Emperor's clothes
Your article on the corrupting effect of power (7 July, p 28) did not mention research from 1970s management studies showing that hierarchical systems encourage people to “gild the lily” to their superiors, who in turn do the same to those above them and so on, distorting reality at every step in the process.
In countries where a large amount of power is concentrated in one person, this can mean the leader has virtually no idea of the reality in their own country because no one will dare tell them. As a result every whim is taken as an order, implemented and reported back as a huge success. I am sure Russian president Vladimir Putin is being told that Russia and the wider world are hugely impressed by his macho, bare-chested photos. Who would dare say, “actually Vlad, you’re beginning to look a right plonker”?
The most severe recent case may have been that of Romania’s Communist-era leader Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena, who right up until their execution in 1989 seemed bemused that anyone in their socialist “paradise” would want to kill them. He never saw the poverty of his people because everywhere he went shops were filled with goods before he arrived and emptied after he left. He got the blame for this, but it is difficult to see who else this was intended to impress.
Studies have shown that people in powerless situations can become delusional by continually being lied to. Perhaps it works at the opposite end of the power spectrum, too.
Odour eater
Mairi Macleod’s look at the possible use of bodily scents in perfume was interesting, but I was dismayed at the presumption that synthetic compounds that can affect our biological and neurological processes should be used (12 May, p 36).
I do not want to taste other people’s perfumes. Smoking was banned for its passive toxicity, and the fragrance industry should be forced to prove the safety of its ingredients or face a similar package of restrictions.
I don’t believe even naturally occurring compounds should be allowed if they interfere with our reactions to other people or our environment. It is a dangerous road to go down.
Anarchy and science
In response to Randall Amster’s suggestion that one day anarchists may embrace science (7 July, p 26), he may be pleased to know that some already have.
I’m a hacktivist, and regrettably my anarchism has landed me in prison for the next 17 months. Science never interested me until I came to prison, and it was thanks to some articles in 91av that I became fascinated with theoretical physics.
I am now studying this with plans to contribute to science by combining my new passion with my degree and experience in software engineering.
From Jess Rowley
Randall Amster hints at uniting anarchist ideals with science, or “anarchist science” as he calls it. Enter . It shares many of the principles of anarchism such as the eradication of the monetary system, the state and other hierarchies. But instead of viewing science and technology as the cause of consumption, corporate globalisation, war and pollution, it recognises it as a fundamental part of the solution.
Manchester, UK
Modified thinking
The letter from Pete Riley of campaign group GM Freeze questioning a field trial of genetically modified wheat illustrates one of the defects of the environmentalist philosophy (16 June, p 32). He equates practical with moral objections. The fact that a modification might not “work” is taken as a moral argument that it should not be tested in the first place.
Art appreciation
Like Kat Austen, it wasn’t until I saw some of Jackson Pollock’s works in their original size at the Museum of Modern Art in New York that I finally experienced the “aha” moment of appreciation (14 July, p 42).
Until then, in common with other sceptics, I felt that the process of dripping paint on canvas was not art. The moment I walked into the gallery in which these large, colourful works were hung I realised how wrong I had been. Paintings were dancing across the walls, filling the gallery with joyous motion and rippling colour. I could hardly tear myself away, and I went back several times with friends who had been equally dubious.
All of them left, as I had, with their heads swimming and a feeling as if there had been not only a visual but also a musical experience. I have also always liked Dutch abstract artist Piet Mondrian’s work, and now I have a better understanding of why.
Getting warmer
Your editorial on gaining new temperature information from tree rings, states: “Climate scientists have long held that the past 2000 years were almost uniformly cool” (14 July, p 3). Why?
At school I learned that in Roman times England’s climate was warm enough to grow grapes, and much research has confirmed this. The same was true 1000 years later in the Medieval warm period. The inconvenient fact remains that right now temperatures are higher than at both these times, and this shows no sign of going away.
Sponsored by…
So for want of $1 million in funding, we won’t be able to spot killer asteroids from the southern hemisphere until 2017 (7 July, p 12). Why don’t the bankers with their bonuses show their true value to humanity and supply the missing cash?
If a bank can sponsor London’s bike hire scheme, why not an asteroid-spotting telescope?
Superstition ban
Though acting from a non-religious motivation, Sanal Edamaruku’s exposure of the dud miracle in a church in India (30 June, p 27) advances an important Roman Catholic agenda.
The 25th session of the Council of Trent, one of a series of ecumenical meetings in the 16th century, defended the legitimate use of sacred images in teaching the faithful and encouraging devotion, but laid down that the veneration of such images must be purged of superstition and lucre. So I say, God bless Sanal Edamaruku.
More please
It was a delight to read Nick Lane’s holistic account of the origin of life on Earth (23 June, p 32). The scope of knowledge covered is awesome, but critical facts and hypotheses are masterfully and lucidly assembled into an exemplary work of simple, understandable and sustained logic. Gaps are honestly acknowledged and the work needed to be done to fill these gaps clearly stated.
What we need now is something similar for astrophysics, the origin of the universe, particle physics and climate change.
Big bang
“What kind of bang was the big bang?” asks your cover story (30 June, p 32).
Maybe I am missing something but it was, erm, a big one…
Sniffing out an idea
Regarding Brian Switek’s review of Mark Derr’s book How the Dog Became the Dog (30 June, p 46), I have an alternative hypothesis for the co-evolution of dogs and humans. Without the dog, and its excellent sense of smell, acting as a sentinel, humans could not have evolved the anatomy needed for language, as this development left the human olfactory system diminished.
Science vs politics
Further to discussion of the Rio+20 Earth Summit and hopes of progress (30 June, p 10), the failure of past summits suggests that politicians could not choose science over self-interest even if they wanted to.
The market system politicians represent is concerned only with profit, not logic. As long as capitalism remains the operating paradigm of such debates, the same failures will ensue.
If science is to have a critical role in solving the climate problem, as suggested in John Sulston’s letter (7 July, p 30), it ought to be prepared to think outside the political box and investigate the viability of post-capitalist models. The best science results when scientists dare to ask the biggest questions, and they don’t come much bigger than this.
Citizen research
Unpaid work in science may be more common than Rick Bradford imagines in his letter on open-access publishing (14 July, p 29). Amateur naturalists have been the bedrock of taxonomy, biogeography and conservation for centuries, and in some areas – such as long-term monitoring of animal populations – are the sole researchers.
Computer errors
The problems that led to the crash of Air France flight 447 in 2009, which killed 228 people, were fully solvable and, as you reported, the pilots’ inability to deal with them reflects on their training (http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2012/07/af447-final-report.html).
More new-generation pilots need to take a glider course, where they will learn some stick and rudder skills, rather than being taught solely on computers.
Cool up top
Letter writer Ron Barnes recalls the impact of his loss of hair when young (30 June, p 31). He should take solace in the idea that his extra-powerful brain is leading the evolutionary race for higher efficiency cooling.
For the record
• In our look at nanobubbles (7 July, p 38) the pressures for the 5 centimetre and 1 centimetre soap bubbles in the diagram should have been 2×10-5 atmospheres and 1×10-4 atmospheres respectively.