Letters archive

The article on using artificial intelligence to tackle scientific challenges paints too rosy a picture of its accomplishments up to now. AlphaFold sometimes inaccurately predicts protein folding. The matrix multiplication methods found by AI only achieve a 10 to 20 per cent improvement for certain small matrices and only when using certain hardware. The sorting …

I laughed when I read that AI could help create viable nuclear fusion power, with "energy so cheap that it could be given away for free". Nuclear fission was supposed to be "too cheap to meter" as well. In fact, it has always been the most expensive energy fed into the grid. The type of …

Jasmin Fox-Skelly's exploration of the long-term impact of the placenta on health notes the genetic "conflict" between mother and fetus, but this doesn't factor in that the maternal and paternal chromosomes may express genes differently due to the phenomenon of epigenetic "imprinting" ( 22 July, p 40 ). Genes promoting placental growth may be highly …

We may not need to turn our backs on the use of electricity to cool buildings. In the 19th century, most Australian houses were designed with passive cooling in mind and, having lived in a couple, I can attest that it was reasonably successful. But we are in the 21st century and have solar panels …

Reading that crows and magpies, well known as the intellectuals of the bird world, have been using the anti-nesting spikes on roofs as nest-building material, I have to let you know that, near Weymouth, UK, the gulls have been doing this for at least four years ( 22 July, p 20 ). Respect!

There is no need to restrict a carbon tax to luxury goods. Access to utility and vehicle-use records, passports and international passenger information, as well as our financial records for an estimate of spending on goods, is within the grasp of authorities such that a reasonable reckoning of our mark on the planet is possible …

While reading your article on the use of psilocybin to treat anorexia, and reflecting on the growing number of reports on similar studies of the beneficial effects of controlled substances, I wondered if we are seeing a "generation drug" effect? Are those who lived through the normalisation of the use of recreational drugs in the …

One reason to put crocks – scrap bits of pottery or polystyrene – into the base of a plant pot is that a relatively fine planting mix, for example for seedlings or cuttings, will fall through open drainage holes when dry or wash through when it is wet. The crocks can stop this. In addition, …

I spent much of my career trying to discover drugs to treat obesity. The class of drug that my team and I found to work well in rodents was ineffective in people. However, others found them useful in the treatment of overactive bladder ( 15 July, p 32 ). How I wish that I had …

Cosmic rays produce helium-3 and beryllium-10 in asteroids ( 22 July, p 16 ).