Letters to the Editor
-
19652
In your article you report, “Every 4 years, each volunteer completed a questionnaire about his body weight and dietary habits.” Any dieter knows that it is next to impossible to remember what one has eaten 4 days ago. Any more details on how the data was acquired and validated? Ivan MannHoover, Ala. Volunteers were asked […]
- Humans
Letters from the March 11, 2006, issue of Science News
Seasonal effect? Might your article, “Bright Lights, Big Cancer” (SN: 1/7/06, p. 8), on breast cancer have missed something? If the daily light-dark cycle affects melatonin, is there a seasonal change in cancer rates in the Northern (and Southern) Hemispheres? If so or not, that might give a clue to any latency period. Alan MacGregorSalmon […]
-
19651
In the article, the author states that the observed supernova was “one of only a handful . . . heralded by a burst of gamma rays.” Isn’t that because gamma-ray bursts from core-collapse supernovas are directional, along the axis of rotation? Was GRB 060218 “unique” because it produced a burst of gamma rays or because […]
-
19650
This article remarks on maize starch granules being “consistent with” stone grinding. The presence of lowland arrowroot on one tool is consistent with trade, but it is equally consistent with a wandering hunter grabbing a root in the midlands and bringing it home. James ReichleQuincy, Calif.
-
19649
This article contained a very disturbing comment: “Neurologist Annette Langer-Gould of Stanford University says that even the 1-in-1,000 risk of PML [leukemia] ‘seems to outweigh the benefits’ that natalizumab would provide many patients.” Having a genetic mutation for which there is no treatment or cure and having (and having had) friends with MS, I am […]
- Humans
Letters from the March 4, 2006, issue of Science News
Impure thoughts Epidemiologist Scott Davis warns, “Melatonin supplements are not regulated” the way drugs are. … “There may be all kinds of impurities and contaminants” (“Bright Lights, Big Cancer: Melatonin-depleted blood spurs tumor growth,” SN: 1/7/06, p. 8). Are you really going to tell me that you aren’t going to take melatonin—if you’re convinced that […]
-
19648
So, researchers studying the effects of the hunger hormone ghrelin have found that hungry mice do better on tests of learning and memory. Four hundred years ago, William Shakespeare had Julius Caesar say, in Act I, Scene II, “Let me have men about me that are fat; Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o’ nights. […]
- Humans
Letters from the February 25, 2006, issue of Science News
A squirt could hurt The fine piece about invasive sea squirts (“Squirt Alert,” SN: 12/24&31/05, p. 411) states that the critters maintain an unappetizing surface pH of 2. Does this make these mats harmful to touch? Andrew J. DolsonRichmond, Va. Robert Whitlatch of the University of Connecticut, who grows Didemnum in the lab, says it’s […]
-
19647
The real irony of ironies is that evolution has not evolved. When even mainstream evolutionary scientists propose any change to “the fact of evolution,” they are immediately silenced. That’s not science. As it has been practiced by many, including Darwin, evolution is really a religion. As a result, no one should be surprised to find […]
- Humans
Letters from the February 18, 2006, issue of Science News
Pain, pain, go away I’m pleased that images are now available to prove that self-control over pain works (“Brain Training Puts Big Hurt on Intense Pain: Volunteers learn to translate imaging data into neural-control tool,” SN: 12/17/05, p. 390). Actually, I and many other moms could have helped the researchers. During childbirth, we simply focused […]
-
19646
Perhaps in addition to using a friendly strain of Clostridium difficile to crowd out the disease-causing variety in the gut, other species of benign bacteria could be reintroduced at the same time. This might be done inexpensively using “probiotic” bacterial cultures already being sold by some health food companies. Michael DunphyNaperville, Ill. Researchers have tested […]
-
19645
There are several problems with the popular-press interpretation of the study described in this article. The study saw a reduction to only 29 percent of calories from fat, which is still far above the 20 percent-or-less advocated by dietary and cardiovascular experts. Also, no one in the field of heart disease prevention would advocate solely […]
