Letters to the Editor
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19417
While reading about the amazing properties of Archimedes’ Stomachion, I wondered whether a mere child’s toy would exhibit such mathematical precision, with each vertex falling on a lattice point of a 12-by-12 grid. Perhaps Archimedes took the basic plan of the toy and tweaked it to see what properties he could induce. Jeffry D. MuellerEldersburg, […]
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19416
The phenomenon described in your article, an animal manufacturing natural poisons using chemical precursors in the environment, has been described before—in a work of science fiction! In Arthur Herzog’s 1974 novel The Swarm, later made into a movie, killer bees learned to metabolize organophosphate insecticides and incorporate those molecules into their venom. Dave LeisingLowell, Mich.
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19415
Other librarians and I regularly discuss illiterate, functional, aliterate, and avid readers. I am pleased that research has begun into what happens in readers’ brains. The study as presented, however, doesn’t seem to control for the individual attention given by the tutors, a factor that may have influenced the results. I hope this research continues. […]
- Humans
Letters from the May 8, 2004, issue of Science News
Listen carefully Perhaps Stefan Koelsch’s study should have been limited to trained musicians, rather than exclude them (“Song Sung Blue: In brain, music and language overlap,” SN: 2/28/04, p. 133: Song Sung Blue: In brain, music and language overlap). Word and visual associations in music are vigorously reinforced in movie soundtracks, cartoons, and elsewhere. But […]
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19414
The study by Hyde and Peretz about people inept at all things musical made me think of my spouse of 20 years. In addition to a lifetime of utter tone deafness, he also nearly didn’t receive his graduate degree because he couldn’t pass a required language course. He was examined by a university psychologist, who […]
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19413
I am not an advocate of capital punishment, but I wonder whether the people and organizations who are so anxious to use findings on brain maturity to raise the age of capitol punishment have considered the consequences of winning their case. One might argue on the same basis that anyone who has not yet reached […]
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19412
Your article suggests that somehow X rays caused low-birth-weight babies in women who had their teeth X-rayed during their pregnancies. Here is an alternative possibility: Perhaps unhealthy people are more likely to have low-birth-weight babies and bad teeth. Stephen WoodOrlando, FL. The article hypothesizes that the dental X-rays hitting the thyroid glands of pregnant women […]
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19411
In this article Rus Hoelzel states, “One thing I want to make clear is that I think whale watching is a good thing.” He then states that the activity may just need “tighter regulations.” I feel that this argument isn’t valid. If whale watching is causing danger to the species, then it’s not good. Whales […]
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19410
The Essential Oils Desk Reference lists cinnamon as one of the oils to use for diabetes. Coincidence? I think not. Ancient natural remedies are very effective if you use high-grade therapeutic oils. More testing should be done with natural “medicines,” even though this wouldn’t be profitable for the drug industry. Tom E. KlassenNoblesville, Ind. Chemist […]
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19409
It’s pitiful to see supposedly objective scientists fantasizing that there’s a “fact that life could be widespread” because they’ve found organic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in space. Even if researchers found all the amino acids floating in space, it would be like finding a pile of bricks and other building materials and imagining they could form […]
- Humans
Letters from the May 1, 2004, issue of Science News
Skins game I know some people who carefully shield their bodies from the sun with sunscreen and clothing, and their skin is extremely pale. But if tanning acts as a protector (“Sunny Solution: Lotion speeds DNA repair, protects mice from skin cancer,” SN: 3/6/04, p. 147: Sunny Solution: Lotion speeds DNA repair, protects mice from […]
- Humans
Letters from the April 24, 2004, issue of Science News
Extreme makeover The observations in “Wrenching Findings: Homing in on dark energy” (SN: 2/28/04, p. 132: Wrenching Findings: Homing in on dark energy) are of stars and galaxies billions of light-years away and billions of years old. Has anyone ever thought about what the universe out there looks like today? Earl RosenwinkelDuluth, Minn. People have […]
