Letters from the October 22, 2005, issue of Science News

Smell the birdie

I wonder if any of the researchers had a pet bird (“Myth of the Bad-Nose Birds,” SN: 8/20/05, p. 120). My Alexandrine parakeet can smell beer or ice cream from two rooms away—She screams for her share.

Bruce Dow
Ridge Manor, Fla
.

Brainstorm

The research into placebos’ pain relief (“Placebo reins in pain in brain,” SN: 9/3/05, p. 157) should probably be tied in with the recent work utilizing hypnotism for pain relief. It may well be that the two turn on the same centers of the brain.

C. Norman Winningstad
Newport, Ore
.