Hopes and fears for the global climate (1)
You say that the biggest obstacle to progress at COP27 is the energy crisis that came after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The invasion was an evil act, but it has had the consequence of increasing fossil fuel costs, raising incentives for energy efficiency and saving, insulation and so on(Leader, 29 October).
Hopefully, one day, the war will end and some of the reduction in fossil fuel usage will have stuck.
Hopes and fears for the global climate (2)
That thousands of politicians, business leaders, advisers and hangers-on are jetting to COP27 in Egypt tells us all we need to know about the chance of significant action on climate change. COP27 could have made an immediate contribution to cutting carbon emissions by moving online.
On calls to rename James Webb Space Telescope
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein objects to naming the James Webb Space Telescope after James Webb because of his political views and, in particular, his failure to oppose discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in the US in the 1950s and 1960s – discrimination that was utterly appalling(29 October, p 28).
She goes on to suggest renaming the telescope in honour of Harriet Tubman. Tubman was undoubtedly a hero who saved many lives. But that has nothing to do with science. To name a scientific instrument after someone who made no contribution to science, purely because it fits in with today’s political concerns, is to devalue science and scientists.
Let us remember past scientists, technicians and engineers for their contributions to their fields, without seeking to judge them because they lived at a time when social attitudes were different.
Are all living things linked with each other?
One could imagine a social aspect to the nature of reality explored in Michael Brooks’s fascinating article on whether objects exist. To a great extent, human awareness of self relies on reflections of one another, in addition to the less cognitive reality around us. Perhaps all living creatures are inextricably entangled(15 October, p 44).
Arguably, the more one flirts with the hubris of solipsism, the greater the danger of approaching a black hole of derangement.
On the growing concern of UK blackouts this winter (1)
The prospect of power blackouts and possible calls for consumers to cut use at peak times reminds me of what a waste of money the rollout of first and second-generation smart meters in the UK has been. If we had waited until these devices could communicate intelligently with high-current appliances, such as storage heaters, the problem would be solved(15 October, p 9).
On the growing concern of UK blackouts this winter (2)
The potential need to radically change household and business energy consumption reminded me, a neuroscience PhD student, of the “three Rs” of replacement, reduction and refinement. We are trained to apply these in the lab, but it is time they became cornerstones of all our lives, not just the lives of researchers. Replace inefficient appliances, reduce laundry temperatures and refine the use of central heating.
Geothermal energy may not win over everybody
The potential for geothermal energy in the UK gives cause for optimism that this carbon-free power can be exploited. To date, the only parts of the world with electricity generated geothermally are those with active hydrothermal vents associated with volcanism, such as Iceland and New Zealand(29 October, p 16).
When Australia looked at the idea of geothermal energy using “hot rocks” outside volcanic areas, it was found this would require fracking of water-bearing aquifers to increase the transmission of heat. And the source of the warmth below ground? Radioactive decay of uranium and its daughter isotopes. Prepare for the inevitable meltdown by eco-warriors.
Fusion doesn't come free of resource issues
You say that if we could tame nuclear fusion we would have a “virtually unlimited supply of clean energy”. While it is true that deuterium, one of the inputs, is virtually unlimited, we would also need lithium. One estimate of how long lithium reserves would last if fusion supplied a large portion of our energy is 990 years – and that is if the metal weren’t used for batteries. Theoretically, it could be extracted from seawater, but this would entail processing 50 cubic kilometres of seawater per year(Leader, 22 October).
How to stop the armed robots in their tracks
Amid concern over the arming of robots, I suggest that, while laser weapons shouldn’t be used to deliberately blind or disable human adversaries in war, it would seem reasonable to use such weapons on robots. For a more low-cost method, a paintball pellet fired at visual sensors could do the job(15 October, p 11).
Remember, space budgets are a drop in the ocean
The debate about whether we should spend more on reducing poverty and improving the environment – both laudable objectives – rather than sending people into space ignores the behemoth in the room: global defence spending of more than $2 trillion in 2022. NASA’s budget is some $24 billion, around 1 per cent of that total. Those calling for a reduction in space exploration are barking up the wrong tree(Letters, 1 October).
Ungrowable seeds from crops are nothing new
Graeme Hurry worries about genetic modification being used to develop crop varieties that produce “ungrowable” seed, so that more has to be bought each year. However, this has been the case with F1 hybrid varieties – which make up the vast majority of our vegetable, maize, sugar beet and oilseed crops – since the 1930s(Letters, 29 October).