Overly monitoring your health may backfire
From Dyane Sylvester
Arnside, Cumbria, UK
So many studies you report on seem to conclude that stress is a significant contributor to all manner of ills, such as dementia, cardiovascular disease and some cancers, but a few lifestyle choices can at least partly mitigate this (11 July, p 32).
Has anyone done a study into the detrimental (or indeed beneficial) effects of fretting constantly about your diet, exercise levels, alcohol consumption and sleep quality? It strikes me that the current fad for determining the health or “physiological age” of various organs, and constantly testing or monitoring ourselves with smart devices, may be a cause of high stress levels in people who end up worrying about how healthily they are living. Surely it would be beneficial to simply chill out a little more and thus remove at least one source of stress.
Questions over collapse of Thwaites glacier remain
From Jim McHardy
Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, UK
Your article on the impending collapse of Thwaites glacier mentions large rises in sea level by the end of the century, under some projections (4 July, p 36).
In the late 1950s and 60s, I remember thick layers of snow on our pitched roof. Even when it was very cold, water continually dripped from underneath, presumably having melted from the heat of the house. This is much like ice at the base of glaciers, which is also partly melted by heat conduction from the ground underneath adding to meltwater from the surface.
In our home, without any warning, the whole sheet of snow on our roof would slide off in one large piece, taking a few seconds. If the snow avalanche on our roof is extrapolated to the world’s ice sheets, perhaps they will collapse far quicker, rather than over decades, as suggested?
From Susan Williams
Lakewood, Colorado, US
I’ve seen a lot of information about modelling of sea-level rise caused by ice melting, but has anyone calculated whether the shifting of the weight of all that ice and water from one part of the globe to another will have an effect on Earth’s axis or rotation?
Consciousness is quantum on at least one key level
From Sam Edge
Ringwood, Hampshire, UK
Once again, the idea that quantum effects may play a role in consciousness is being discussed. I like Emily Adlam’s reasoning that consciousness can’t be purely a quantum phenomenon, but the central nervous system is electro-chemical in nature, and electricity and chemical reactions rely on quantum effects, so the brain is definitely quantum at a very basic level, as is everything else in the universe as far as we know, possibly excepting gravity (25 July, p 6).
We need more research on post-menopause health
From Janet Wildgoose
Banstead, Surrey, UK
I found Starre Vartan’s article on how ovaries trigger inflammation after menopause fascinating, and I look forward to reading any further research in this area. I developed vitiligo two years after menopause and Graves’ disease a year later, with no family history of either. Considering the amount of autoimmune conditions in this age group of women, I am really pleased research is being done with this link in mind (11 July, p 5).
Could a new particle explain old black holes?
From Alan Hewer
Seaford, East Sussex, UK
In her article, Leah Crane speculates on the origin of primordial black holes. It seems to me that we have a ready-made source for them: the state of things before the big bang (27 June, p 19).
Here, we have an object of unimaginable density for which we have no physics. Scientists have already posited a totally imaginary particle, the “inflaton”, to account for the universe’s homogeneity. So why not go one step further with the “bigbangion”, formed under near-infinite pressure and capable of shattering the primordial fireball into countless black holes?
An alternative reason for marker misalignment
From Keith Hewett
Bristol, UK
I was interested in your article on a solstice marker predating Stonehenge by 500 years. The 1-degree misalignment was put down to the fact that the posts may have been up to 50 centimetres across (27 June, p 13).
But there is a simpler explanation: if you are digging pits to place posts, you don’t need to be as accurate with their placement as you do with the posts. It is easier to align the posts once the pits are made. Once grass has grown over, it doesn’t matter if the posts aren’t quite central.
Another easy way to store energy at home
From Richard Grimmer
Trowbridge, Wiltshire, UK
Household batteries are a great idea, but there is already a quicker, easier way to make a big dent in emissions and give instant savings to both renters and homeowners. Many houses have hot water tanks. These could be heated with cheap, renewable, nighttime electricity, instead of by burning gas. A 200-litre tank could store several times more energy than an energy supplier’s plug-in batteries (4 July, p 10).
All that is needed is an import tax providing cheap electricity to heat a tank of water overnight, plus a plug-in timer for the immersion heater. The instant savings would appeal to climate sceptics, and the simplicity could draw in those reticent to make big changes. And the only cost would be the plug-in timer!
Snoring may have put off predators, not just spouses
From Tim Foresman
Elkridge, Maryland, US
It is interesting to consider how our ancestors survived while sleeping, what with predators running about. I can’t be the only one to view snoring as a major survival adaptation for our species. Other than negatives of tired spouses and the spread of CPAP devices, snoring with a group in a cave or under the stars would present a positive and substantial alarm to predators to steer clear, lest they suffer sharp sticks and heavy stones (4 July, p 30).
For the record
The next men’s FIFA World Cup will be held in Portugal, Spain and Morocco in 2030 (Leader, 18 July).
In the Plus Side puzzle, the bottom row should sum to 13 (18 July, p 43).
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