Going with the lottery herd could cost you dear
The idea of UK National Lottery ticket numbers that mathematically guarantee a win of some kind every time you play perked my interest. But on second thoughts, the numbers given in the article would be the very ones I would avoid as, in the extremely unlikely event of any of the tickets matching the jackpot, I, for one, wouldn’t be very happy sharing it with potentially tens of thousands of other hopefuls lured into using those same numbers (5 August, p 14).
Let's tap into warming seas as a power source
Amid record-breaking warmth in parts of the world, including a rise in sea temperatures, I revisited a discussion with my husband from a few years ago 鈥� we are both retired scientists. Why not use thermodynamic systems to get heat from the seas to generate electricity and heat local homes? This could provide significant cooling to water in areas where sea temperature affects the growth of seagrass and coral (19 August, p 8).
A little less emphasis on bodyweight is needed
“A shot of reality” painted a necessary picture of the problem of short-term weight-loss solutions. However, the link between being overweight and serious negative health outcomes remains questionable. Relatively recent evidence suggests there is no difference in mortality risk until either end of the BMI scale, with people in the “overweight” category having the healthiest biomarkers. Weight isn’t the core issue. Instead, we should be focusing on exercise, diet and socioeconomic conditions, as these are the real influences on health (12 August, p 21).
On the problem of rain overwhelming sewers (1)
Your report on the problem of raw sewage discharges into rivers during heavy rain indicates one solution is to “green” paved areas in towns to cut runoff. Across the road from me, yet another garden is being paved for car parking. There are few front gardens left on many roads, which is a huge loss of green space across the UK. Hardly anyone I know sees this as a problem or that any climate crisis solutions are their responsibility beyond a bit of recycling (12 August, p 36).
On the problem of rain overwhelming sewers (2)
When built in the 1930s, no houses in my neighbourhood had rainwater pipes connected directly into the main sewer. Instead, their gutter downpipes fed into rubble-packed underground soakaways. While this doesn’t reduce rainwater running into the public sewer network from the street, it must considerably minimise the total volume hitting it.
Bias in science is dwarfed by that in wider society (1)
Dan Levitt writes about the issue of cognitive bias in science. Certainly, most researchers have a problem with this that can adversely affect their work. Most would admit, perhaps with embarrassment and annoyance, that they missed something in the belief that “it couldn’t work” (5 August, p 21).
However, the problem is endemic elsewhere too, including in people of significant influence in the media, religious institutions and government. The huge problem of climate change is perhaps the supreme example. People often resist change to a comfortable lifestyle. However, bias and mindset can be dealt with via education when young.
Bias in science is dwarfed by that in wider society (2)
I have to disagree with Levitt on one point. In my field, cell biology, he claims that the interior of the cell, the cytoplasm, was believed to be just a “biochemical bog” a century ago. But chloroplasts, organelles that carry out photosynthesis in plant cells, were discovered far earlier than that. Mitochondria, the so-called powerhouses of the cell, were recognised in 1857 and the Golgi apparatus in 1897. In other words, by the end of the 19th century 鈥� well before 1923 鈥� we knew that the cell had specific compartments for specific functions inside it 鈥� far from a biochemical bog.
That quantum computer wormhole is far from real
Philip Ball writes of physicists puzzled over when a simulation of a physical entity, such as a wormhole, in a quantum computer is actually real (12 August, p 40).
In my mind, I imagine an animal that is half horse and half lion. No real-world equivalent exists; I have made it in my mind. That is as close as such a creature comes to being real. Wormholes, as they currently exist in quantum computers, are as real as my “leohippus”. Quantum computers would seem to have good imaginations for wormholes.
Maybe it is time to give up the dream of fusion power
You report the latest instance of hope in the efforts to develop nuclear fusion as a viable power source for our societies, in this case involving a set-up in which more energy emerged from a fusion reactor in the US than was put into it, so-called ignition (12 August, p 13).
You say that such advances mean “the science is sound, and the problem is now one of engineering rather than physics”. But inertial confinement, the design used in this case, probably won’t work out commercially 鈥� the hope is for doughnut-shaped tokamak reactors instead.
has also shown that fusion will be more costly than renewable energy even if we crack it. Maybe it is time to give up on it.
The problem is that we find hypocrisy easy
Your review of author Marjolijn van Heemstra’s book includes the quote: “Begin your day with what you truly are 鈥� deeply improbable. If we appreciated this fully, wouldn’t we take better care of each other and the planet?” I appreciate the optimism, but remain sceptical (29 July, p 29).
Many people believe that they, and this planet, were created by an all-loving deity they worship 鈥� and yet show little interest in caring for each other or the planet. The conclusion is that we are very good at rationalising selfishness, regardless of the beliefs we claim to hold. This must change.