Letters to the Editor

19191

I was shocked to read that now we need to be concerned not only with genetically modified organisms that we can see, but code-transgressing organisms that are invisible. Altering Escherichia coli in this way seems very dangerous. E. coli is found in every human intestine and has a proven ability to swap genetic material with […]

19157

This report reminded me of similar studies demonstrating longer life in people who own pets. Has anyone compared these studies and looked for causes of the increased life span in common in these two populations? Such things as increased opportunities of emotional expression, getting out of the house on a regular basis, or adapting to […]

19201

Eskimos are reported to occasionally tie female Malamutes in heat out in the wilderness to be impregnated by wolves. This is supposed to keep their dog lines vigorous. The converse, male Malamutes impregnating female wolves, is not reported. If this process has happened widely in history, then there may have been three dog Eves in […]

19200

Bacillus cereus is not a “harmless” microorganism, as stated in your article. It has been described in the ophthalmologic literature as one of the most destructive organisms if it gains access to the inside of the eye, and it is a relatively common cause of posttraumatic endophthalmitis. There is a high incidence of B. cereus […]

19190

In regard to the ability of people unable to speak a language to detect lying, this may be a result not of their inability to speak or understand any language but merely their inability to speak or understand the language the speakers were using. Some years ago, while visiting Japan, I saw a television show […]

19156

This article asserts that the earliest photographic image was taken in 1826. In fact, the earliest photographic image may date to much earlier. Using silver nitrate on linen (1992) and later silver sulfate (1994), Nicholas P.L. Allen was able to reproduce, in large part, the unique visual and chemical properties of the Shroud of Turin. […]

19155

I think it’s more than coincidental that the sound repertoire of babbling babies, compared with the speech sounds in a diversity of languages across the world, lends credence to the idea that there was a mother tongue that goes back to prehistoric times. Readers of the Bible will recall that it was after the fall […]

19154

The initial conclusions of the study of Romanian children raised in orphanages and adopted in Britain would seem to this adoptive parent to be prematurely optimistic. A study based on subjects aged only up to 6 years can hardly conclude that severe deprivation “doesn’t inevitably undermine social functioning.” On the basis of the experience of […]

19153

Your article describes the economic and environmental costs of semiconductor chips. Interestingly, the impacts on the environment are very similar for the manufacture of solar cells. Many environmentalists place such unrealistic expectations on solar cell energy that they overlook certain facts. First, solar cells yield at most 30 percent efficiency. Second, solar cells do not […]

19152

It’s not surprising that training may enhance intellect in the elderly. What would be remarkable would be for the elderly to be completely incapable of learning. The real question is whether cognitive training works against whatever causes cognitive decline in the elderly or whether it merely boosts base-level ability. The former would be indicated only […]

19197

The article notes that X-ray radiation from XTE J1550-54 jets is puzzling because the radiation of the nearer jet, which is moving toward Earth, isn’t as bright as that of the more distant jet. Perhaps as a jet strikes material, the radiation is dispersed back toward the jet source. Thus, the more distant jet could […]

19151

While reading your article regarding the primitive antibodies found in lancelets, it occurred to me that complex immune systems might be merely a highly specialized, evolved form of digestion. Presumably, evolutionary adaptation would tend to favor a critter that found a way to consume even those nasty, yucky, infectious microbes. Mel ZernowColusa, Calif.