Editor's pick – Trinity of temptations may undo good advice (1)
I was fascinated by the idea that we have multiple appetites for different nutrients, and by the authors’ explanation of why “ultra-processed” foods have certain effects (23 May, p 30).
Their practical advice (roughly: avoid ultra-processed foods, get enough protein and let nature do the rest) was encouraging. But the discussion of the “chalet experiment”, in which people could eat whatever they wanted, notes in passing that “caffeine, alcohol and chocolate weren’t available”. Does the dietary advice offered by the authors work without adjustments to a world where such substances are omnipresent?
Editor's pick – Trinity of temptations may undo good advice (2)
My elderly mother developed a craving for pear drops, which are a type of sweet with artificial flavouring. When I offered her a vitamin C tablet, she said: “That’s it! That’s what I’ve been wanting!”
As humans are among the few animals that can’t make their own vitamin C, could it be that we have a separate appetite for fruit that is tricked by nutrient-deficient, sugary, fruit-flavoured foods and drinks?
Still waiting for a contact tracing app that is proven
As pointed out in your analysis of contact-tracing apps, the big question about them is whether or not they will, technically speaking, work well enough (25 April, p 9). The amount of false positive and false negative contacts might be huge.
The article describes a few situations that could lead to incorrect contact detections, but it is easy to think of many more. We need a well-designed pilot trial in the real world to properly evaluate the false positives and false negatives. If these numbers are high, then there is a high risk that false positives could saturate medical centres. False negatives, on the other hand, could result in many missed infectious contacts.
Another concern occurs to me: the false sense of security that such apps might induce in people. They might cause people to relax and take fewer precautions.
Maybe the coronavirus doesn't need to evolve
We are told that cold-causing coronaviruses may once have been as dangerous as the one that causes covid-19, but have weakened under evolutionary pressure (23 May, p 41). Jonathan R. Goodman’s highly informative article also reveals that SARS-CoV-2 isn’t evolving much.
Perhaps it doesn’t have to. It may already have it made. For most who catch this virus, it is innocuous, even unnoticed, but infectious. From its point of view, it accidentally kills a small proportion of people, but it doesn’t care about that. Perhaps the evolutionary pressure in this situation is on us, not it.
Are our leaders ready for this better future?
You speculate on what the new decade will have in store for us as a result of changes prompted by the pandemic, ones perhaps sparking a shift to a greener society (Leader, 30 May).
Will the people who have the power change things for the better? They could outlaw a lot of plastic usage, insist on more new buildings having solar panels fitted as standard and enact many further life-enhancing projects too numerous to mention. But I am unconvinced that politicians in the UK, at least, are ready to seize the opportunity.
Exercise is the wonder drug for many ailments
Peter Judge discusses the risks associated with elevated blood pressure and the use of drugs and lifestyle changes to lower blood pressure (16 May, p 40). Regular exercise has been proven to be of particular benefit in this regard.
Perhaps exercise is an even more potent means of reducing hypertension due to the relatively low pulse rate, both while resting and during physical activity, that comes with a high level of fitness. Even if systolic pressure is elevated, the shorter time spent at high pressure due to a lower pulse rate is surely less damaging to the heart and other organs.
Much unites maths, science and philosophy
I was saddened to read Michael Brooks’s article and Sam Edge’s letter in response, both seeming to pit philosophy against mathematics and science, particularly having recently reread Bertrand Russell’s The Problems of Philosophy (2 May, p 40, and Letters, 30 May).
In this book, he highlighted the vital connections between the three disciplines. Russell suggested that the values of philosophy include the encouragment of a rigorous approach to observation and thinking, and a humility regarding the limits of knowledge, thereby enriching our intellectual imagination and diminishing any dogmatic assurances.
It feels as though much common ground remains between the three disciplines.
The club of space race nations has got bigger
You state that “no nation capable of human space flight has signed the Moon Agreement [of 1979], effectively rendering it moot (30 May, p 14).”
India has signed but not ratified the Moon Agreement, which indicates a statement of intent, if not an obligation in law. It is planning its first crewed mission into space in December 2021.
Are the bees adding a little extra to our food?
You report on research showing that bumblebees can pierce leaves to trigger early flowering in order to produce pollen to feed on when it is otherwise scarce, for example in tomato plants (30 May, p 17). It has been suggested that this may involve the insects injecting chemicals into the plant.
While the amounts would be tiny, could whatever they are theoretically injecting also affect the composition and taste of any fruit that is produced? If so, it would mean that the bees could, in some cases, have an impact on what we eat, too.
For the record – 13 June 2020
The Zoological Society of London hasn’t yet received any financial aid from the UK government to help it through the pandemic (30 May, p 8).