Letters from the March 26, 2005, issue of Science News
By Science News
Sleeper issue
“Goodnight moon, hello Mom and Dad” (SN: 1/22/05, p. 61) attributes behaviors of earlier bedtime, longer sleeping, and earlier weaning to “greater personal independence” in children who sleep alone. It is equally possible that these behaviors are due to something else. Research predicting which children and families will benefit from co-sleeping or alone sleeping would be more useful.
Heather Kuiper and Loren Rauch
Oakland, Calif.
Great shot
According to “Good Exposure: Contact with babies might lessen MS risk”(SN: 1/29/05, p. 68), exposure to the Epstein-Barr virus in early life produces only flu-like symptoms but exposure at adolescence or later often results in mononucleosis, which is a possible precursor of multiple sclerosis, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and chronic fatigue syndrome. It seems to me that much human misery could be eliminated by developing a vaccine for Epstein-Barr.