 19).
• Elephants may never forget, and we now remember that rhino horn is mostly keratin protein and one rhino farmer has more than six tonnes of it (4 November, p 7).