Editor's pick: A blow to craft beer, a boost for ale pie
You report on a genetically engineered yeast that makes a beer taste of hops without the need for hops (24 March, p 19). Is it possible that the cost of producing such a yeast would be as great as the cost of using hops? In any case, the greatest cost element in producing beer commercially is often the duty. The cost of materials usually pales into insignificance. If there is an economic advantage, then perhaps the big international brewers would be the ones to delight in any minuscule savings per litre and would also welcome the possibility of bringing even more consistency to their somewhat bland products.
This may, however, damage the craft brewers, who welcome variation and revel in the challenge of producing beers with a wide range of styles and flavours, using the huge number of hops varieties available from all over the world.
Finally, yeast is a very versatile organism and I'm sure that a little more genetic fiddling could produce a beer that tastes of pie, thus killing two birds with one stone in a quick lunch break.
So, when do we lose the wisdom babies have?
Anil Ananthaswamy, reporting work on babies' sense of morality, mentions that they preferentially pay attention to material that conflicts with their beliefs (17 March, p 15). In contrast, 快猫短视频's opinion writers complain frequently about adults preferentially viewing material that supports their beliefs. Has anyone done any research on when this change takes place and how to prevent it?
First class post – 14 April 2018
Blame us now, just like 2008 was the fault of home owners… OK, now I'll read the article Fahad Raja the suggestion that “our” obsession with a “free” internet led to the Facebook data row (7 April, p 24)
On the value of antidepressants
Clare Wilson discusses the controversy over the effectiveness of antidepressants (3 March, p 27). As a psychiatrist with more than 40 years' experience, I am surprised the debate still rages.
In psychiatric and research communities, there is total agreement that antidepressants are an incredibly valuable intervention in the treatment of major depression. Not all are effective for all patients, and some are generally more effective than others. For major depression, it is generally agreed that a particular antidepressant will be effective in around 60 per cent of patients. The challenge with the 40 per cent is to select another one, preferably with a different mode of action, and hope it will be effective.
The case with mild or moderate depression is less clear. I doubt that many psychiatrists would prescribe antidepressants in mild depression: psychological therapy would be more appropriate. They may be effective in moderate depression. Often the response is better combining psychological support and medication.
Another take on the idea of a colour bar
Frank Swain's article on colour blindness was interesting (17 March, p 38). I also find Jasper Fforde's novel Shades of Grey fascinating. It describes a society segregated by levels of colour vision. He : “Visual colour has become commodified, the social pecking order and levels of authority are not based on intellect, cash, ability, or the best liar, but which colour you can see – Purples are at the top of the heap and Reds at the bottom, with the Greys who see no colour at all as the lowly drones.”
快猫短视频s, don't rush to puff out your chests
It may be the case that any truths about the world that we find in the future are most likely to be found by science rather than philosophy, as Philip Ball says (3 March, p 46). But before scientists puff out their chests, they should reflect on the fact that the science that makes the discoveries may not fit their idea of what science is.
Scientific methods have evolved and diversified over time in ways that would amaze and puzzle the early pioneers. This has happened with the help of philosophers and philosophically minded scientists. Should scientists seek truth or understanding or better theories, or try to find ways of describing reality independently of human prejudices? Such questions will not be resolved without the help of philosophers succeeding David Hume and Thomas Hobbes.
The same topics still make for a good story
You ask whether all publicity for scientific findings is good, in the context of Cheddar Man (3 March, p 5). In June 1788, the celebrated surgeon John Hunter opened his (now) famous . In attendance were the literati of London and, of course, the press.
Of particular interest was Hunter's large collection of skulls, which he had arranged in what he believed to be “a regular and continued gradation… from the most imperfect of the animals, to the most perfect of the human species”. Hunter deduced that our first parents, Adam and Eve, “were indisputably black”. As you can imagine, the press had a field day.
Some 230 years later, the suggestion that Cheddar Man was black has had much the same effect. It seems our hunger for a good story never diminishes.
Equal pay and the gender pay gap are different
You discuss how the gender pay gap permeates science and engineering (3 March, p 5 and p 22). It is important to highlight and address pay disparity – and it is also important not to confuse equal pay and the gender pay gap.
Consider eight female and two male science employees, each earning £50,000, working for a director who earns £100,000. With a male director, the average male pay is £67k and average female pay £50k. With a female as director, the average male salary is £50k and the female average £56K. In both cases there is no equal pay issue but there is a gender pay gap – in one instance actually in favour of the females – because it is a statistical analysis.
The gender pay gap has a much more complex personality and falling into the habit of equating the two is not helpful if we are to address real behaviours and attitudes to ensure better career progression for women within science and engineering – or for men in those professions where women dominate.
Perhaps humans could be de-domesticated (1)
Colin Barras's article on the domestication of humans highlights genetic similarities to domesticated animals and says these may have arisen because tameness helped human cooperation and hence boosted survival (24 February, p 28). But what happens if environmental conditions change so that “feral/caveman” characteristics are favoured once again?
After a pandemic, loners might be the survivors of contagion. And when resources wane, I fear cooperation may no longer be a good survival tactic. Throwbacks to every clan for themselves would be likely.
Perhaps humans could be de-domesticated (2)
Human self-domestication made for a very interesting article. But perhaps the word “gracile” would be a better description of the relatively lighter build of domesticated species. The word “feminine” comes with a lot of human-specific cultural baggage.
Perhaps humans could be de-domesticated (3)
I do not find the idea that our ancestors domesticated themselves very convincing. After all, wolves learned to cooperate in a pack without showing signs of self-domestication. I wonder whether our ancestors were domesticated by Neanderthals and that our predilection towards inventing gods “in our own image” is a memory of this.
If leashes are bad for dogs, fences are for cows
Danny Chambers advises the abolition of electric dog training collars (10 March, p 24). Should he not include electric stock fences?
Atomic clocks are in fact widely travelled
You say that an atomic clock has been used to take measurements outside a lab for the first time (17 February, p 17).
But in the 1971 , several atomic clocks were used to test relativistic time differences, when flown on airliners and compared with a reference on the ground.
Other such experiments have been performed to verify both aspects of Einstein's time dilation predictions. GPS satellites have four on-board atomic clocks. These gain about 38 microseconds per day and this must be corrected otherwise the position calculated by the receiver will be out by a number of kilometres.
There was scepticism when the US GPS satellites were designed about the need for this relativistic correction, so provision was made to turn it off. It never has been, and it remains the best everyday proof of Einstein's time concepts I can think of.
The editor writes:
• The researchers clarify that theirs is the first optical atomic clock to do field measurements.
Concrete is a disaster in more ways than that
Julian Smith describes the ecological disasters generated by digging sand for use in concrete (17 February, p 35). These are only part of the story. Manufacture of cement causes .
For the record – 14 April 2018
• Scorchio! Temperatures on exoplanet K2-229 b reach 2033 kelvin, or 1760°C (31 March, p 16).
• Tyler Hern joined the mussel team at the White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery in West Virginia after it first raised purple cat's paw mussels (10 March, p 38).
• The caves in northern Italy where Marco Peresani and colleagues found evidence of Neanderthals butchering bears are called Rio Secco and Fumane (31 March, p 10).