Observations on the call for covid-19 slimming
Over the past nine months, I have had major surgery and proton beam therapy (25 July, p 16). I have also lost 17 per cent of my body weight. I am pleased about this, as it has taken me from an overweight BMI into the normal range. I have been trying to achieve this for years with no luck, given the difficulties stated in your article on reducing weight 鈥� recommended to mitigate the risks of covid-19.
This time it was easy: I had no interest in food. There was no revulsion or dislike, but I found eating as interesting as watching paint dry. I mentioned this to my dietitian who commented that this is common after trauma and prescribed me supplements to mix with milk, which I dutifully took. I am now back to near normal eating.
If this is so common and there was no physical reason for me not to eat, it seems that it must be something to do with brain connections linked to the feeling of hunger and interest in eating. Could this be explored to help the fight against obesity?
Observations on the call for covid-19 slimming (2)
In answering the question “Why are we getting heavier”, one possible answer was missed. We expend energy just to maintain our body temperature. In the UK, this is usually to keep warm. With improvements in home heating, this demand on our bodies’ energy consumption has been reduced.
Have the habits of how much we eat kept pace with the need to eat less because of this?
Why a second wave of coronavirus might be dire
Christine Duffill argues that a second wave of coronavirus might not be as bad as the first (Letters, 18 July). Not because people that have fought it off will be immune, but because they have fought it off easily the first time, so will do so again.
Sadly, this isn’t at all certain. When people get infected with very little virus, they normally don’t get seriously ill and may not get ill at all. This is probably due to the fact that as soon as a virus enters the body, the race is on between the growth of the pathogen and the growth of the immune reaction. If someone is infected with very few virus particles, the immune system is likely to get ahead in that race.
A second infection won’t automatically be fought off as easily. It will depend on how much virus a person is exposed to. If it is a lot, the immune system will be overwhelmed, possibly allowing exponential growth of the virus.
Shout about it: ways to combat superspreading
You list people being indoors and in close proximity as factors in coronavirus “superspreading” events (8 August, p 10). A further factor is another typical behaviour at social events: the raising of voices at close quarters to make yourself heard.
To stay safe, as the noise of conversation rises in a room, leave, and certainly don’t go near the life and soul of the party.
It may be worth thinking about limiting numbers, as when fewer people gather, say up to four or five, conversation can be carried out in quiet tones and from a distance of more than 1 metre.
Background music can add to the problem. Perhaps social events could be limited to 60 decibels, including music.
Don't forget those who oppose nuclear power
Adam Vaughan’s interview with Friederike Otto discusses climate change litigation (25 July, p 42). Obvious targets are coal companies, but other people have suggested that those in the litigation cross hairs might include a variety of environmental groups, specifically those opposed to nuclear power.
I suggest we would still have a climate problem if nuclear power had taken off earlier, but it would be much smaller and we would have better tools to fight it. We would also be better placed to tackle the other big climate and environment vandal, which is usually dismissed with a nervous, embarrassed laugh: the meat industry. We would have cleaner air and less mining too.
So, yes, roll out the lawyers if they can help, but don’t forget to include a myriad of green groups and parties on the charge sheet.
Aliens may favour other megaprojects
You report that searching for “Star Tugs”, machines capable of moving a sun, could be a new way to find alien civilisations (18 July, p 15). Given the low likelihood of having to dodge a supernova, the example given for ET doing this, perhaps we would do better to seek signs of other, similar technologies.
For example, civilisations may have developed the means to move a sister planet’s orbit into the habitable zone or to change the orbit of their own world to avoid a star’s expansion.
Such projects could involve a cascade of planned changes to the movement of a series of objects of increasing mass, set in train by an initial nudge. These could use gravity, impacts and vast motors.
In the same vein, intense electromagnetic fields generated by a spinning magnetic object have interesting possibilities for planetary-scale engineering. They could attract, repel, change the spin axis or alter the day length of an iron-rich planet.
AI probably won't save us from ourselves
Max Tegmark says “we can use [AI] to solve the climate crisis, to lift everybody from poverty” (18 July, p 34).
We already know how to deal with the climate crisis and how to lift everybody from poverty. What we lack is the collective personal, national and international will to do it. This is due to human greed, short-termism and selfishness.
Will AI really solve these problems of human nature? Personally, I doubt it.
Calling foul on new theory for demise of pirate ship
It is suggested that the pirate Blackbeard may have crashed his ship on purpose (11 July, p 17). Rather than being used for plugging holes, isn’t it more likely that the lead sheets on the Queen Anne’s Revenge were antifouling sheathing?
This and so on had already been developed, and marine growth on hulls is a perennial problem in the region where Blackbeard operated the ship and on its routes prior to this.
Reducing drag from growth through the use of such a system would significantly speed up a ship, an obvious benefit to pirates attacking merchant ships and avoiding the Royal Navy.