For a really good laugh, try tickling a flying fox
From
Your article on the reasons why we laugh mentions several species of mammal that laugh, or at least produce laugh-like vocalisations.
Unsurprisingly, bats weren’t mentioned. However, here at the Cape Tribulation Tropical Research Station where I work, we have frequently observed spectacled flying foxes (Pteropus conspicillatus) bursting into what sounds like raucous giggles when having their tummies tickled, an activity they apparently enjoy.
Fresh mysteries of the snowflakes to consider
Your two references to snowflakes put me in mind of a question I posed some years ago (18/25 December 2021, p 58 and 81).
Accepting that no two snowflakes are identical (at least, in nature), but recognising that the six arms of any one flake are as near identical as we can tell, how is it that, as the flakes are forming, each arm of one flake “knows” what the other five are doing, even when they have lost contact with those other five, apart from through the central hub?
Lessons in stress are proving very useful
Catherine de Lange’s article about strategies to deal with stress resonated with me from a personal and work perspective (4 December 2021, p 38).
I have “retrained” myself to interpret anxiety at the start of a race (be it 5 kilometres, a marathon or longer) as excitement, and I am trying to do the same in my work environment 鈥� in emergency preparedness and resilience in the National Health Service 鈥� as the pressures and challenges increase with the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Time to let the mind roam is vital for science
Regarding “Science is being downsized” by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, in which she deplores the excess time wasted on administrative tasks and surveys (11 December 2021, p 26).
We need to realise that many eureka moments in science have occurred as the result of an imaginative mind having the time to freely mull over a puzzle and all its possible answers, without the encumbrance of having to quantify every professional experience, consideration and encounter in terms of a zero-to-10 rating.
When it comes to mining, less is more
Reader Charles Joynson suggests that to save Earth, we start mining asteroids for the metals needed for renewable tech (Letters, 18/25 December 2021). Yes, let’s, but not before we have ruined the seabeds!
The answer to our ruinous depredations isn’t to spread them, but to alter the way we live. Unfortunately, we seem to be incapable of implementing any change, even if we see it is for the good, that interferes with our species’ flawed concepts of what comprises a good life: making money and making life easy for ourselves at the expense of every other living thing, both plants and animals.
Teaching is at heart of the problem with maths
I agree with Michael Brooks that there is a problem with maths in the UK, but it is more to do with those who teach it than its history (27 November 2021, p 25).
With one notable exception, all the maths tutors I had aimed their teaching at the small number of pupils who, like myself, enjoyed the subject for its own sake. The rest were left floundering. No wonder such people develop an aversion. Perhaps the majority who are learning maths as a compulsory part of the curriculum should be taught by those who themselves struggled with it rather than enthusiasts who can’t understand why others find it difficult and irrelevant.
The suggestion that “grouping maths among the humanities” would help is rather telling of the wider problem. STEM subjects shouldn’t have been separated from languages, history, art and humanities in the first place. The distinction would have been baffling to a Renaissance thinker or an ancient Greek, Arabic or Indian mathematician.
Stock advice for tackling the food waste problem (1)
I was going to take issue with James Wong’s assertion that wasted food could feed 2 billion people (4 December 2021, p 28). I was going to say that, in the studies I have seen, the idea that one-third of all food is wasted is only true if you include the parts often considered inedible, like banana skins and broccoli stems.
But it got me thinking: we chuck a lot of “inedible” veg “waste” into the compost, and we use quite a lot of stock cubes. I am now going to have a go at making my own stock.
Stock advice for tackling the food waste problem (2)
May I congratulate Wong for his article on the merits of using plastic to keep food fresh, as food waste is a major contributor to climate change. This is a pro for some use of plastic.
There are other ways to boost trees in climate fight
Swapping out land for grazing livestock in favour of land for trees, as suggested by plant-based meat pioneer Pat Brown, would be window dressing in terms of what is required to tackle climate change, as trees take 25 years to grow to a useful size on average (11 December 2021, p 9).
Instead, emphasis on arboreal management, clearing undergrowth from woodland and tending to existing mature trees, especially in urban wasteland areas, would be effective sooner and be more practical.
Time to rekindle the spirit of <a href="/article/2082214-boaty-mcboatface-where-monty-python-meets-serious-science/">Boaty McBoatface?</a>
Colin Stuart refers to issues raised over naming the newly launched, revolutionary James Webb Space Telescope after a figure associated with controversy (11 December, p 36). Why not allow the public to have their say by opening a suggestion system, creating a shortlist and choosing a winner by a vote? This would increase the sense of personal connection with such an expensive project.
I have no doubt that readers would have excellent ideas about inspiring namesakes, so we can explore the mysteries of the cosmos with an instrument named after a chosen hero.