Russia's nuclear threats just don't ring true
Further to your report on concerns over Russia’s nuclear weapons status, the “special regime of combat duty” that the country has elevated its nuclear readiness to is meaningless (5 March, p 7). It isn’t an official category in Russia’s nuclear level classification, meaning it was created to cause upset more than anything else.
The idea that it is now at level 2 of 4 is simply unfounded and is Russian propaganda. This is confirmed further by the fact that Russia hasn’t actually increased anything when it comes to nuclear weapons, i.e. it hasn’t loaded missiles, increased activity, etc.
More importantly, anyone who puts the odds of a nuclear strike at 20 per cent is wrong. Probabilities can’t be established in the absence of data. We have an extremely small sample of nuclear strikes and not enough data to understand why and when nuclear weapons would be used. This doesn’t mean the probability is zero, it just means we can’t make a statement of this kind.
The US elevated its nuclear level (its actual nuclear level, not some made-up level for public consumption) several times in non-nuclear crises, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the first Gulf war and the Yom Kippur war. Again, this doesn’t mean it is harmless, but it does show that this isn’t extremely unusual.
Plenty of other hints that we are in a simulation
Alec Williams suggests we look for pixelation to see if our universe is a simulation (Letters, 19 February). That relies on the idea that the simulator’s technology is similar to our own.
Even if it isn’t, we can see shortcuts being made by the simulator now. There is quantum indeterminacy, where the simulator stops tracking everything exactly and instead throws a weighted random number. And, at the other end of the scale, the cosmic microwave background forms a tidy edge to the simulated universe.
I am sure other simulation tricks are being performed, like simulating things that aren’t easily seen at lower resolution. Those distant galaxies are probably only approximated.
Maths errors were great for keeping us on track (1)
On the benefits of deliberate errors: 50 years ago, as a maths undergraduate, a small group of us used to record the errors in lecture notes (12 March, p 28). The lecturers would complain that we didn’t point them out, but we found keeping them useful in understanding and revision. The errors provided useful flags in the mathematical arguments that avoided our attention drifting.
Maths errors were great for keeping us on track (2)
Could David Robson’s notion of “fruitful” errors be the real explanation behind British comedian Les Dawson’s unique piano performances?
The time for impartiality on Earth's future is over
My household is particularly keen on getting the real science behind climate change and the biodiversity emergency (26 February, p 26). Thanks for continuing to supply it in articles such as “Drowning in a sea of plastic”. In it, Graham Lawton offered a balanced analysis 鈥� of hope tempered with political realism 鈥� but I would love to have some tips on possible actions at the end of such pieces. Who can we write to in order to try to tip the scales in favour of a meaningful plastics treaty, for example?
I don’t think it is enough to simply observe as if impartial any more: scientific knowledge brings an obligation to act upon it when the evidence is as clear as it is and yet still being ignored. Please help us, your readers, feel we can make our voices heard.
Baby boomer theory doesn't add up for me
Your article on UK baby boomers being the unhappiest generation was interesting, but I don’t buy the belief that the higher birth rate during the baby boomer generation from 1946 to 1964 is relevant (5 March, p 21). The researchers’ analysis found that cohort size was the biggest predictor of happiness. The article also says that “snagging the partner they wanted might also have been harder due to greater competition”.
On the assumption that the proportion of eligible mates in a population remains the same regardless of any change in cohort size, simple logic suggests that the chances of meeting a suitable mate must remain the same regardless of cohort growth.
In fact, the revolution in sexual behaviour that occurred in the 1960s and 70s meant it became much easier for baby boomers to find partners.
The problem with some tree-planting schemes
I agree with Jingjing Liang’s points on the shortcomings of current forestry management in a world where tree planting is seen as a climate solution (5 March, p 27). These problems can be seen in Europe.
On a recent trip to Sweden, I discovered that the government is encouraging felling of thousands of old trees in the far north. New trees will be planted to suck up carbon, but reindeer rely on lichen in winter, which only grows on mature trees. Without lichen, the reindeer will starve and their Sami herders’ way of life will disappear.
In Wales, big companies are buying farms to plant trees to offset their carbon footprints. But again, these trees will take a long time to grow. More importantly, small farms are vital to the economy and communities of rural Wales. If the farms disappear, so will the people and villages that benefit from them. We seem to be too eager to take up green solutions without considering the drawbacks of many of them.
Message to Kirk: No need to time-travel to get whales
That AIs may allow us to converse with whales, an idea raised in the book How to Speak Whale, would have been invaluable to Captain Kirk in the film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, in which the inability to respond to an alien probe trying to communicate with whales threatens Earth (12 March, p 35). Kirk had to time-travel back to the 20th century to get some humpback whales. These then responded to the probe, saving the day.