Letters to the Editor

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, […]

19136

The research in this article doesn’t “confirm” the Big Bang theory at all. It simply confirms that scientists will jump to conclusions about observed conditions if it suits their own desire to prove a major theory. Andy BullockFarmersburg, Ind.

19132

Sacagawea did not guide the Lewis and Clark expedition, as your story about the new dollar states. In Lewis and Clark’s journals, I find no instance where she directed or advised their course. Sacagawea perhaps saved the expedition a few beads when trading for horses with her brother in the Lemhi Valley of Idaho. Other […]

19131

I was intrigued by the fact that some apoptotic cells can recover if not engulfed by another cell. DNA reassembly after the caspases tear it apart should result in many gene mutations. While most of the mutations would result in cell death, perhaps a few cells would have mutations that promote a cancerous or precancerous […]

19124

Your story didn’t surprise me. I doubted it the first time I saw it. When I read the original story (“Might night-lights blight sight?” SN: 5/29/99, p. 351), I said, “Wait a minute! Wouldn’t that mean that children raised north of the Arctic Circle should have unusually high levels of myopia?” Did the researchers involved […]

19123

The opening paragraphs of this article make the curious observation that silicon dioxide is “little noticed outside the semiconductor industry.” That is, of course, nonsense. Silicon dioxide, widely known as quartz, is known to far more people than is silicon, the stuff of semiconductors. It has been valued by humans since we first started fashioning […]

19122

I found this article interesting and informative. However, the story of life, both plant and animal, is the story of adaptation to changing environments. I am sure that if CO2 levels were to double in 50 or 100 years, most plants and animals would have little problem adapting. Considering that ice-core studies indicate that CO2 […]

19130

I would hope that the artist’s conception of a black hole is not shared by many. The term hole was an unfortunate choice, since it conjures up an image of a tunnel rather than the actual sphere. In reality, the halo of light around the periphery of the black hole would cover the entire sphere […]

19129

This article is surely wrong in stating that the honey badger shuns meat. It aggressively attacks snakes and small mammals, as well as invades bees’ nests for honey. Derek WallentinsenSan Pedro, Calif. I was looking at the picture of the animal’s skull and wondering how large it is. There’s no scale for reference, so I […]

19128

Perhaps much of the controversy about evolutionary psychology devolves from forgetting some basic biological definitions. The gene is the unit of inheritance, which has a complex and imprecise relationship with the mature, viable organism that has inherited it. The unit of evolution is the individual organism. Therefore, the arguments about what is more important in […]

19127

It occurs to me that the techniques described in this article could have a wide variety of applications outside the biological sciences. For example, imprinted high-temperature ceramic materials could be used as less-expensive catalysts in automobiles and factory emission-controls systems. And filters made from such materials might be used to greatly reduce the quantity of […]