Is space telescope seeing evidence for exotic theory?
You report that the James Webb Space Telescope has detected very distant galaxies that seem far too massive to have formed so early in the universe, potentially upending our current theories for such objects(4 March, p 19).
Could they be evidence in support of ? What the JWST may have been seeing wasn’t galaxies formed in an inexplicable way, but those that had formed outside the observable universe and that had fallen across the event horizon of this cosmic black hole.
The electrome may have me reaching for a foil hat
Sally Adee’s look at the human “electrome” is the most important biological article your magazine has published because it seems to bust a myth. I never bought into the prevailing orthodoxy that says proliferating, low-power, athermal radio and microwave signals can’t affect us biologically(25 February, p 38).
Shifting electromagnetic fields can jiggle ion channels and alter gene expression. Haemoglobin can have a magnetic moment. Perhaps that jiggles too. Should I join the tinfoil hat brigade?
Don't forget embodied energy toll of new homes
You reported on future houses that claim an impressively low day-to-day energy use. However, it is important to remember that, as we progressively reduce this form of energy use, we ignore embodied energy 鈥� that required to create the building 鈥� at our peril(25 February, p 11).
In homes of the sort described, this is liable to exceed several decades of carbon emissions in operational energy thanks to use of brick, concrete floors and concrete roof tiles, materials that all have high-carbon footprints and high embodied energy. It is about time materials and buildings were required to have embodied energy ratings as well.
On the delights of observing the moon
Thanks to Abigail Beall for another great astronomical piece with her look at the delights of the full moon. I have been moonstruck for most of my life, but for me, the magic lies more at the new moon(4 February, p 51).
I was recently amazed to see, through binoculars, a very clear new moon crescent soon after sunset. I was particularly looking for “Earthshine” 鈥� when the dark part of the moon is illuminated by light reflected from Earth 鈥� when I saw, right on the line dividing the sunlit lunar surface from the dark part, a row of what looked like pimples. I assume they were mountains illuminated from the side, and they reminded me of Pyrenean peaks. In 78 years of looking at the moon, this was the first time I had seen this spectacle.
It's a no from me for this grand geoengineering idea
Grandiose schemes to “save the planet”, such as mining and spreading large amounts of rock to accelerate carbon dioxide absorption by chemical weathering, might be a good idea were it not for the amount of CO2 and pollution generated to achieve this. Our best hope of prolonging our stay on Earth is to reduce industrial activity, not increase it(4 February, p 16).
Even with theory of mind, AIs will still seem odd
I enjoyed your look at AI theory of mind (ToM), related research and the promise of smarter AI assistants as a result of this work(18 February, p 46).
However, I can’t help feeling that something isn’t quite right about where this is heading. As one of the researchers says, an AI ToM won’t be like our ToM, so the actions and judgements resulting from that won’t be the same either. Even if the imitation becomes very human-like, it seems likely that there will be an “uncanny valley” effect, or worse.
Whether we are on a path to sentient machines we are 鈥� and I am not convinced of that 鈥� will these AI “assistants” be at all likeable or well-intentioned? As we know, possession of human ToM and sentience is no guarantee of likeability or trustworthiness.
Fed up with the desire to spin our lives in this way
According to your guide to being your own hero, psychologists say we should spin our memories “into a well-told life narrative” to “help us achieve our aspirations for self-improvement”. Why always this pressure to perform better, because that is what it comes down to (which isn’t the same as saying that unhealthy behaviour shouldn’t be changed)?
Why don’t psychologists give a message about being content with who we are and accepting what we have done so far? Control over everything is an illusion(7 January, p 33).
What I found most insightful were psychologist Kate McLean’s reflections. Indeed, we don’t have to look for silver linings everywhere. Some events just suck and some choices we made were just stupid, or we simply had bad luck. Why not admit this and live with it? Why should we have to sugarcoat our story? No one is completely the author of their own destiny and no one can mould themselves into the perfect shape.
Water and waste don't just magically arrive and leave (1)
There seem to be two glaring omissions in the assessment of energy use for the 2000-watt challenge. I live off-grid and one of the greatest loads on our solar power system is the water pump that supplies the house with filtered water from our rainwater tank. A smaller, but not negligible, one is the power drawn by our simple sewage treatment system. It seems some people assume that water just comes and sewage just goes. Not so. Both require energy(11 February, p 36).
Water and waste don't just magically arrive and leave (2)
James Dinneen regrets that he has to open his windows given the excessive heating in winter. He could avoid this practice by covering the radiators with insulating materials (a thick blanket, or enclosing them in a “box” made of polystyrene). In this way, he could get nearer to his 2000-watt target.
For the record
The Hoover dam had a maximum power output of 2080 megawatts before river flows declined (4 March, p 27).