Letters from the May 29, 2004, issue of Science News
By Science News
Judging by science
“Forensics on Trial” (SN: 3/27/04, p. 202: Forensics on Trial) was an eye-opener. Our courts may be accepting many analytical techniques that haven’t been adequately validated. We should be careful, especially where the death penalty is involved, not to be guilty of hubris in the application of scientific knowledge.
Bob Sauer
Princeton, Mass.
Dumb like a wolf?
In “Wolf vs. Raven? Thieving birds may drive canines to form big packs” (SN: 3/27/04, p. 197: Wolf vs. Raven? Thieving birds may drive canines to form big packs), the thesis is that wolves hunt in packs because they lose less of a carcass to ravens (37 percent loss per pair versus 17 percent loss per pack). Yet the article also states that it’s more energy efficient for wolves to hunt in pairs and that a pack is not needed to kill a moose. So a pair of wolves hunts more efficiently and gets 31 percent of a carcass each, but a pack hunts less efficiently and gets only 14 percent of a carcass each. Doesn’t sound like a good survival strategy to me.