This magazine saved me from creationist views
Having read the tribute you published, I am reflecting on the death of Bernard Dixon, editor of 快猫短视频 from 1969 to 1979 (5 December 2020, p 26). I started reading 快猫短视频 as a very young child in the 1960s, and I well remember the improvements made by Dixon in the early 70s.
It is no exaggeration to say that the magazine changed my life for the better. In childhood, I was exposed to fringe religious views and my brain juggled creationist ideas against the science I read each week in the library. I am glad to say your magazine won out and helped me see the world as it really is, so my heartfelt thanks go to Dixon and 快猫短视频.
Time to get naked on the space station?
Guy Cox, St Albans, New South Wales, Australia
Your report on work to develop the first laundry detergent for use in space implies that International Space Station crew members are expected to wear their clothes until they are quite unpleasant (5 December 2020, p 17). But why wear clothes at all during regular duties inside the station? The climate is controlled and there is no risk of sunburn.
The domestic cat isn't the only villain
Although I don’t consider myself to be a domestic cat lover, I feel they are being unfairly accused of decimating British wildlife, particularly birds (31 October 2020, p 42).
I am not disputing that birds are killed by cats, but remember that many birds are killed during the migrating season every year when their flight paths take them over France, Spain, Cyprus, Sardinia and Sicily. There, birds are often caught in nets and ultimately land on “gourmet” plates in restaurants.
The Thai "wai" may have helped contain the virus
Your article on mass testing to control covid-19 emphasises the importance of using multiple methods to keep it restrained, and highlights the success of certain Asian countries in doing this (28 November 2020, p 14).
Living in Thailand, where the infection rates have been low, it seems likely to me that the use of the Thai wai greeting (which involves pressing your own palms together in a prayer-like fashion) instead of handshaking, hugging and kissing must be a contributing factor. I would be interested to see if there was any correlation between low infection rates and cultures with non-contact greetings.
Here's how to sail on an ocean of light waves (1)
The “something obvious” Matthew Allan is missing in how to steer a solar-powered space vessel is the resultant force felt by an object when light reflects from it (28 November 2020, Letters). If it uses a mirror set at a non-right angle to the light as a sail, the reflected photons will create an almost equal but opposite reaction, causing a net off-axis force.
Here's how to sail on an ocean of light waves (2)
An equivalent of solar sailing on the sea, into which the keel bites to allow the ship to tack upwind, is gravity. The mathematics is more complicated, but sailing a spacecraft using solar wind and gravity is similar to sailing on wind and open ocean.
Why inventiveness and empathy arose together
Simon Baron-Cohen points out that about 100,000 years ago, a rise in empathy and in inventiveness occurred, and that the brain circuits involved in both “surprisingly” arose at about the same time (5 December 2020, p 34). He notes that in each individual, one circuit tends to dominate, and that the genes for invention are related to those for autism and Asperger’s.
Perhaps the co-evolution of empathy and invention isn’t so surprising. The most useful people to have around inventing stuff also tend to have lower empathy, so may find it hard to survive in a tribal environment. They need others with high empathy to keep an eye on them and to make sure their inventiveness is appreciated by the rest of the tribe.
Therefore, we should expect that genes for empathy and genes for inventiveness will both increase together, although in different people within any group.
Searching for an explanation for long covid
Further to your report on the prolonged problems that a coronavirus infection can cause, my wife was diagnosed with covid-19 in March 2020 (31 October 2020, p 10). She experienced a high temperature, sore throat, chest discomfort and breathlessness. Interestingly, a nurse said the chest discomfort in the sternum (and possibly the sore throat too) was a symptom of acid reflux that she had seen in other covid-19 patients. She recommended an antacid, which quickly reduced the symptoms.
Since recovering, my wife has had a couple of reoccurrences of acid reflux and breathlessness. I don’t believe this was due to reinfection and assume it must be long covid. It occurred to me that the coronavirus might behave like some other viruses that are able to hide from the immune system in certain tissues, only to break out and flare up again. Have studies been done to test this possibility?
There is still time to do the right thing for Lolita
Thank you for your thoughtful piece about efforts to free the orca best known as Lolita from the cramped confines of the Miami Seaquarium (28 November 2020, p 40). It is unimaginable for any of us to envision 50 years in lockdown, let alone in conditions that fail to meet our basic needs.
Given the longevity of the Southern Resident orca clan from which she was taken, there is still time for Lolita to have a life. Her long-lost family, including an orca believed to be her mother, is still swimming in the Puget Sound inlet where Lolita was captured.
The Miami Seaquarium must allow Lolita to retire to a seaside sanctuary where she could feel waves, hear wild pods and finally have some relief.
Why did they let an iconic telescope fall apart?
I am furious at the collapse of the Arecibo telescope (2 December 2020, online). How was this allowed to happen? Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the US, not of a low-income nation.