Letters to the Editor
- Humans
Letters from the October 1, 2005, issue of Science News
Name game Does the name of Honda’s robot, Asimo, have a meaning in Japanese, or is it just a tip of the hat to Isaac Asimov (“Easy Striders: New humanoids with efficient gaits change the robotics landscape,” SN: 8/6/05, p. 88)? Dennis LynchGlenshaw, Pa. Asimo’s name stands for Advanced Step in Innovative MObility.—N. Moreira Under […]
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19597
This article didn’t mention the effect of large-scale conversion of cellulosic biomass to fuel on disposal sites. Here in southern California, we are running out of places to dump urban waste. Taking waste to a fuel-generating facility would reduce the environmental effects and might even cost less than burying it. Bob KosterNorth Tustin, Calif. Your […]
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19596
This article, as presented, doesn’t address the statement made in the headline. The article shows only that on days when no pesticides are ingested in food, no pesticides are excreted in urine. Charles WyttenbachLawrence, Kan.
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19595
Chloride concentration in streams should be a concern to everyone. However, projecting problems at century’s end based on the present rate of chloride increase is bad science. Salt use in some New England areas has roughly doubled in the past decade due to a change in winter highway-maintenance philosophy. But salt is expensive and there […]
- Humans
Letters from the September 24, 2005, issue of Science News
Monkey see, monkey smell That monkeys get “weirded out” by seeing themselves in mirrors doesn’t seem unexpected (“Reflections of Primate Minds: Mirror images strike monkeys as special,” SN: 7/23/05, p. 53). Were a familiar or an unfamiliar same-sex capuchin seen, the test subject would be bombarded not just by visual images but also by smells […]
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19594
There was a line or two in this article about carnations with an aroma of Earl Grey tea or fruit loops. Well, here in the Sonoran Desert, we have wildflowers that smell like sweaty gym socks, grape Kool-Aid, or even rotting meat. When I was helping edit a desert-wildflower book years ago, I found the […]
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19593
I am dismayed and offended that you overlooked or avoided the circumstances of the under-12-year-old victims in this article. As much as half of Thailand’s sex tourism exploits preteen and preschool children. Valerie NielsenTemecula, Calif. Your article inaccurately states, “Thai Buddhists hold that each person’s soul inhabits many physical bodies over time….” Buddha has categorically […]
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19592
The pendular running gait described in this article as one of the most efficient bipedal gaits looks remarkably like the way eyewitnesses claim Bigfoot creatures move. In a Bigfoot hoax, one might use a gait that is unhuman but energy efficient, as the costume would be rather heavy. On the other hand, since such a […]
- Humans
Letters from the September 17, 2005, issue of Science News
Just Feynman A lot of people ask how someone like Richard Feynman, who played the bongo drums, loved practical jokes, and was an amateur safecracker and a bon vivant, could also win a Nobel Prize in Physics (“Dr. Feynman’s Doodles: How one scientist’s simple sketches transformed physics,” SN: 7/16/05, p. 40). Actually, all of Feynman’s […]
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19591
Just curious about the wording in the first paragraph of this article: “Around 36,000 years ago, Neandertals and people lived side by side ….” Were not the Neandertals “people,” and isn’t it true that Neandertals and Cro-Magnons were both Homo sapiens? John Hanson MitchellLincoln, Mass. This is one of the biggest debates in paleoanthropology. Many […]
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19590
Biologist Paul Denny indicates in this article that if the test of the saliva shows that the young patient is at high risk for developing cavities, then extra precautions could be taken such as sealants and fluoride treatments. As a practicing dentist, I wish to point out that both of those procedures are routine with […]
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19589
I have spent the past 30 years as a geoscientist studying the history of Earth and take great exception to a statement in the article: “Scientists are divided on whether climate change, induced by industrial and automotive release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, is driving these statistics.” This sentence states that there would […]
