Letters to the Editor
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19408
I described everything in this article almost 50 years ago in The City and the Stars (1956, Harcourt, Brace, and World). See chapter 6: “He set up the matrix of all possible integers, and started his computer stringing the primes across its surface as beads might be arranged at the intersections of a mesh. Jeserac […]
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19407
This article focused exclusively on the conversion efficiency of the solar cells. To my way of thinking, the important parameter is not output power versus input power but output power per dollar cost. The size of the arrays is generally not the deciding item. If their efficiency were only 10 percent, but they cost 10 […]
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19406
Like physicists, mathematicians have always been divided into theorists and experimentalists. And, as with the physicists, the two groups of mathematicians have not gotten along very well. Still, in physics, there has always been an understanding that both groups are necessary, whereas during the past century or so, it has been possible to pretend that […]
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19405
This article reminded me of the old quote: “A fishing lure is any combination of metal, plastic, wood, feathers, hair, or other manmade or natural material attached to a hook (or hooks) and designed to attract fishermen.” To wit: Decades ago, to impress an office associate who was a trout-fishing traditionalist as to how random […]
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19404
What an amazing time resolution for 34 million years ago! Could the temperature changes recorded reflect seasonal eel migration, rather than changes in the Gulf of Mexico? Are the results consistent between otoliths found in close association? Does this offer a method of more precise dating similar to the use of tree rings? Gordon C. […]
- Humans
Letters from the April 17, 2004, issue of Science News
Sphere criticism In “Candy Science: M&Ms pack more tightly than spheres” (SN: 2/14/04, p. 102: Candy Science: M&Ms pack more tightly than spheres), I read that an orb of a given size, when slightly flattened, will pack more densely than when perfectly round. No kidding? Do you suppose if we were to crush cars into […]
- Humans
Letters from the April 10, 2004, issue of Science News
Inaction verbs? Regarding “The Brain’s Word Act: Reading verbs revs up motor cortex areas” (SN: 2/7/04, p. 83: The Brain’s Word Act: Reading verbs revs up motor cortex areas), did the researchers image the brains of disabled people who know the meaning of a verb but can’t perform the action, or of people without any […]
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19403
In this article, the photo comparison of the dam site is deceptive because the two photos of the same spot appear to have been taken during different seasons. Hence, the lower photo shows a scene that appears excessively desolate, but not because of the loss of the dam. Michael C. ReedKalamazoo, Mich.
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19402
When I was a teenager, I lived with a brown capuchin monkey. Among other games, we enjoyed trading: his poker chips for my food. When he was out of poker chips, he would improvise by finding pebbles, paper, toys, and other household detritus to trade. When all was traded into my pile, he would give […]
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19401
It should have come as no surprise that the rat’s DNA had “changed much more than the human genome had since the two species diverged from a common ancestor” considering how many more breeding cycles the rat has experienced since that time. Joe HaltonAnacortes, Wash. The shorter generation time of rodents can’t by itself explain […]
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19400
Using laser technology that has an apparent resolution of only about half a centimeter is somewhat laughable. I also wondered whether the “fresh coat of desert varnish” was an April fool joke. Actually, I really look forward to every new issue. You do a great job. Fred DombroseCharlotte, N.C. For images that weren’t three-dimensional, the […]
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19399
Again, humans are implicated in the promotion and distribution of our own misery. However, if bitumen was wrongly credited with darkening the skin of mummified remains, what caused it? Robert FizekNewton, Mass. The coating on the mummies was actually a rub made up of oils, spices, salts, and tree resins. These substances, particularly the resins, […]
