Letters to the Editor
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19512
Your article reminded me that taking a bird’s song and transposing it down four octaves makes it sound like a whale’s song. The opposite is also true. To hear this, go to http://www.mind.net/music/birdwhaleDemo.mp3. Todd BartonAshland, Ore. The article would imply that the only anomaly to the theory that mass equates to longevity is that large-dog […]
- Humans
Letters from the February 5, 2005, issue of Science News
Not measuring up I love Science News. Now and then, however, you write in terms that aren’t understandable to the average reader. I refer in particular to “Snow Blow: Image of Mount Everest from orbit captures enormous plume” (SN: 12/4/04, p. 358). It states that “weather models suggest winds atop the peak exceeded 50 meters […]
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19511
A glaring omission in this article is the obvious impact that direct marketing of prescription medications to the general public, mostly via television, has had in swelling the number of people taking superfluous medications. Stephen J. LevineRiver Edge, N.J.
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19510
In this article you failed to mention a possibly important factor for the introduction of agriculture into Europe, namely, the creation of the Black Sea from a large freshwater lake at the end of the last ice age. Could this not have forced the early farmers westward after they had lost so much of their […]
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19509
According to your article, exposure to the Epstein-Barr virus in early life produces only flu-like symptoms but exposure at adolescence or later often results in mononucleosis, which is a possible precursor of multiple sclerosis, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and chronic fatigue syndrome. It seems to me that much human misery could be eliminated by developing a […]
- Humans
Letters from the January 29, 2005, issue of Science News
Check it out In “Profiles in Melancholy, Resilience: Abused kids react to genetics, adult support” (SN: 11/20/04, p. 323), you report on a study in which it was found that female monkeys raised in a stressful situation drink alcohol to excess only if they possess just the short serotonin-transporter gene. If a positive correlation were […]
- Humans
Letters from the January 22, 2005, issue of Science News
Timely comments The researchers featured in “Summer births linked to schizophrenia” (SN: 11/6/04, p. 301) suggest that a higher incidence of schizophrenia may be due to summer-related infections “or other seasonal factors.” June and July births would have been in early gestation during late fall and winter, when there is increased incidence of depression among […]
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19508
Plastic solar cells may indeed be gaining in efficiency, but here in the Southwest, anything plastic left out in the sun quickly clouds, desiccates, and cracks. Can the new polymer-based material protect against this destruction? It would certainly be cost prohibitive to replace the cells every year. Stephen WustSanta Fe, N.M. Researchers are well aware […]
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19507
Titan may represent conditions that existed on Earth when life arose. One important difference is the extremely cold temperature on Titan. However, the known life cycle of stars predicts that, at some time in the far distant future, our sun will gradually expand. As that happens, Titan will heat up, and that may be sufficient […]
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19506
This article attributes behaviors of earlier bedtime, longer sleeping, and earlier weaning to “greater personal independence” in children who sleep alone. It is equally possible that these behaviors are due to something else. Research predicting which children and families will benefit from co-sleeping or alone sleeping would be more useful. Heather Kuiper and Loren RauchOakland, […]
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19505
Your article reports that left brain areas normally associated with language comprehension are activated in shepherds who communicate in a whistled language. I wonder if the same brain regions would respond similarly in people who “speak” American Sign Language or Morse code. Lisa LincolnBrooklyn, N.Y. In 2000 , Science News reported that this area of […]
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19504
I was disappointed in news coverage of this dinosaur find in China. Science News and others ran an illustration with an obvious mistake. Unless the newly discovered mammal, Repenomamus giganticus, and its smaller cousin, Repenomamus robustus, were unique animals, they did not have legs that emerged from their sides giving them a sprawling, reptilian body […]
