Letters to the Editor
-
19644
With reference to this article, some scientists say that bonobos are genetically closer to humans than to chimps. How did they compare in the referenced study? Dick MedvickCleveland Heights, Ohio Bonobos are indeed as genetically close to humans as are chimps, but there wasn’t enough genomic data available for bonobos to include them in the […]
- Humans
Letters from the February 11, 2006, issue of Science News
Preventive measure? Regarding “Rare but Fatal Outcome: Four deaths may trace to abortion pill” (SN: 12/3/05, p. 358), would it be possible for an antibiotic to be included with the RU-486 package to prevent a Clostridium sordellii infection? Like millions of other people, I have to take an antibiotic prior to dental procedures to prevent […]
-
19643
Some of the descriptions about confusion of self contained in your article were very reminiscent of the confusion I often sense in dreams. I even recognize in some dreams the sensation described in the article about various body parts not being part of “me.” I wonder if this aspect of normal (I assume) dreaming has […]
-
19642
Why is it that visible light is shifted to lower frequencies but gamma rays aren’t? Shouldn’t they have become X rays after all that distance? Stephen WoodOrlando, Fla. All wavelengths are redshifted. That means that high-energy gamma rays beyond a detector’s energy range would get shifted into the detectable range by cosmic expansion, while slower-energy […]
-
19641
After reading about the use of electrons in a particle accelerator to “cool” the antiprotons in a secondary ring, I have a question. Is it possible to make a long straight stretch of the main ring feed high-energy electrons in at an oblique angle to a deflection magnet and thereby bend the electrons into the […]
- Humans
Letters from the February 4, 2006, issue of Science News
Double trouble? “Sleep apnea could signal greater danger” (SN: 11/26/05, p. 349) says that “twice as many … with sleep apnea had a stroke or died of that or another cause. …” This sounds serious, but your readers can’t correctly assign importance to “twice as many” because you omit numbers of deaths. David KollasTolland, Conn. […]
-
19640
This article makes me wonder, Does continental drift cause occasional changes to the ocean’s currents? Would major reorganizations of ocean currents tend to cause ice ages by temporarily disrupting the flow of warm water that normally keeps the ice at bay? Would simulations of past continental positions indicate when reorganizations would have occurred? Matt HenryWhittier, […]
-
19639
Trying to explain why “Diabetes most often begins in March,” researchers speculate about “cold weather, inactivity, and overeating.” Did they consider the possible role of a seasonal deficiency of vitamin D? Joseph DewhirstSharon, Mass. Vitamin D would logically be at its most depleted level in the body in March and at its most concentrated level […]
-
19638
I refer to the article on pyrethroid insecticides. I suggest that all pesticides, regardless of their chemical structure, should be applied by trained operators who are equipped to degrade the run off before it enters public water and soil. This group of products is unsuitable for casual use by people at large. S. BanerjiMumbai, India
-
19637
I must quibble about the headline of this piece about chronic wasting disease in deer. “Hunter Beware” sounds ominous, but in order to get the mice to exhibit symptoms after getting muscle tissue from infected deer, it was necessary to use genetically engineered mice carrying deer protein. While hunters would be unlikely to take and […]
-
19636
This article details logging and poaching practices that have decimated the orangutan population on Borneo. These practices are not only sad, they’re criminal. It’s time for scientists to become as politically active as the religious right and start fighting for actions known to be needed. In this case, it’s protecting orangutans from extinction. Scientists must […]
-
19635
I was surprised to read nothing about the timing of the songs when the birds are separated by distance. The ABCD duet would become A—BC—D (where the dashes represent the time delay due to distance) to the male and AB—CD to the female. The duet could be a distance-measurement tool for pairs wanting to keep […]
