Letters to the Editor
- Humans
Letters from the July 30, 2005, issue of Science News
Led astray The illustration of the solar system in “Roaming Giants: Did migrating planets shape the solar system?” (SN: 5/28/05, p. 340) does not represent the current orbit of the planets. Rather, it must be a frame from the computer simulation referred to in the article. William MeadowsDripping Springs, Texas Indeed, the image reflects the […]
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19577
I’m currently writing a biography of RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, the instigator of the plan to construct the three tunnels in Stalag Luft III. Last fall, I visited the site. Amazingly, it was difficult to see where the excavation team had been. I have also spoken to dozens of men who either helped build […]
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19576
That monkeys get “weirded out” by seeing themselves in mirrors doesn’t seem unexpected. 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 generated from the normal interactions of monkeys. What makes them act strangely is not seeing themselves, which they […]
- Humans
Letters from the July 23, 2005, issue of Science News
Clearly a problem? “Built for Blurs: Jellyfish have great eyes that can’t focus” (SN: 5/14/05, p. 307) states that “the resulting blurred view is good enough for spotting large objects such as mangrove roots.” It seems to me that the article is missing the crucial biological question presented by these eyes. My understanding is that […]
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19575
I have some problems with this article. The section regarding alpine thistles seems to ignore the huge moisture-collecting effect of aboveground matter, such as dead plant remains, that results from condensation of dew. Experiments need to be done that control for this and for the increased amount of organic matter found at the “mother’s” site […]
- Earth
Letters from the July 16, 2005, issue of Science News
Muddy, clarified “Muddy Waters” (SN: 5/21/05, p. 328), on the deleterious effect of dams on coastal systems, contains a major conceptual error. It states that “another important cause of the ground sinking is the waning of sediment deposition by the Mississippi River.” But over the past 100 million years, the northern Gulf Coast region has […]
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19574
In your article, you describe Einstein’s negative reaction to Newton’s proposition that gravity acts instantaneously on two objects. The notion of simultaneous (if not instantaneous) properties in physics is one of the basic notions of quantum physics. I do not feel that Einstein’s “particle-like” description of light makes him (even “ironically”) “a builder of the […]
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19573
In your article you refer to a standard concept of a person speeding “in a rocket traveling slightly less than the speed of light” and say that “motion at such enormous speeds drastically slows the clock for the traveler.” That reasoning, which is common, troubles me. If the traveler is traveling speedily with respect to […]
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19572
I was very glad to read of the research done by Stefano Pluchino with adult-mouse stem cells. I am, however, terribly disappointed with his comment that therapeutic trials in humans are 4 to 5 years away. As someone with multiple sclerosis and a scientific background, I see no reason why the timetable can’t be moved […]
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19571
The information in this article represents the first indication of a potential test for the onset of esophageal cancer (EC), the fastest-growing cancer in the United States. EC kills 94.5 percent of patients diagnosed. Unfortunately, until EC has reached stage IV, no symptoms present themselves to the patient. A routine screening procedure that might be […]
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19570
This article makes a comparison: “A LED can last for up to 100,000 hours compared with the 1,000-hour lifetime of a typical lightbulb and the 10,000-hour lifetime of a typical fluorescent lightbulb.” This is misleading in comparing the maximum LED lifetime with typical bulb lifetimes. The typical lifetime of an LED depends on the application. […]
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19569
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. Actually, all of Feynman’s disparate characteristics are entirely in keeping with each other. In psychiatrist Carl Jung’s terms, Feynman was […]
