A tale of microdosing weight-loss drugs
I have been a classic middle-class microdoser when it comes to the weight-loss drug Wegovy. For nine months, I took 0.5 milligrams a week (instead of the recommended maintenance dose of 2.4 mg) and lost over 20 kilograms. It was amazing. However, I became increasingly grumpy, so I decided to stop for a while. Ten days later, I was sitting reading when I felt a strange sensation; it was as if the lights had gone back on. My mood completely lifted. At lunch, my wife said it was the first time she had heard a lilt in my voice for months. I have been off Wegovy for over two months and have put on only 2 kg, and my mood is back to normal. It has definitely been a net positive for me, but the short and long-term side effects, including mood, need better investigation.(29 March, p 33)
On the idea of storing carbon by rewilding (1)
It is suggested that rewilding with large herbivores could sequester a lot of carbon in soil. But does this work long-term? I worry that soil contains a host of bacteria that love to degrade carbon to carbon dioxide. And ruminant herbivores, among the rewilding animals suggested, emit a lot of methane. (29 March, p 39)
On the idea of storing carbon by rewilding (2)
Finally, an acknowledgement of the power of nature to absorb/build carbon 鈥� but will we allow it to? Growing in monocultures at the expense of everything else poses the greatest threat to biodiversity, food and water security and resilience to flood, fire and drought. If we stop and devote all farmland to sustainable practices, all food then has the potential to be healthy and grown in ways that sequester carbon, restoring biodiversity and health to the systems we rely upon. Rewilding and sustainable farming aren’t mutually exclusive, so why not do both?
Can new maths help us with quantum collapse?
Your article on the mathematical breakthrough bringing together three sets of equations relating to particles and fluids ends with a line saying that the implications of the work aren’t yet understood. With the techniques being grounded in Richard Feynman’s work on quantum field theory, and with the obvious parallels with particles vs fluids and waves, I can’t help but wonder whether this work might help model the turning point in quantum physics, when wave functions collapse and classical physics emerges.(22 March, p 12)
Try this formula for the perfect boiled egg
I have been reading with amusement the discussion on how to cook the perfect boiled egg. 快猫短视频 put the matter to bed for me when the Last Word (13 June 1998) published a formula from reader Charles Williams for this. It went as follows: Cooking time = (m(2/3)) 脳 [ln(2 脳 (t – 100)/(45 – 100)]/c, where t = initial egg temperature in celsius; m = mass of egg in grams and c is a constant. (Letters, 22 March)
Having just started keeping hens, which don’t produce uniformly weighted eggs, I experimented to determine the value of c (3.758) that resulted in eggs boiled to the doneness appreciated by my wife and me. The resulting chart is displayed on our fridge door for ready reference.
There are more ways to keep dementia at bay
Surely additional years at school or in higher education wouldn’t be the sole means of building the cognitive reserve now regarded as a means of postponing the onset of dementia. A number of trades requiring an apprenticeship and continual accumulation of technical skills and know-how, perhaps over an entire lifetime of employment, could be equally beneficial and often far more challenging and useful than some academic pursuits. The important factor is to use the brain, continue to learn and apply that knowledge for personal benefit, and perhaps to teach others. (15 March, p 14)
From truly ancient folk myths to bible stories
I was particularly struck by the idea in Laura Spinney’s article that some folk myths may date back as far as 60,000 years when, it is believed, a few Homo sapiens individuals made their way out of Africa. I have often wondered whether the tale of Moses crossing the Red Sea had its origins in the journey taken by these early ancestors, presumably across the modern Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. (15 March, p 34)
Fighting fatigue isn't always possible
An important point regarding bodily energy levels is missed. If things aren’t going well in our lives, we will feel depressed. The level of which will depend on how bad the situation is. In this state we feel tired and maybe want to sleep more than usual. We can’t feel full of energy while like this. (15 March, p 30)
Tentacled octopoid robot may be the perfect design
Brian Horton makes a good point about the need for versatility within a single robot design, but there is no reason a specifically human form is needed for this. A quadruped with a many-armed torso, or some sort of tentacled octopoid design, could serve just as well. As could a robot composed of reconfigurable jointed modules; I designed one for my thesis, able to change shape for varying tasks. (Letters, 15 March)
Possibly the oldest code in the known universe
I have a theory that the oldest computer code is found in the program on which our simulated universe runs. Glitches caused by incompatible code lead to some unexplained events commented on in your pages. Minor glitches include mislaying 95 per cent of the universe and incompatibility of relativity and quantum physics. Major ones include the prevalence of odd socks. 8 March, p 34
For the record
When iron and sulphur occur in “reduced form”, they have gained electrons (29 March, p 18).