Left, right, up, down
The idea of relating political ideology to biology is very interesting but there are better ways of expressing the range of political viewpoints than on a single scale (3 November, p 40). In the 1950s, psychologists Leonard Ferguson and Hans Eysenck independently showed that a gave a better view of the spectrum of political beliefs, with one axis being left-wing vs right-wing, and the other authoritarian vs libertarian.
Thus communism and fascism appear at the authoritarian end, one on the left and the other on the right. Most other political parties in western nations fit quite neatly on this graph, though some argue more dimensions are needed. The research discussed would have been much more revealing if analysed on this two-dimensional basis.
As an aside, how is it that the US assigns red to the conservatives and blue to the liberals- the opposite of every other English-speaking nation? It’s not as if the left-wing connotation of red is unknown there.
It is suggested that liberals and conservatives are metaphorically two tribes. But maybe the roots of these two world views complemented each other to make for a stronger, single tribe.
Groups of our early ancestors would have had a better chance of survival if two basic personality types occurred within them: those with a protective tendency, alert to danger and risks, and those of an exploratory nature, keen to pursue and embrace new opportunities. These two traits translate to the modern conservative and liberal.
Waterford, Virginia, US
Military might
I couldn’t agree more with your comment that, when it comes to the US military’s goal of using costlier green fuels, “it may be worth paying more in the short term to nurture technologies that offer a home-grown, stable alternative to volatile oil markets” (3 November, p 3).
Such is the time that it takes popular opinion and political will to catch up. In 1980, US biologist Barry Commoner argued that if the US military decided to use wind energy to power its bases, the price of the technology would soon come down.
That he was writing in opposition to nuclear power doesn’t really matter.
Not fair
While reading your account of the evolution of kindness in humans (10 November, p 42) it struck me that the “ultimatum game” might not simply reflect altruism.
In this psychology experiment, player A suggests how to split a pot of money with player B, and if B agrees, they both keep their share. But if I was player A, I probably wouldn’t think “how much should I give?” but “how much will B let me keep?”
So the game is also about how fair we think others expect us to be, and their likely enforcement of that ideal. I would assume that B would penalise me for not giving a “fair” amount and act accordingly.
When the amount is low, it’s no surprise player A gives away an average of 45 per cent. However, if you were to up the stakes I think you would see a different answer. If you gave me £10 million to split, would B really give up an offer of £2 million because they thought it was unfair?
It's good to give
I read your article about the possible benefits of bloodletting with interest (17 November, p 40). I was a regular blood donor for 10 years, until a change of job seven years ago made it too difficult. This year I was able to resume regular donations.
Over the past five years I have developed joint pain, which I put down to age (I turn 60 this year). Then earlier this year I realised the pain had all but vanished, and it seemed to coincide with my first blood donation.
It’s hard to be objective, but it does seem as though the pain partially returns in the weeks between donations, only to vanish once I have given blood.
Weakly anthropic
I have noticed a universal reticence in science writers when referring to the anthropic principle, as in Matthew Chalmers’s piece on the Higgs boson (10 November, p 34).
I can understand this with the “strong” anthropic principle, which asserts that we and the universe were both created with the mutual purpose of the one comprehending and understanding the other, for which a creating entity is required. But the “weak” anthropic principle simply states that the reason we are here to comprehend what exists is that what exists is conducive to our being here.
Fasting fan
I can personally vouch for the efficacy of the 5:2 diet, in which you strictly limit calorie intake two days a week (17 November, p 46). After two operations for cancer at the beginning of this year, plus a warning over kidney function, I adopted this regime.
After just over two months I was told I would not need to be prescribed statins, and my blood test results were much improved. This was very reassuring to an 80-year-old.
Mind and body
Ambitious attempts to copy the human brain (27 October, p 26) omit reference to those long nerves that convey gut feelings. A brain without a body can only be part human- as neurologist Antonio Damasio has argued (27 November 2010, p 50).
Too blue
Colour-tunable LED bulbs are good news not just for insomniacs keen to influence circadian cycles, but also, for those of us who have, or will develop, macular degeneration (17 November, p 24). Causes of this eye condition are thought to include too much light in the blue wavelength.
Increasingly, incandescent bulbs are being replaced by more energy-efficient halogen, LED and metal-halide bulbs, all of which emit more blue light.
Speak up
Like many scientists, I was concerned by the recent jailing of six Italian seismologists for failing to adequately communicate earthquake risks before the L’Aquila quake struck in 2009 (27 October, p 3 and 4)
In your editorial, you suggested that scientists should speak for themselves and that, as in the Italian case, allowing a civil servant to translate their message for the public is inappropriate. I agree. Scientists must be responsible for putting their research findings in a social context and ensuring they are not misconstrued to fulfil political agendas. They must also take responsibility for how their work is presented to the wider public.
Equally, governments must learn the importance of including experts in the process.
Virtual tidying
In your 10 November issue, one article discusses the increasing sophistication of telepresence technologies (p 38), and another the difficulties faced by orbiting robots trying to repair satellites (p 46). I was struck by the statement in the latter that crewed repair missions offer an advantage, as “humans are adept at changing tactics on the fly”.
It seems to me that the first article contains the answer to the problem raised in the second…
The telepresence concept goes back further than the 1980s. As far as I can tell, the first mention was in former US navy engineer Robert A. Heinlein’s short story Waldo, published in 1942. Arguably, we should be calling a telepresence device a Waldo.
Diet for the planet
Fred Pearce says that everyone should put their shoulder to the wheel to double global food production by 2050 (13 October, p 50). Then when challenged, it is made clear this target is not because of the predicted increase in population from 7 to 9 billion, but because of rising demand, especially demand for meat (10 November, p 33).
A far better wheel to put our shoulders to is reducing consumption, especially of meat, by the wealthy. This would not only be good for the global environment, but for health, too. I’m not advocating vegetarianism, merely moderation.
Ocean seeding
In his letter, Alec Dunn suggests that pumping nutrient-rich deep ocean water to the surface would stimulate plankton growth and hence capture atmospheric carbon (18 August, p 32). This could be complemented by ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) (22 November 2008, p 28).
OTEC is a relatively marginal alternative energy source that uses cold deep water and warm surface water to run the equivalent of a reverse fridge cycle. Cold water is pumped to the surface to liquify a working fluid and then discarded.
If value is given for the indirect carbon dioxide captured in this way through carbon credits or subsidies like those given to wind and nuclear energy, the overall economics may be supportable. Alternatively, especially when located far from land, the OTEC cycle can be used simply to power the water pumping.
What's the buzz?
A while ago you reported that bee flight had finally been modelled, and suggested that this would lead to new designs for aircraft propellers and improved aircraft stability (3 December 2005, p 17). Has this breakthrough found any real life application, such as in wind turbine blade design?
Ancient Barbie?
April Nowell questions the interpretation of ice age “Venus” figurines as sexual objects (10 November, p 29).
But why infer any adult meaning? We see the same miniature, exaggerated appearance in children’s dolls.