Terraform a new world or shift biology to live there?
It is rather anthropocentric to say that to seek advanced alien life, we should search for clusters of planets that look remarkably similar, a sign of terraforming. Extraterrestrials that are sufficiently evolved to cross space and colonise other worlds might not need to terraform them. They are probably highly adaptable and can do the opposite: terraform themselves. That we can’t colonise Venus, for example, isn’t the fault of the planet, but our own biology. Others might not be so limited. 20 April, p 18
Soil could be the saviour in the carbon capture stakes
It is a mistake to pursue unproven high-tech solutions to storing carbon when we already have a proven technology that could be quickly and widely implemented: regenerative agriculture. This uses established techniques to create a living soil that can sequester a great deal of carbon per hectare.
Conventionally farmed soil can be improved in three years simply by withholding chemicals and using compost and green manures as fertilisers. Something like half of Earth’s habitable land surface is used for agriculture, so application of these techniques, plus switching from fossil fuels to renewable and nuclear energy, could possibly turn the tide on climate change, if we do it widely and promptly. 20 April, p 8
Vegans and veggies can still get their omega-3s
In her article on omega fatty acids, Jasmin Fox-Skelly states that the most important thing to do to get more omega-3 in your diet is to eat more oily fish. Vegetarians, vegans and people who don’t want to eat fish should note that the fish don’t make the DHA and EPA omega-3s they contain themselves: this is done by marine algae, then passes up the food chain.
It is possible to bypass this and get the oils from the algae via food supplements. These are similar to fish-oil capsules, but are vegan. 27 April, p 40
Rapidly reversing eco-anxiety will be hard
Kevin Healey, Sydney, Australia
Eco-anxiety specialist Caroline Hickman suggests that “if we stopped oil extraction and shifted to renewables, eco-anxiety would almost disappear overnight”. Even in the best-case scenario, the climate effects of these measures would take some time to be felt, and by then the focus will undoubtedly have shifted to other ecological concerns, perhaps biodiversity loss and the effects of microplastics. Sadly, the future looks bright for eco-anxiety.
Explanation of complexity couldn't have been clearer
The J. Doyne Farmer interview on conceptualising the economy as a complex system with emergent behaviour was fascinating. As an ex-teacher, what I particularly enjoyed was the grass-zebra-lion analogy, comparing the interdependence of specialised entities in an ecosystem to those in the economy. Although an oversimplification, it was very easy to understand and was capable of extension by what-if questions. Simply brilliant. 20 April, p 40
Dark matter might be older than the universe
Dark matter remains quite an enigma. If it exists, we have to confront a situation where the big bang created two separate types of matter 鈥� the normal matter we see today or its precursor (making up around 20 per cent of the total) and dark matter (about 80 per cent).
Alternatively, we may need to consider that space wasn’t empty prior to the big bang and, in fact, already contained all of the dark matter that seems to be present now. The latter is quite attractive, since the concept of “empty” space is but a belief. 4 May, p 40
Vines can be fine, but perhaps not in all cases
I take no issue with the thermal advantages of vines growing on buildings. These plants may cause few problems with certain modern brick or tight-dressed stone walls, but they can grow into, and feed off, the lime cement mortar of older buildings. Likewise, the roots rapidly get behind wooden clapboard walls. 30 March, p 44
The world is awash with technological optimism
Nigel Tuersley’s comments on the risks of technological optimism are too true. As well as the throwaway attitude he mentions of thinking we will be able to leave Earth, the argument from some quarters that we will find an engineering fix to climate change is dangerous and used to delay urgently required action. Letters, 20 April
Less may be more in the search for answers
When I taught undergraduates the scientific method, parsimony was a key element. I find this lacking in suggestions that we may live in a simulation. Two scenarios (among perhaps more): our lives are the result of material evolution that gives us the consciousness and intelligence to one day program such a simulation, or another species has already materially evolved these traits to create the program that we live within.
The latter is possible, but seems an unnecessary complication, as the former is sufficient to explain our existence. And how much information would be required to simulate the lives, and inner lives, of more than 8 billion people? Will computer power continue to grow sufficiently to allow our simulators to generate us? Now, that is a philosophy student’s PhD thesis: what is the information load of a human simulation? 23 March, p 32
Ockham and his razor are in a wild spin
With all this talk of the quantum multiverse, many-worlds and now many-more-worlds, William of Ockham must be spinning in his grave. In multiple universes. 13 April, p 8
For the record
Thomas Metzinger’s book, The Elephant and the Blind, has been made available as open access (27 April, p 28).