Letters to the Editor

19093

Cornell University entomologist Jeffrey G. Scott sees a cockroach contraceptive as still being a long way off. He may wish to investigate such a product that has been very effective and on the market for years. I can personally attest to its effectiveness. The common “flea bomb” that one gets from a veterinarian–the kind that […]

19118

As a former director of engineering of a defense-products company, I’m very aware of the explosive nature of sodium azide. I know that there have been serious explosions in industries (including the airbag industry) that use metal azides. A few reasons sodium azide may have been selected for use in airbags are it releases gas […]

19092

This article may be confusing to readers who don’t know the quantitative difference between an ice age and a little ice age, as referred to in the story. During the last ice age, the average cooling in the Northern Hemisphere was about 5C, but the cooling during the last little ice age was only about […]

19144

Why am I not surprised that the pH of lung moisture decreases during an asthma attack? Poor ventilation of the alveoli would retain carbon dioxide, which is carbonic acid in solution. Does the change in pH correspond to a buildup of carbonate or bicarbonate in the blood? Would it be a better measure of an […]

19143

Your article, regarding the glycemic index in relation to obesity and diabetes, is incomplete and misleading. Although potatoes do have a high glycemic index, systematic research on satiety shows that potatoes are one of the most satiating foods known to science. The effect persists until the next meal and beyond. This counterexample suggests that concern […]

19142

Sanity and dementia aren’t so much discrete states as poles of a continuum. It seems to me that slightly irrational (perhaps inappropriate is a better word) behavior would tend to make other people avoid you. And as you tend to do less well in social interactions, you would tend to avoid them. Perhaps dementia causes […]

19141

This article suggests a few other questions. How hungry were the monkeys? And would the student volunteers make the same choices if they were in debt and given the option of splitting $20,000 or $40,000, amounts that would potentially change their lives? If I lose $10, I don’t really feel penniless, and my wife will […]

19140

Unfortunately, scientific reports on the widely disclosed environmental dangers of using MTBE in gasoline still routinely repeat the state and federal EPA propaganda that MTBE and other oxygenates such as ethanol are beneficial to cleaning the air. Our best University of California scientists commissioned by the State of California and many others long ago reported […]

19139

It would have been helpful to mention in this article that the free-PSA-ratio test is effective only for men with a prostate volume less than 40 cubic centimeters. The test doesn’t work for men with larger prostates. This is because, for larger prostates, the ratio of free to total PSA is elevated to roughly the […]

19138

This article states, “Scientists knew that some small carnivores hunted in packs . . . .” That sounds quite subjective to me. Finding many small theropods together with a possible victim can have many interpretations. Vultures mass at a carcass, but would you say they are pack hunters? Russ AgreenDanton, Md. I can certainly understand […]

19133

This article implies there are only three options for carpal tunnel syndrome: medicine, wrist splints, or surgery. I’ve had virtually complete relief from a fourth option suggested by a physician: exercise to widen the carpal tunnel. I know of yet another treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome: a shot of cortisone in each wrist. That worked […]

19137

These associations between fungi and parasitic plants also exist in North America. These include plants in the wintergreen family, such as Indian pipe, pinesap, and sweet pinesap. A common fungus associated with these plants is an Ascomycete that forms a subterranean structure commonly called a deer truffle. There is also a small genus of orchids, […]