Please let the woolly mammoth rest in peace
I read about the plan to bring back the woolly mammoth with dismay. How can anyone theorise about any environmental benefits of such an endeavour without looking at both animal welfare and ecological impact? What would these introduced animals eat? If there isn’t enough food, they will starve and lead a miserable life. If there is enough, they may outcompete other species that rely on it and wreak havoc with the local ecology (16 March, p 12).
Introducing an extinct large herbivore is so obviously a recipe for disaster that I can’t believe this is seriously being considered. We have seen what happens when alien species enter a new environment.
You're gonna need a bigger carbon extraction set-up (1)
I’d say the scale of direct air capture (DAC) of carbon dioxide to deal with climate change must exceed the 80 megatonnes a year in your article. Leaving aside contributions via offsetting, restoring climate stability this century would, at a minimum, involve reducing CO2 levels in the atmosphere to around 320 ppm. That would mean extracting about 1600 gigatonnes of CO2 in the decades ahead. If just half was met by DAC, it would require thousands of plants that can each capture 1 million tonnes a year, even more if you consider their limited lifespan (16 March, p 36).
If we are serious about avoiding climate chaos, we need to face up to the magnitude of the challenge.
You're gonna need a bigger carbon extraction set-up (2)
A solar power station in space would make a potent . With solar and wind generators spread widely enough on the ground, plus cheap long-term power storage, we don’t need space solar.
The flexitarian approach to bringing back the wolf
The idea that wolves could be reintroduced successfully into modern Britain, given today’s lack of wild spaces, is laughable. However, should everyone choose to cut their meat and dairy consumption by 90 per cent so that the UK could rewild half its farmland, then wolves probably could be given a new home. I have cut my intake of meat and dairy by 90 per cent (16 March, p 29). Will you?
I need that no-cake-for-breakfast feeling all day
New weight-loss treatments all seem to concentrate on making you feel full. For a couple of hours after I wake, despite being hungry, the thought of eating chocolate or cake is very unappealing. Come late morning and for the rest of the day, even when full, I can crave these foods (16 March, p 15). Can anyone invent a pill to maintain this first-thing-in-the-morning feeling all day?
Not yet persuaded of the merits of space miso
I was interested in your piece on miso fermentation on the International Space Station. However, I’m not sure any conclusions can be drawn by comparing one jar fermented in space with two on Earth (9 March, p 13).
Different results from two identical preparations fermented in the same facility aren’t uncommon, the same as with home-made beer and wine.
Friends may be imperfect, but they always trump AI
Empathetic artificial intelligence would be like virtual reality for the emotions. As it learns, no doubt it would say just the words I need to hear. As lives get busier, the quick fix offered by such an AI would become more tempting (9 March, p 32).
While my real friends may ring me at inconvenient times, talk about things I am only moderately interested in, are sometimes infuriating, give wrong advice, say the wrong thing and occasionally waste my time, I wouldn’t trade them for a custom-made AI version. Like gardens and real streams in real forests, I love them for their sake, not just mine.
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Amanda Ruggeri’s very fine article focuses on the quality of empathy that can be delivered by AI compared with the gold standard of human empathy. Having been recently diagnosed with terminal cancer, I have experienced an outpouring of empathy from friends, family, nurses and physicians, some in person, some over the telephone and some through emails and cards.
I can attest to the huge range of effectiveness of these attempts at empathy. My experiences tell me that the comfort I attain from any such interaction is determined solely by the strength of our mutual love. As Ruggeri concludes, call a friend. It is the best.
Covid brain may have another explanation
Since the measured average drop in IQ for those who have had a covid-19 infection was small, according to the study you report on, one has to wonder how much was due to a possible correlation between lower IQ and incidence of infection. Lower IQ tends to lead to the kind of jobs in which it is harder to avoid exposure (9 March, p 18).
On the threat to African penguins
There is no evidence that an apparent reduction in great white sharks off the south coast of South Africa has resulted in a rise in seal numbers and greater predation of or competition with penguins (9 March, p 10).
The African penguin is in a well-documented catastrophic decline following decades of , both now fortunately no more. The biggest documented threat at this stage is , whose activities in areas around island breeding colonies were curtailed, but have now been restored following industry pressure.
For the record
In “To leap or not?” (16 March, p 32), we should have said snowy albatrosses nest on Possession Island in the Southern Ocean.
It was the use by King Louis XIV of France of estiquettes (small cards) to advise on rules of behaviour that led to the word etiquette (9 March, p 21).