Letters to the Editor
- Humans
Letters from the April 30, 2005, issue of Science News
Supplemental information Vitamin E Loses Luster: Nutrient tests show disappointing results” (SN: 3/19/05, p. 182) is the fourth time I’ve seen a report that vitamin E may not be appropriate for elderly people at cardiac risk. Detailed statistics are always given, but one fact is always omitted: what type of vitamin E was used in […]
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19548
I wonder if the enhanced learning that the researchers observed might have resulted not from the supplemental zinc per se, but from the zinc’s blocking absorption of fluoride in the juice. Most juice, especially grape and citrus, has enormous concentrations of fluoride from the pesticides used to produce it. Fluoride is known to cross the […]
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19547
It is frustrating to read of studies endeavoring to study brain activity as related to reading and thinking. What the researchers are observing, in my opinion, is brain activity related to building a lexicon. Animals and children “think” without a lexicon. “Ethan” was intensely interested in symbols but not exceptional in relating those symbols to […]
- Humans
Letters from the April 23, 2005, issue of Science News
The shark as red herring I’m sure you published “A Fishy Therapy,” (SN: 3/5/05, p. 154) in good faith, but I believe that claims for shark cartilage are not made seriously by anyone who studies the role of natural substances in cancer prevention. It was proved ineffective long ago. I think your article does a […]
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19546
In this article, the use of light therapy was shown to fight depression. I would suggest consideration of the possibility that the light therapy also increased the levels of vitamin D in these patients. Patrick AlbrightCresson, Pa. A review published last year by the Cochrane Library also found evidence that bright-light treatment is effective against […]
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19545
It seems that one of the intriguing potential beneficial applications of hydrogen sulfide-induced torpor would emerge if it turns out that cancer cells are less sensitive to the gas than healthy cells are. If we could turn down the metabolic activity of normal tissue, reducing its sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs, while the cancer cells remained […]
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19544
Your article on the reaction of nanoparticles of iron with trichloroethane (TCE) contaminating an aquifer, states that the TCE is converted “into ethane.” What happens to the chlorine stripped off the TCE? Is it converted into insoluble inorganic compounds or is it available to react with another aquifer contaminant to possibly form another toxic substance? […]
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19543
This article made me wonder about the possibility of a continuum of matter. Could part of the problem in identifying dark matter be that only part of the spectrum of matter is observable by our senses and sensors? As there are sound waves above and below the frequencies we can hear, and light waves we […]
- Humans
Letters from the April 16, 2005, issue of Science News
Ax questions, hard answers Another hypothesis for the polish on the Stone Age corundum ax head is that the Stone Age people never had absolutely pure corundum, which indeed would have required diamond to polish (“In the Buff: Stone Age tools may have derived luster from diamond,” SN: 2/19/05, p. 116). It is possible that […]
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19542
In this article researcher S. Jill James implicates low glutathione and heavy metal exposure in autism. This may be the case, but glutathione has a number of important functions that have nothing to do with heavy metal binding. As an antioxidant, glutathione reduces toxic free radicals. Glutathione is also a key factor in the maintenance […]
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19541
Research results on the physiological effects of blue light 1.5 hours before bedtime makes me wonder about the effects on sleep and, subsequently, mood and metabolism for the millions of us who spend hours each night staring into two sources of blue light, the television and the computer screen. Jill HolmgrenFairbanks, Alaska
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19540
This article gives the casual reader the distorted view that one could travel the solar system at will by using these methods. These are generally small perturbations on the much larger primary propulsion requirement that is fixed by standard two-body orbital mechanics. John OldsonSan Diego, Calif. In the course of its eccentric orbit, the moon […]
