Letters to the Editor

18898

Both definitions of “source of the Amazon” advanced by its would-be finders are capricious. They imply that a river can be a lesser stream than its tributary, which runs counter to any plausible definition of tributary. Travel up the Amazon and at every fork take the branch with greater water flow. You will eventually reach […]

18896

The story “Stormy weather” carries some statements that I think need clarification: “If high-energy protons happen to strike astronauts outside the shelter of their spacecraft, they could be severely injured” or even killed. “Because the ionosphere absorbs much of the protons’ energy, they don’t pose a threat to people or electrical systems on Earth.” However, […]

18917

While applauding the great advance that nerve regeneration would bring to people with spinal cord injuries, I wonder if there is a reason that nature has designed the body so that these nerves do not regenerate. Perhaps an unintended consequence in genetically altering the proteins mentioned in your article could be the onset of some […]

18916

In your article “Do meat and dairy harm aging bones?” (SN: 1/13/01, p. 20), there was no mention of controls for vitamin D absorption. Differential exposure to sunlight or to dietary sources of vitamin D within the study populations could account for some of the differences in rate of bone loss. Brenda Gray County Dublin, […]

18894

Apparently your left column has no idea what your right column is doing. At the top left of page 15 in the Jan. 6 issue (“Y2K: One of the hottest, wettest yet”) you say Y2K is one of the hottest and wettest years yet. The first article starting on the right (“Sediments show bipolar melting […]

18915

Apparently your left column has no idea what your right column is doing. At the top left of page 15 in the Jan. 6 issue (“Y2K: One of the hottest, wettest yet”) you say Y2K is one of the hottest and wettest years yet. The first article starting on the right (“Sediments show bipolar melting […]

18914

So some neo-Darwinist DNA researchers found that a few genes link a shrew and an elephant (“Genes seem to link unlikely relatives,” SN: 1/6/01, p. 4). Indeed, they are certain that all our other senses (like perceived morphology and such) should be overruled and their new evolutionary story accepted over all other stories. Russell Husted […]