Letters to the Editor

19038

In the article about infinity, the “stereoscopic” images of tiny squares on page 140 are too far apart to view in the conventional way. However, if the viewer holds the magazine at arm’s length and looks cross-eyed at the pair, the diagonal across the square becomes visible. Robin FrostSanta Barbara, Calif.

19337

Your article worries that hydrogen-fuel leakage may add to stratospheric ozone problems. Doesn’t that presuppose that the hydrogen for fuel is generated from a fossil source? What if the hydrogen is generated from air, seawater, or biomass? Clark WaiteDescanso, Calif. The source of the extra hydrogen molecules doesn’t matter, says geochemist John M. Eiler of […]

19336

This article notes tetrahydrocannabinol’s (THC’s) side effects of “sedation, giddiness, and paranoia” and then states that a new drug, AM1241, alleviates pain “without the side effects” of the marijuana ingredient. Yet the article also says there are concerns about AM1241 “undermining the immune system.” Marijuana has been shown to be an effective treatment for a […]

19267

I passed out three different times from temporary heart stoppages before I got my pacemaker, and I remember dreaming twice. Since I am not religious, my dreams weren’t similar to reported “near-death experiences,” but it doesn’t surprise me that a religious person who thought she were dying would dream of going to heaven. Donald DozerChardon, […]

19266

In your article, you state that the cloned foal Prometea is a genetic twin of her birth mother which contributed the nuclear DNA. This is not true, as twins have identical nuclear and mitochondrial genes. The cytoplasm of the cloned foal was obtained from a slaughtered horse. The cytoplasm, and therefore the mitochondrial genes, of […]

19335

I have a real problem with the way that the so-called robot-designed robot is described in this article. I used to do large-scale manufacturing automation, and I consider what is being done a parlor trick. There are only two things that could be called “robotic” in the system: The computer-aided manufacturing machinery that built the […]

19265

Regarding this article, the challenge is how to increase the anomalous risk perceptions of white males. Their low risk perception may lead to higher use of cigarettes and other addictive drugs, lower use of condoms to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, driving at unsafe speeds and while intoxicated, poor eating practices, higher use of guns, and […]

19334

In your article about the use of kites for science, we are told that Antarctica is “[m]ore than half a world away from Kansas.” I know a shorter route. It’s a round, round world, after all! Marvin E. Kahn Darnestown, Md.

19037

The new technology sounds great, but I am concerned about the food wrap described, given that my husband, among others, is acutely allergic to shellfish. If Yasa-sheet is, indeed, made from a crab-shell derivative, won’t it cause an allergic reaction? Lee DaneRidge Spring, S.C.

18895

As a plodder without the turbo gene I can appreciate those fortunate enough to have it. I would direct the researchers to two other groups of track and field participants: discus throwers and shot putters. I was a thrower in the 1960s, and through the 1970s and 1980s, I was a meet official for these […]

18893

I thought your article was somewhat misleading. It referred to dark energy as a “substance,” which it’s probably not, that’s “ripping the cosmos apart,” although this phrase implies far more violence than has been attributed to dark energy. And you described the findings as “wrenching” when, in fact, they all correlate with and confirm the […]

19333

The serious harm caused by microscopic dust really made me wonder about diesel. You noted that the submicron-scale spheres in the lungs of a nonsmoking resident of Mexico City appeared to be diesel-exhaust particles. While Europeans worry about what will happen in 100 years from global warming, could they be killing themselves now with their […]