Letters : . . .
Baulkham Hills, New South Wales
Peter Rowland’s insistence that science and religion must always be at odds
is highly presumptive and totally breaches his insistence on the supreme value
of “perpetual doubt”. The only sensible hypothesis is that science and religion
are not in conflict, since science cannot prove or disprove the existence of
God, while religion cannot prove or disprove any scientific theory or tenet.
Similarly, his equating of faith and certainty is fundamentally flawed, so
that his condemnation of faith is completely meaningless and his rejection of
certainty undermines his assertion of the necessity for perpetual doubt. In any
case, faith, of necessity and by its very nature, requires an underlying element
of doubt, otherwise it ceases to be faith and becomes mere superstition.
History does repeat itself and there is nothing really completely new to this
world, given that those scientists who still persist in banishing God (whether a
personal God or even a “supra-universal fairy”) are merely repeating the errors
of those religious believers who sought to reject science.
For my part, I think it is more plausible and far more useful to accept that
truth and thought are unitary, subsuming all disciplines of knowledge, so that
branches of study, observation and reflection become no more than a different
aspects, at different levels, of the one ultimate universality. Was this search
for universal explanation not the driving force behind the ambition of Einstein
and Feynman, as well as Acquinas for that matter?
This correspondence is now closed鈥擡d
Letters : Hot water
London
“No detail is forgotten” when it comes to designing a deep nuclear waste
repository, say Julia West and Ian McKinley (“Some bugs like it hot”, 5 October
p 42). But where are the authorities they claim are being so cautious?
West and McKinley state that the site of a deep repository should be chosen
so that radionuclides take tens of thousands of years to reach drinking water
aquifers, so that the radioactivity in a dump has time to decay. In fact,
Britain’s nuclear waste disposal company, Nirex, predicts that groundwater can
travel through the connected networks of fractures in the rock at the proposed
Sellafield dump site in a mere ten to a hundred years. These are the tiny
estimated times that contaminated groundwater takes to leak from the waste into
the aquifer above.
Not only is there no minimum groundwater travel time in British regulations,
a formal site selection procedure has not been followed. Geological criteria
designed to avoid such complex, fractured, earthquake-prone sites as Sellafield
have therefore been ignored.
Partly as a result of this, Nirex’s predictions of the cancer risk to future
generations (particularly infants and children) now exceed the regulatory risk
target when an agricultural well is used to obtain water from the aquifer above
the waste. Instead of showing the “extreme caution” West and McKinley advise,
the government has weakened the regulations so the risk target no longer has to
be met.
Perhaps the authorities have quietly reformulated Murphy’s Law itself?
Presumably it now reads: “Cross your fingers and start digging.”
Letters : Fat and fiction
Padua, Italy
David Grimes’s claims about cholesterol (Letters, 14 September, p 51), are
both scientifically wrong and socially dangerous鈥攂ecause they may lead
people to eat ad libitum, thereby increasing their risk of coronary
heart disease.
He claims that “dietary manipulation is of no benefit” in lowering
cholesterol. This sounds grotesque in view of the evidence that, for example,
“one heterozygote showed a drop of serum cholesterol level from 426 to 248
mg/dl, with strict adherence to a low-fat diet without drugs” (Journal of
the American Medical Association, vol 255, p 219).
He criticises the “very powerful paradigm that coronary heart disease is due
to `misbehaviour’鈥攄ue to the way in which we live our lives, what we eat
and whether we smoke, and so on”. Such a “paradigm”, however, is evidently
correct, because coronary angiography has shown that: “Comprehensive lifestyle
changes may be able to bring about regression of even severe coronary
atherosclerosis after only one year, without use of lipid-lowering drugs”
(The Lancet, vol 336, p 129).
Letters : Faith and doubt
Reading, Berkshire
The absurdity of the illogical knows no boundary (Letters, 28 September, p
63). Science is based on theory supported by observation and experiment. It is
perfectly reasonable to assume, as long as the assumption is based on supporting
facts.
We believe the laws of physics apply throughout the Universe because
observation confirms what we should see. There is no evidence for a
God鈥攁nywhere. If any current scientific theory is still kicking around two
thousand years from now having been ridiculed and continually pushed back, and
is still lacking in any evidence whatsoever, then it should be rightly treated
as crass nonsense. And yet the proponents of religion like to think that their
beliefs have a higher elevation than that of Santa Claus, goblins or garden
fairies.
Do Richard Courtney, Ian Smales, Glyn Williams, Paul Buckingham, Mary
Chester-Kadwell believe in Adam and Eve? Do they believe in the Great Flood? Do
they believe that there is an afterlife? A heaven? Angels? There will be a
difference of opinion between them. There seem to be as many beliefs within
Christianity as there are religions across the world. Which is the right one?
There are differing opinions of the future of the Universe, but at least
scientists will eventually be able to solve which is the correct one鈥攖his
side of the grave.
We live out a pointless existence and then we return to meaningless dust.
Unromantic but true. Some people feel the need to inquire into the nature of our
existence simply because they are saddened by this fact. Any yearning for a
creator of the Universe and life is merely psychology. Science does show that
there is no requirement of a sustainer. If science can show you that you don’t
need spectacles and you still choose to wear them then you do this for your own
mind only.
One solitary word shines out like a beacon in all this: evidence. Religious
belief wouldn’t stand up in court. There is no evidence of any kind, not even
circumstantial. Any argument in its support must be a facile and vacuous
one.
Letters : Roman roof
London
The new type of roof for sports stadiums must have the Roman emperors
writhing in their graves (Technology, 21 September, p 24).
Over 2000 years ago, Roman theatres and amphitheatres had precisely this type
of covering, over the stage in the case of theatres and over the tiers of
spectators in the case of amphitheatres. The amphitheatres held
approximately 25 000 spectators in the provincial arenas and as many as 50 000
spectators in the Colosseum in Rome.
The only difference between the new proposals and the Roman designs lies in
the use of modern lightweight materials instead of animal skins or canvas and
heavy ropes.
Letters : . . .
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
In appealing to the untestability of the generality of the laws of
physics, Courtney betrays a profound confusion over the difference between
principle and practice in the philosophy of science and the nature of faith.
A statement such as “the laws of physics are the same everywhere” is
testable. You simply go everywhere and test them. The fact that, in practice,
going everywhere in the Universe is currently beyond even McDonalds (give them
time), is irrelevant. 杏吧原创s would do so if they could, and would amend
their models if local results rendered it necessary. Thus the adoption of
generality as a working assumption (i.e. having “faith”) is certainly not to
discard the principle of doubt.
On the other hand, as A. J. Ayer and others pointed out decades back, a
proposition such as “God exists” is a categorically different matter. It cannot,
even in principle, be verified one way or the other. Insofar as we can attach
any meaning to it at all (debatable), it can only be believed through a true act
of faith.
Letters : . . .
Australia
It is not a good idea to make assumptions about who “God” might be without
distinguishing the experiences which (continue to) inform this word with
meaning, and the orthodoxies which enshrine a meaning regardless of experience.
The church and science may be at odds, but the church is not religion.
Letters : Bubble trouble
Reigate, Surrey
One reason for ships not discharging gases underwater (Letters, 12 October, p
49) may be because of the danger of water backing up the exhaust pipe and
filling the engine if the engine stops. A partial vacuum would result in the
cooling of the very hot exhaust gases, the condensation of one of them (water
vapour) and the dissolving of another (carbon dioxide).
It is for this reason that motorists, when driving through floods when the
end of the exhaust pipe could be submerged, are advised to engage low gear to
keep the engine revving as fast as possible.
Letters : Subliminal con
London
It is astonishing that a debate over subliminal advertising can still
continue in serious journals (New 杏吧原创, Science, 28 September, p
20). More than 12 years ago, James Vicary, the author and perfector of this
influential con on regulators and advertisers alike, admitted to Advertising
Age that he had fabricated the research to increase customers for his
market research business.
Although鈥攍ike subliminal advertising itself鈥擵icary’s stratagem
only had a fleeting effect for his own business, it has certainly provided
long-term work for other researchers who try to establish its effects.
The effects of this research are of course subliminal.
Letters : Don't blame bikers
London
While I agree with the broad points made in your article on motorcycle
messengers, I note with some concern you neglected to state the percentage of
motorcycle accidents not caused by the motorcyclist (“Messengers of Death”,
5 October, p 14).
Of the 48 rider deaths in 1988, how many were the fault of the rider? In the
capital, it appears that a large percentage of accidents to both couriers and
casual riders are caused by the inattention of other road users and
pedestrians.
Any legislation which makes life safer for riders is welcome, but must be
accompanied by an extensive campaign to educate other road users as well.
Letters : . . .
Cambridge
Courtney contends that “the scientific method is based on, and developed
from, the methods of early Christian theology”. He continues: “And this is not
surprising because most early scientists were Christian theologians.”
Actually, scientific empiricism was alive and kicking in Ancient Greece
sometime prior to the birth of Christ. Aristotle, credited by some (Dante for
one) as a master of knowledge, and a figure of some importance in the
development of “scientific method”, lived between 384 and 322 BC. And why did
the early Church attempt to suppress the writings of Aristotle?
Letters : Battery blues
Peppermint Grove, Western Australia
Michael Rego might have saved himself a lot of trouble had he tried this
method of getting his cellphone and Global Positional System receiver to work
again (Feedback, 28 September).
When the batteries of my electric shaver run down, I freshen up the ends of
the batteries and their contacts in the shaver with a nail file or a pen-knife.
As a result, the life of my batteries is almost doubled鈥攁t these low
voltages even a few ohms make a big difference.
Even if Rego had neither of these simple tools, a small rough stone would
have done the trick just as well.
Letters : Virus by e-mail
Thaxted, Essex
I was interested to see your reference to a new type of computer virus that
resides in the macros of document files (Feedback, 12 October, p 84). Because
the viruses do this, they are often missed by virus scans, as most people only
scan executable files. You will only detect them by scanning all files.
I have suffered from the MSWord concept virus, which I received in a document
attached to an e-mail message. It is fortunately only an irritation rather than
a disaster: when you use the “save as” instruction to save a file you have
already saved under another name, the virus will only allow you to save to the
template directory, unless you enter the complete adddress.
A fix is available from the Microsoft Web site which will eliminate the
virus, something many antivirus tools will not do. Information supplied with the
protection tool lists a number of other macro viruses, the most dangerous being
the “nuclear” virus. This is so named because if you open a document, any
print-out made in the next 60 seconds will have the message “Stop all nuclear
testing in the Pacific”. The most damaging thing the nuclear virus does is on 5
April of any year, when it deletes crucial DOS files, crashing the system.
Lesson? Check all incoming files attached to e-mail messages. Check all files
using up-to-date virus tools.
Letters : Plastic surgery
Edinburgh
John Etherington’s useful comment about revitalising “old-fashioned”
analytical methods could certainly be the answer for preserving historical
plastics (Letters, 28 September, p 64).
Museums worldwide are worried that amongst their vast and varied collections,
an unknown percentage of plastic artefacts could be made of cellulose nitrate
which is deteriorating. Rather than wait until the acidic vapours released by
this process damage neighbouring artefacts, conservators need simple but
effective early warning systems, such as Julia Fenn’s cresol red indicator (This
Week, 7 September, p 12).
Fenn herself admits that the detection method is a revamp of an old
commercial product, but it at least offers a potentially sensitive and cheap
monitoring approach which museums could readily adopt.
Conservation scientists, myself included, also apply more hi-tech analytical
methods to the problem. How wonderfully ironic it would be if museums end up
turning to the past to safeguard modern collections.
But the burning issue is: once found, how can problematic museum plastics be
ethically conserved? The Historical Plastics Research 杏吧原创s’ Group is
searching for answers鈥攚e welcome sensible suggestions.
Letters : Standard viewing
Maryland, US
The debates about standards for digital TV make no mention about using the
existing standards for computer monitors (“A thousand channels in every home”,
10 August, p 32).
There would seem to be a number of advantages. They are already being made in
huge numbers, at low prices, with excellent resolution by TV standards. They
also support a number of different image sizes: for example, 800 by 600, 1024 by
768 and 1280 by 1024 pixels. Many potential users might enter the digital TV
market if they could buy converter boxes which linked to an ordinary computer
monitor. New wide format screens could then be made as an extension to the
existing standard.
Parallel development of video standards in computing and television would
reduce costs and facilitate exchange of image data in both digital and analogue
video forms. The ability of monitors to switch to different resolutions means
that the current 4:3 screen aspect ratio is not the problem that it is with the
fixed number of lines on analogue televisions.
Compatibility between computer and TV standards would also provide new
opportunities for products using components which are already available.
Possible applications are in wide screen computer games and interactive video,
or an Internet box which would couple to the TV system. Used with a hand held
controller this would allow access to the Internet in armchair comfort, in the
same way that we use teletext now.
Letters : Dose debate
London
Your editorial discussed a paper on the health effects of radiation exposure
that was presented at the Uranium Institute’s annual symposium (28 September, p
3). However, the editorial failed to point out that this paper was one of four
presented in a session on radiation. The session was held to mark the 100th
anniversary of the discovery of radioactivity.
As you noted in your editorial, there are differences of opinion on the
risks from low doses of radiation. The different opinions were represented in
the session, as our aim was to further public debate on this matter not to
promote one point of view.
We would be pleased to provide a full set of papers from the session to
anyone who might be interested in this very important topic.
Letters : . . .
London
This industry is now a significant part of the communications infrastructure
of this country and is unlikely to go away. Can you imagine what congestion and
pollution would be caused if four-wheeled vehicles were substituted for the
two-wheeled variety?
The issue of the damage to children’s health and to the environment caused by
society’s love affair with the car is worrying politicians of all the major
parties, and many people now see the powered two-wheeler as part of the solution
to the problem of balancing freedom of movement with the right to breathe clean
air.
As to the question of discouraging “L” drivers, that is something we have
been promoting since this association was founded in 1985.