Letters to the Editor
-
19206
Your article has a picture of a “deer stone.” On it are engraved designs of reindeer that bear an astonishing resemblance to a tattoo borne by the 2,400-year old mummy discovered in 1993 in central Asia. Was this noticed by the researchers? Michelle BlanchardOlympia, Wash. Absolutely. William Fitzhugh, an expedition leader, says he was struck […]
By Science News -
19159
I read your article with great interest. There was a minor emergence of periodical cicadas this year in the area. However, despite what the article says, I don’t believe it was a brood emerging 4 years early. In 1983, 4 years before the last major emergence, there was a similar minor emergence. The 2000 emergence […]
By Science News -
19219
We’re not surprised they found sugar in the middle of a Milky Way! Gayle Hunt and David Dawson Seattle, Wash.
By Science News -
19176
Your article tells us there are 65 times fewer deaths per mile traveled in flying commercial aircraft than in driving. Fear of being killed in traveling is, I submit, based not on safety per mile traveled but on safety per trip taken. Further, fear of flying is based on the manner of death. If cars, […]
By Science News -
19218
Thank you for the article about the wild Bactrian camel. However, one false impression needs correction. The Wild Camel Protection Foundation (WCPF) is not planning a program of captive wild camel embryo transfer in order to release the offspring into the wild. The program’s immediate aim is to increase the number of captive wild stock […]
By Science News -
19217
Sorry to be paranoid, but if the technology exists to make scratches on bullets that are exact duplicates for use in testing, does not the ability also exist to produce a bullet supposedly from a shooting victim that’s an exact match to one fired from your gun? Harold ReedMilledgeville, Ga. Fingerprints and DNA are useful […]
By Science News -
19205
The nocturnal singing of coquies is beloved in Puerto Rico, especially after several years of unexplained population decline. Is there any chance that the little coquies can be returned from Hawaii? Mario A. LoyolaMayaguez, Puerto Rico The Coqui Hawaiian Integration and Reeducation Project (CHIRP) is applying for an export license for coquies .—J. Raloff Your […]
By Science News -
19204
It’s gratifying to see scientific validation of something people of southern Louisiana have know for years. Legend says that when the Acadians migrated from Canada to Louisiana, their friends the lobsters were so lonely for them they decided to travel down to be with the Cajuns. So the lobsters walked down the eastern shore, around […]
By Science News -
19194
Your article reports that adding single-wall carbon nanotubes to a ceramic can “nearly triple its resistance to fracturing.” The similar technology of adding tubes (straw) to bricks has been around for thousands of years and is of comparable effectiveness. Lee W. CaspersonPortland, Ore.
By Science News -
19158
This article reports that 223 out of 243 aircraft in the study produced contrails and that the researchers produced a model that predicts contrails correctly 92 percent of the time (but doesn’t predict their duration). Based on the article, I propose the simplest possible model: Always predict a contrail. You’ll be right 223/243 (92 percent) […]
By Science News -
19198
This article reports that 223 out of 243 aircraft in the study produced contrails and that the researchers produced a model that predicts contrails correctly 92 percent of the time (but doesn’t predict their duration). Based on the article, I propose the simplest possible model: Always predict a contrail. You’ll be right 223/243 (92 percent) […]
By Science News -
19199
In your article, you describe Einstein’s negative reaction to Newton’s proposition that gravity acts instantaneously on two objects. The notion of simultaneous (if not instantaneous) properties in physics is one of the basic notions of quantum physics. I do not feel that Einstein’s “particle-like” description of light makes him (even “ironically”) “a builder of the […]
By Science News