Letters : Bony monsters
by e-mail
Discussing Make Your Own Dinosaur Out Of Chicken Bones by Chris
McGowan, your writer remarks, “Why didn’t someone think of this sooner?”
(Review, 20/27 December, p 69).
I was likewise impressed and mentioned it to my wife, who disappeared and
quickly returned holding her copy of What Shall I Do This Month? by
Margaret Hutchings, given to her as a Christmas present when she was seven years
old. The last page of the book is entitled “Build chicken bone monsters” and
begins: “Chicken and turkey bones can be stuck together to make mock skeletons
of prehistoric monsters.”
There is nothing new under the Sun.
Letters : Raw details
Ilford, Essex
In your story on food irradiation, you say that “although irradiation damages
vitamins, the same thing happens during cooking”
(This Week, 3 January, p 14).
This is precisely why some people eat exclusively uncooked foods鈥攆ruit,
raw vegetables, nuts, sprouted seeds鈥攕ince heat destroys significant
quantities of vitamins and enzymes. We feel that this diet noticeably increases
our health and vitality.
It is not reassuring to be told that irradiation only damages fruit and
vegetables to the same extent that cooking would.
Letters : Morning after
R.George@george.ul.bawue.de
In reading your article on hangover cures
(“Drunk as a skunk”, 20/27 December, p 46),
I have found an explanation for why my favourite cure works: a
banana milk shake made with a pint of milk, a banana, and some cream and honey,
sharing the breakfast table with two boiled eggs.
This solution was handed down to me (through my grandfather) from my family,
which originated in Tenerife. It is so nice to know that my “old husband’s tale”
has some scientific backing.
Letters : . . . . .
Newcastle, County Down
Why does the experimenter in the Many Worlds scenario have “a 100 per cent
chance of finding herself in the one reality where she survives” rather than
having a 99.9 per cent chance of entering into a state of oblivion?
Are the pre-death consciousnesses of all the other experimenters transported
from their respective universes into that of the survivor? What if they didn’t
die instantly鈥攚ould they be joining the survivor one by one?
Max Tegmark is concerned about his widow. And indeed he should be: were his
experiment successful he’d have a very large number of them.
Letters : . . . . .
New York
Max Tegmark need not risk his own life to test the “Many Worlds” hypothesis.
The test, involving repeated exposure to a finite probability of annihilation,
has already been done. It was called the Cold War.
For most of the 1980s both sides in the Cold War relied on a policy of
mutually assured destruction and had defense systems based on “launch on
warning”. Suppose (as is not implausible) that during the period from 1980 to
1990 the chance of a full-scale nuclear war occurring by accident鈥攁s a
result, let’s say, of a quantum fluctuation on a radar screen鈥攚as 0.5 each
year. And suppose (as is again not implausible) that no human beings would have
survived a full-scale nuclear war.
According to the Many Worlds hypothesis, whenever the accidental event
occurred the Universe would split into one world where war did in fact occur and
everybody died, and a parallel world where it did not. So by the year 1981 only
half the possible worlds would still have people living in them, by 1982 only a
quarter, and by 1990 fewer than 0.1 per cent.
Yet here we are in 1998, still living in a world that was in fact spared. By
Tegmark’s argument, therefore, we already have the evidence we need to favour
the Many Worlds hypothesis over the traditional Copenhagen one-world
interpretation. For note that if the Many Worlds theory is right, we should
hardly be surprised to find ourselves still alive, because there is bound to be
at least one possible world in which we survived鈥攁nd indeed, this is
obviously it.
But if Copenhagen is right, we should be very surprised indeed because, with
there only being a single world, the chances of our having survived in it are
frighteningly small.
Letters : Cosmic cash
Berlin
If the theory of parallel universes is true, wouldn’t it be marvellous to
have a way of transferring money from one universe into another one (in
particular, the one you are living in)?
There is such a way and looking at what my bank charges for money orders, I
find that it is in fact cheaper than transferring money within our Universe. A
quantum machine gun
(“Dying to know”, 20/27 December, p 50)
is a device with
which there is a 50:50 chance of killing the experimenter, depending on the
quantum spin of a particle. Mapped into the parallel universe theory, the
quantum gun will kill the experimenter in one universe but spare him in another.
Standing in front of a quantum machine gun incurs no risk to the
experimenter鈥攈e will continue to live in the universe in which the quantum
gun did not fire.
You can use this gun to become rich by draining money from other universes.
Just offer the following bet to a friend of yours: if the gun fires (and kills
you) you lose and owe him 拢101. If the gun spares you, you win 拢100.
Following economic rationalism, your friend will accept the bet (his expected
gain is 50p).
After performing this experiment n times you will have ceased to
exist in 2n -1 universes but you will continue your existence in one universe
鈥� in which you will have wonn x 拢100. Of course, in the
parallel universes you lost a total of n x 拢101, but that does
not really hurt you because you only exist in the one in which you won the
bet.
Letters : Brewer's droop
cummins@central.murdoch. edu.au
Resveratrol, a compound from grape skins, has been shown to bind to oestrogen
receptors and to activate them
(This Week, 3 January, p 16). Maybe this could
explain the regional differences in falling sperm counts in France.
In Paris they have been declining steadily while regional areas have
maintained semen quality. Maybe those effete Parisians have been switching off
the vin rouge and allowing themselves to fall victim to environmental
oestrogens, while the healthy peasants out in the country have been maintaining
their antioestrogenic tipple.
Letters : . . . . .
London
So drinking red wine has a similar effect to taking oestrogen.
Coupled with the known ability of alcohol to suppress the natural production
of testosterone, it seems that we male red wine drinkers, while happy in the
knowledge that our habit is preventing heart attacks, must now live in fear not
only of a declining sex drive but also the unnerving prospect of gender
alteration.
Letters : Ape liberation
New South Wales
How ironic that David Pearson of the Great Ape Project should be suggesting
land rights for great apes
(Letters, 3 January, p 46), while the Australian
government strives to extinguish Aboriginal native titles. When he advocates the
recognition of the rights of great apes as people, he should qualify that as
“some people”. The great apes are perhaps fortunate they don’t live in
Australia.
Letters : Alarmingly clean
Wellington Point, Queensland
We are now told that researchers have been concerned for a few years that
antibiotic resistance may be caused by disinfectants, and now direct evidence
has been presented
(This Week, 20/27 December, p 7).
In 1984, Murray and colleagues showed that chlorination of sewage effluent
caused a substantial increase in the number of pathogenic bacteria that were
resistant to many antibiotics. Before them, other researchers had shown that
bacteria isolated from sewage effluent had increased proportions of antibiotic
resistance.
It is not only in hospitals that disinfectants may be cause for alarm. The
shrimp/prawn aquaculture industry in Asia is a major user of chlorine and abuser
of antibiotics. It has been devastated by disease recently from bacteria that
are more virulent and have multiple antibiotic resistance, probably in direct
response to the activities of the farmers themselves.
Letters : Carbon credits
MACLAREP@fri.cri.nz
The caption to the picture in your article on carbon credit trading says
“rainforests absorb millions of tonnes of carbon a year”
(This Week, 13 December, p 7).
The reality is that most forests can be considered steady-state,
in that any carbon absorbed is balanced by the carbon emitted from decaying
vegetation.
The Framework Convention on Climate Change clearly distinguished “sinks”,
which are net absorbers, from “reservoirs”, which contain carbon but are not
necessarily net absorbers.
Nobody should expect a credit for merely maintaining a carbon reservoir. If
this were the case then owners of coal mines and limestone outcrops could also
claim credits. But if people deplete their reservoirs and transfer the carbon to
the atmosphere, as when coal is burnt or land is deforested, they should expect
a penalty under any international convention. Conversely, if they establish or
enhance a carbon reservoir, they may expect a credit.
In the context of forestry, it is essential to distinguish between the words
“deforestation” and “harvesting”. The former implies the liquidation of the
reservoir, while the latter does not.
As the Kyoto Protocol says: sinks can only be used as credits if they result
from “direct human-induced land-use change and forestry activities, limited to
afforestation, reforestation and deforestation since 1990, measured as
verifiable changes in stocks”.
This avoids the pitfall that you mention of countries clearing old, natural
forests and planting new ones for carbon credits. To do this would not increase
total carbon stocks, and therefore would not be eligible for a credit.
Letters : Milking the system
Queensland
Dan Gollub’s letter about milk toxins and subsequent correspondence highlight
gaps in understanding of infant feeding issues
(Letters, 8 November, p 59).
The WHO has stated that even in the most heavily polluted areas of the world,
the benefits of breast-feeding still far outweigh any benefits of not doing
so.
Babies will be exposed to lower levels of milk contaminants if mothers can
(1) restrict their exposure to pollutants during pregnancy and lactation and (2)
eat sufficient fats and oils while breast-feeding so that they don’t lose more
weight than they gained during pregnancy.
In very heavily polluted areas, some women have “detoxed” by maintaining
their lactations after weaning, losing most of their body fat reserves by
dieting and discarding their expressed milk. As fat deposits are mobilised
during weight loss to meet caloric needs, fat-soluble contaminants held therein
will be released into the blood, and thence secreted into breast milk because of
its significant fatty components. Artificially induced lactation would suffice
just as well as pregnancy-induced lactation for reduction of body toxins.
Dosing with sufficient prolactin would probably induce lactation in some men.
Collecting and discarding their milk while losing weight (fat reserves) could
likewise be expected to reduce their body pollutant levels. But I would not
expect men to happily accept other undesirable side effects associated with the
experience. Another query was if the use of prolactin to “simulate” breast
feeding would reduce the incidence of breast cancer in women who have not
breastfed. Breasts that are used for their physiological role are less subject
to breast cancer鈥攂reasts used to feed babies are involved in hundreds of
interconnected biochemical interfunctions.
Simply dosing someone with prolactin may possibly induce lactation, but
ongoing milk removal is generally required to maintain it. I doubt that this has
much appeal as a possible means of breast cancer prevention.
Letters : Don't panic
Leicester
Anantha Shekhar and Stanley Keim have pinpointed the neurological mechanisms
involved when injections of sodium lactate provoke panic attacks
(This Week, 3 January, p 7).
I have no reason to argue with their conclusions about where sodium lactate
exerts its effect on the brain, but I am very sceptical about the implication in
the article that this might have something important to tell us about panic
attacks in general. That anyone might think that it could highlights the danger
of working in little disciplinary boxes and of not considering and taking into
account insights from other disciplines.
The cognitive-behavioural model of panic attacks sees fear of the symptoms of
anxiety as the central problem, often as a result of their being misunderstood
and misinterpreted. As one example, someone may interpret their pounding heart
as meaning they are about to have a heart attack, when really it is just a
symptom of anxiety. But in the grip of their own belief, their heart pounds more
and they become stuck in a vicious circle leading to rapidly escalating levels
of anxiety.
The important point is that anything capable of provoking even slight anxiety
can be the trigger for a panic attack. It depends on the sense we make of the
symptoms of that anxiety.
If sodium lactate, by whatever mechanism, is able to elicit even mild
symptoms similar to those experienced when someone is anxious, or if it just
makes people feel a bit strange, and slightly anxious for that reason, then it
is likely to provoke an attack in someone prone to them. This does not mean that
sodium lactate, or those brain areas immediately sensitive to it, have anything
to do with most panic attacks.
Sufferers from panic attacks are cured simply by
providing them with information about anxiety and its symptoms.
Letters : Something smells
East Twickenham, Middlesex
Your article, “Sniff’n’shake”, took an uncritical view of the fragrance industry
(3 January, p 34).
“Ghetto-blaster” perfumes, lurking air “fresheners”, and, worst of all, the
ineradicable stenches which some people wash into their clothes, are making
something like a scent hell. These materials are becoming the greatest
environmental influence in everyone’s lifestyle.
Could they account for children who can neither concentrate at school nor
relax at home without drugs?
The sense of smell exists partly to guard the lungs, which receive a massive
dose of whatever the nose detects. Are these fragrance materials safe?
Letters : . . . . .
Quite right. However, to ensure all parts of the food reach this
temperature, an oven temperature of, say, 160掳C may be required
鈥抬诲
Letters : . . . . .
Wessington, Alfreton, Derbyshire
I am sure that you meant to say 160 掳F, which is the 72 掳C that
respectable guides recommend.
Letters : . . . . .
Geneva
The WHO recommendations for cooking foods are that “all parts of the food
must reach at least 70 掳C to kill all pathogens”. This is one of the WHO’s
“Ten Golden Rules for Safe Food Preparation” which you could bring to the
attention of your readers.
Letters : . . . . .
by e-mail
I should be grateful if you could indicate a supplier of a meat thermometer
suitable for the cooking method advocated in you Editorial of 3 January. In the
absence of this instrument I have already created a few dishes using an
approximate temperature only. The method takes some time but the results are
well worth it.
So far I have produced Cinder of Beef, Volatilised Pork and Chicken Sublime.
This is obviously a rich vein for the creative chef.
Letters : Wallowing in health
Boston, Lincolnshire
I can clearly remember living in a country home where there was no mains
sewerage, no mains water and no electricity
(Editorial, p 3, and
This Week, p 4, 3 January).
The quality of a house was largely established by the “coolth” of
the pantry. The life of a piece of meat was established by a “nose test”. My
recollections are that there were few problems with food poisoning.
Fourteen years later I was serving in the merchant navy, visiting most parts
of the globe. We always filled the potable water tanks from the local dockside
mains. I know that the precautions that could be taken were taken, but they were
limited. In 12 years I cannot remember a single case of sickness on board that
could be attributed to the water. If you wanted a drink in the tropics you did
not go and boil the water first.
I wonder whether, in addition to problems with antibiotic-resistant bacteria,
we are actually losing the natural immunity that we used to acquire from birth.
Some time ago I saw an article in a Finnish magazine about gastric upsets, which
are a big problem for some Finns when they travel overseas. The writer made a
strong case against the excessively high standards that are maintained in
Finnish food production.
Letters : . . . . .
Wirral, Merseyside
In Britain only about 5 per cent of boys are circumcised (although the figure
is higher among ethnic minorities) but in the US the figure has been between 80
and 90 per cent, at least until recently. There has thus been a much higher
foreskin mountain in the US than in Britain to play with.
Letters : Snip in time
Ian_Miller@bifroest.demon. co.uk
Feedback (3 January),
writing about the supply of foreskins for medical
research, asks: “Has [William] Eaglestein done an unusual deal with the local
rabbi, by any chance?”
No, merely a quite mundane arrangement with the local maternity hospital. In
the US the majority of males are circumcised at birth, irrespective of religion.
There is an ample supply of infant foreskins and they are the main source of
cell cultures for human cell research.