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On the article "Your brain may determine how long you run for", every runner knows that they are developing their brain just as much as exercising their body. At least 50 per cent of becoming a runner consists of retraining those brain circuits that tell you to stay in bed on a chilly morning rather …

Thanks to Michael Marshall for his fascinating account of the evolution of human hands. It was a curious experience reading about the development of our precision grip while being aware of using this grip to hold the magazine and turn its pages ( 21 February, p 32 ).

It is difficult not to get excited about the idea that faecal transplants may hold the key to a new age of healthy living. But maintaining healthy gut flora will inevitably require a commitment to a healthy diet and exercise ( 7 February, p 9 ). In practice, the more likely outcome, given the scarcity …

You reported on the Dutch air force using AI to read pilots' brain waves to toughen training. Older readers might remember the 1982 film Firefox , starring Clint Eastwood as US pilot Mitchell Gant, who steals a Russian experimental fighter jet that can be controlled by the pilot's brain via a "thought control" helmet. In …

Last year's article "The dark energy illusion" promised a new concept of time, while this year's article "The illusion of time" promised a convincing update. However, what we are actually getting is a strange mix of time being thought of as a dimension, time flowing and time being an illusion ( 31 January, p 28 …

An interesting article on the evolution of our chin. However, surely it misses the obvious: our chins could have evolved in parallel with our ability to think, as they play a crucial role in thinking and cogitation. I think, therefore I am ( 21 February, p 7 ).

I see that researchers have dismissed the likelihood of an advanced civilisation on planet K2-18b because no radio waves have been detected. This seems to be a narrow-minded approach. The earliest known civilisation on Earth was that of the Sumerians over 5000 years ago, and we can hardly call the ancient Egyptians and Greeks uncivilised. …

I was interested to read Ben Craven's letter concerning Paul Whitely's essay about the value of small changes in averting the climate crisis. Craven states that if every person and business in the world reduced their energy consumption by 1 per cent, the global decrease would be only 1 per cent, and we must therefore …

Keith Pearce wonders whether seafaring was developed as rising water levels submerged an accustomed overland journey. I understand that Indigenous Australian accounts of journeys between what is now Tasmania and mainland Australia recognisably depict the seabed configuration of the Bass Strait. If the dates are appropriate, this suggests a land crossing to Tasmania ( Letters, …

I have read your correspondence about this article and think that both the article and these letters miss a couple of important points. During the last glacial period, there were land bridges between Sicily and Malta and Gozo, which would have established the knowledge and the route. Secondly, the distance from Sicily to Malta is …