Letters to the Editor

19235

The first sentence in this article is incorrect when it refers to “a woman’s placenta.” A woman doesn’t have a placenta, nor does any other mammalian mother. The placenta is an organ of the fetus. The mother’s tissue ends at the uterus lining. Bruce S. SibbettSan Bernardino, Calif.

19234

In your article, the possibility is mentioned that patients with Parkinson’s disease might have improved in the study because of the placebo effect rather than the administration of the protein glial-cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor. The article then says, “However, brain scans of these patients . . . showed that dopamine supplies in the putamen improved over […]

19313

This was a very interesting article. How do they know that the DNA is from the specific animals mentioned, especially the extinct ones? Beau T. JarvisTustin, Calif. The scientists compared the DNA they found with the genetic sequences described in GenBank, a repository of genetic information compiled by the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, […]

19312

I feel compelled to respond to this article. No one can enter and leave the wilderness without a trace, whether on foot, bike, horse, all-terrain vehicle (ATV), skis, snowmobile, or snowshoes. However, rock climbing is among the least invasive outdoor activities. Apparently, someone with a personal vendetta against rock climbers discovered that a snail population […]

19311

This story deserves front-page status. Considering that antibiotics add to the cost of food, health care, groundwater cleanup, and the debt of poor nations, this is a potentially revolutionary development. The fact that the presence of antibiotic-resistant Enterococcus faecium has decreased with the reduction in antibiotics use in Denmark and that the incidence of diseases […]

19310

Like most environmental journalism, the article describes the problem well but not the solution. It would be useful if information about native landscaping were included in this article as an alternative to non-native species. Frank HasslerChampaign, Ill. Your interesting piece on invasive plants touched upon, but otherwise ignored, mycoherbicides for control of noxious weeds. Mycoherbicides, […]

19309

This article on the Ebola virus’ deadly glycoprotein was frightening enough, but even more terrifying to me was the fact that the researchers had genetically engineered a cold virus, one of the most easily transmitted and successful viruses on the planet, to carry the Ebola glycoprotein. I hope that modified virus never escapes the laboratory, […]

19233

Good grief, I can’t believe this is a surprise that dinosaurs were cannibals. Frogs eat frogs. Rabbits eat their young. We can go on for quite a time enumerating mammals (including people), reptiles, birds, and insects that eat their own. The surprise is finding ones that aren’t cannibals. Barbara BennettPreston, Md.

19163

Why has so much focus been placed on protecting us against the threat of a smallpox outbreak when a terrorist could choose to release a different infectious disease? Wouldn’t it be wiser to discuss ways to respond to and contain any unknown disease? More public awareness of this possibility would prevent the false sense of […]

19232

The understanding that traditional wisdom calls for detoxifying these legumes coupled with the fact that they are eaten nonetheless is indeed sad. The work of the agricultural scientists in making this staple safe to eat is vital. There is evident need for help from social science to get safe food practices accepted in the population. […]

19308

This article contains a common misconception about the greenhouse effect. It states, “The newly detected gas is chemically similar to sulfur hexafluoride–another strong absorber of solar radiation . . .” (emphasis mine). While this statement may be true, it is irrelevant to the greenhouse efficiency of a gas. The mechanism of the greenhouse effect involves […]

19307

Tyrannosaurus rex ‘s environment may have provided sufficient carrion for the giant to survive as a scavenger, and studies of its ratio of leg-muscle mass to body mass suggest that it wasn’t speedy enough to be an efficient predator. But this may be only how it ended its life. It didn’t hatch from the egg […]