Letters to the Editor
- Humans
Letters from the April 14, 2007, issue of Science News
Heated comments I am disappointed in your article on the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) summary (“From Bad to Worse: Earth’s warming to accelerate,” SN: 2/10/07, p. 83). It was a political summary, not the 1,500 page report that’s due in May 2007. How often have you seen a scientific summary published 3 […]
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19818
I find it interesting that even the scientists studying Mars can’t accept that our local star can have a major impact on climate. I am still waiting for the global-warming-crisis mongers to explain how carbon dioxide causes global warming. Donald R. Laster Jr.West Long Branch, N.J. So now we are asked to believe that the […]
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19817
The fact that more people are overdosing on niacin to cover up relatively benign marijuana use exemplifies what’s wrong with the failed “War on Drugs” approach. Chris MajDenver, Colo.
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19816
I have to ask you to remove the subtitle “Dangerous Bridge” under the photograph of the exit ramp from the New Jamarat Bridge in Saudi Arabia. There has never been an accident on that ramp, and the bridge is now being overhauled to make it safer. Dirk HelbingDresden University of TechnologyDresden, Germany
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19815
This article “underscores the vast distances” humans moved from Africa to northern China in 20,000 years. However, if one stops to consider the time frames, it’s extremely unremarkable. At three generations every 100 years and roughly 6,000 miles from Africa to China, people would need to move only an average of 10 miles per generation. […]
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19814
This study on canker sores compared an “untreated” group with a group using licorice patches. A more valid comparison would be for the control group to be treated with patches that contained no licorice. Janet McClureCardiff, Calif.
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19813
“Migraines in men linked to heart attack risks” (SN: 5/26/07, p. 333) states that although men who suffer from migraines are more likely to experience heart attacks, scientists have failed to find a biological mechanism linking them. Such a link seems to be suggested in this earlier Science News article, which states that a patent […]
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19812
Reading this article, I was struck by the similarity between the image that used a cone-shaped mirror and the images you get from gravitational lensing. As the same data are available in both types of images, it ought to be possible to process gravitationally imaged objects in a way to reconstruct their 3-D shapes under […]
- Humans
Letters from the April 7, 2007, issue of Science News
Winter wonders The theory of “nuclear winter” was originally put forward by an Eastern European mathematician in the 1980s (“Sudden Chill,” SN: 2/3/07, p. 72). Some months later, it was shown that an error in his original calculations so vastly exaggerated “nuclear winter” as to make it meaningless. Still, the dramatic concept of a “nuclear […]
- Humans
Letters from the March 31, 2007, issue of Science News
On the hoof Do cows and other domestic-herd animals really emit more methane than bison and other wild-herd animals emitted before people came along? Do grass, alfalfa, and other pasture plants remove less carbon dioxide than do forests? There were open grasslands before pastures replaced some forests. I hope the people who are researching these […]
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19811
Was the increased death rate due to firefighters having a higher rate of heart disease than people do in other jobs? An analysis of eating habits may reveal more insight. Jim SchmitzSt. Louis, Mo. The study looked only at what the firefighters were doing at the time of death. It didn’t compare their heart-disease rates […]
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19810
I couldn’t help noticing the last sentence in this article: “One of the system’s 30 possible climate subtypes—a temperate climate with a cold, dry summer—wasn’t found anywhere on Earth.” The comment reveals that the writer has never read Mark Twain’s comment that the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. Jay […]
