Letters to the Editor
- 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 […]
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19503
The model for the emergence of a population of “cheaters” out of a population of “cooperators” described in this article gives a fresh viewpoint on existing ecosystems—and much more. Might the evolution of asymmetric modern sex from symmetric DNA exchange (like that practiced by paramecia) have been one special case of this emergence? If so, […]
- Humans
Letters from the January 15, 2005, issue of Science News
Maybe a smoky card game I’m a veterinarian, and, here in west Texas, we see a high occurrence of parvovirus infection in young dogs. It destroys the intestinal villi, allowing gastrointestinal bacteria and their toxins to enter the bloodstream (“Nicotine’s Good Side: Substance curbs sepsis in mice,” SN: 11/6/04, p. 291). I would be very […]
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19502
As an occasional betel nut chewer, I note that this report doesn’t touch on possible positive aspects of the habit. Chewing sapari (coarsely powdered, sweetened, and clove-flavored areca nut) at the end of a meal leads to a sense of satisfaction and well-being, induces salivation, and freshens the mouth. Areca nut also contains lots of […]
- Humans
Letters from the January 8, 2005, issue of Science News
Below the surface I would suggest that the Italian hydrologists cited in “Fighting Water with Water: To lift the city, pump the sea beneath Venice” (SN: 10/30/04, p. 277: Fighting Water with Water: To lift the city, pump the sea beneath Venice) consider the law of unintended consequences. Similar actions begun in 1978 at an […]
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19501
It should be noted that DDT was a poor example to use as an enantiomeric insecticide in this article, since that chemical doesn’t have an asymmetric carbon and therefore can’t exist in “mirror forms.” Gordon W. GribbleHanover, N.H. DDT is a mixture of three forms of the chemical, one of which has enantiomers—not due to […]
