Long-haul flights can be justified in climate fight
I was interested to read about Graham Lawton’s life-affirming trip to see research work in Uganda. He mentions the climate crisis and his guilt about the long-haul flight required to get there. The balance of the piece cogently explains the steep scientific cost if research communities were to adopt a moratorium on long-haul flights(3 December 2022, p 28).
Here is another strong argument in favour of that view: the calculus of solving the climate crisis isn’t a zero-sum game. It is perfectly permissible, and sometimes necessary, for people who promote awareness and urgency of the climate crisis, and who lobby for solutions, to take long-haul flights. The benefit can outweigh the cost.
If one person took a long-haul flight to a conference that convinced 10,000 people not to drive their cars, that would be a brilliant win.
On the idea that there is a mirror universe (1)
Since antimatter is identical to matter flowing in the opposite direction through time, my assumption is that the mirror universe is filled with antimatter. So, a key question posed for our universe 鈥� “where has all the antimatter gone?” 鈥� is answered(28 January, p 38).
On the idea that there is a mirror universe (2)
Knowing the scientific world’s love for new names to describe its shiny new concepts, it is surely just a matter of time before the mirror universe gets this treatment. Perhaps it will become known as the “mirroverse” or maybe the more accurate “biverse”?
On the idea that there is a mirror universe (3)
Will our universe and the mirror universe ever stop expanding away from each other and instead start accelerating back together, perhaps due to some underlying force of attraction between the two? Might a collision of these universes lead to a so-called big crunch scenario, spawning another big bang?
Could melting robot be a sign of things to come?
In the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the villain of the piece is the T-1000, a killer robot composed of a shape-shifting metal alloy. There is clear resonance here with the robot created by Carmel Majidi and his colleagues(4 February, p 12). Is this a case of science fiction in the process of becoming science fact?
All the things the aether theory did for science
Reader Nick Canning says the aether theory was “ascientific”(28 January, p 54).
However, this theory was one of the most fruitful in the history of science. It was useful during the development of electrodynamics, allowing James Clerk Maxwell to perceive light as electromagnetic. Mathematical and mechanical models of the aether enabled physicists to study the subject.
It is because aether theory was so rigorous that it eventually ran into trouble. By the 1890s, with the discovery of the electron, it was clear that a wholly mechanical explanation of electromagnetism was all but impossible.
Too premature to think of banning gas stoves
I understand the health and ecological problems with gas stoves that are concerning authorities in the US, but it seems unrealistic to ban them in favour of electric stoves. In the 1970s, my flatmates and I would huddle round the gas oven to keep warm during power cuts. Amid warnings of power cuts in the future, it seems unwise to put all our eggs in one basket(21 January, p 17).
A wise Bigfoot may choose to steer clear of bears
It occurred to me on reading your report about Bigfoot sightings correlating with higher numbers of black bears in the US that if I belonged to a small, endangered family group of surviving Sasquatch, the last place I would choose to live would be somewhere that is rife with competing bears(4 February, p 11).
Mars study provides a welcome alternative
You report that a small base of six people at the Martian poles could support themselves energy-wise with a combination of solar power and well-placed wind turbines(7 January, p 13).
This should come as a relief to anyone who has read How To by Randall Munroe. In the chapter “How to Power Your House (on Mars)”, he points out that conventional sources are absent or won’t work as well. So, he adapts an old idea to make use of Phobos, a Martian moon. All that is needed, he points out, is a 5820-kilometre tether dangling from the moon into Mars’s atmosphere, with a “turbine 20 metres in diameter” at its end. This would generate enough energy to power a town.
Munroe mentions a downside: Phobos is edging closer to Mars, and drag from the turbine would speed this process by an unknown amount, hastening disaster.
Database of essays could head off ChatGPT cheats
If the OpenAI company recorded all the responses its ChatGPT AI sent to students who get it to write their homework, it could easily provide a service for schools to check their essays. This might allay fears that it will be used to cheat(21 January, p 15).
Remember, AI is fixing bugs in our fallible code
In your look at how the AI ChatGPT is being used to find and fix bugs in computer code, I had to chuckle at the quote: “We don’t want to rely totally on the AI as it is not infallible.” Unlike humans(4 February, p 16)?
Come to Houston and buy a bag full of human waste
Your story on the potential for using human waste as fertiliser is a bit late. Houston has been bagging up our dried sewage and selling it as fertiliser under the name Hou-Actinite for decades. It is recycled, natural and all organic! If you ever come to Texas, I can show you where to buy a sack(28 January, p 17).