Letters to the Editor
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19742
In the study that was cited in this article misoprostol was tested as a more practical means of inducing postdelivery contractions in women in developing countries, despite “troubling side effects.” Because most women need no intervention to cause the uterus to contract, why not wait a few minutes to see which of them will require […]
- Humans
Letters from the October 14, 2006, issue of Science News
Name game “Named medical trials garner extra attention” (SN: 8/5/06, p. 93), I think, has it backwards. It’s not that labeled trials are more likely to be funded. Rather, well-funded, large trials are more likely to be named. We research chemists label only the important projects. The name makes the project easier to track and […]
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19741
Reading this article prompted me to consider the biological significance of fever and our impulse to reduce it when given the choice. Isn’t it possible that an increase in cancer incidence could be related to the prevalence of fever-reducing medications or the overall reduction in illnesses that cause fever? Wendy GordonAustin, Texas
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19740
It is ironic that the father of the current recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry won the prize in medicine. Looking at the research of 2006 winner Roger D. Kornberg, his prize should have been awarded in medicine. For his father, Arthur Kornberg, the prize in 1959 should have been in chemistry. The good […]
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19739
The explanation in this article for the increased ocean-surface temperature seemed to focus solely on atmospheric effects. I wonder if variations in undersea volcanism might have contributed to the sudden spike in Pacific Ocean surface temperatures during the Aptian epoch of the Cretaceous period. If so, then a moderately higher release of volcanic ash might […]
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19738
This article concludes with the interesting fact that the only annual drop in U.S. population during the past century “occurred between July 1917 and July 1918, when the country was at war,” implying a military cause for the decline. Indeed, the honored dead of the First World War did total 116,708. However, you missed the […]
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19737
This article barely scratches the surface of the problem. What is stopping someone from gene splicing the disease of choice onto heat-loving bacterium? Something that can live near the 600°F of melting lead will certainly survive the standard hospital-sterilization process. D.J. KavaBeaumont, Texas The statement “2 tons of ore from ocean sites should yield as […]
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19736
I was surprised you didn’t mention the effect of salinity in ocean water in this article. Warming climate has melted much of the glaciers, bringing fresh water into the North Atlantic. That water isn’t dense enough to sink and carry on the conveyor belt that usually brings warm currents from the tropics. This slowing of […]
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19735
The experiments with mice infected with the 1918 influenza virus are important but not surprising. John Barry’s The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History (2004, Viking) explains that many, perhaps most, of the victims were killed by the overreaction of their immune systems. This may be why most of the […]
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19734
I was extremely disappointed to read the definition of ecotourism as being “the practice of visiting sites where exotic landscapes and rare animals are the main attractions.” Ecotourism was founded with the specific goal of countering the overuse of the kind of travel described in the article. A better definition would be one used by […]
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19733
The “mystical journey” described in this article has long been available drug free and under carefully controlled conditions via biofeedback. The results of these sessions are very similar to those described by people who received psilocybin. In the rare circumstances when clients become uncomfortable in their altered states, a session can be terminated immediately. Doreen […]
- Humans
Letters from the September 30, 2006, issue of Science News
Not a pretty picture “Deadly Disorder: Imagined-ugliness illness yields high suicide rate” (SN: 7/22/06, p. 52) raises some questions. What about people who are physically unattractive—those whom a majority of the society considers ugly? I suspect that many people treated for body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) are unattractive by that definition. The psychiatric profession tends to […]
