Letters : Non-living links links
Marple, Cheshire
Congratulations! Your newly installed Necrophone is working perfectly. Not
only did you publish a message from Thomas Edison and a comment on the presence
of Apple Macs in the afterlife
(Letters, 31 January, p 52), but on the back
cover of the same issue appeared . . . Thomas Edison advertising Apple Macs.
Where is Rupert Sheldrake in this hour of need?
Letters : . . . . .
Malvern, Worcester
Edwards reports that the World Wide Fund for Nature described a relocation
programme for great crested newts at the Orton brick pits as “an unsatisfactory
compromise which is putting at risk one of the most threatened species in the
UK”. Great crested newts are not uncommon in this part of the country, and this
appears to be true of many western areas. I can think of a long list of animals
(and plants) that are at much greater risk than great crested newts.
I suggest the terms “rare” and “most threatened” be used more cautiously, so
that the position of our really vulnerable wildlife is not distorted by the
hyperbole applied to reasonably secure species.
Letters : Diverse bodies
Sandy, Bedfordshire
Rob Edwards takes English Nature to task for lack of scientific credibility,
but this is just one symptom of a greater malaise
(This Week, 24 January, p 18).
Since the 1992 Rio Convention on Biological Diversity, Britain has led the world
in committing itself to targets for the restoration of habitats and the
conservation of a wide range of species. Meeting these targets will depend on
understanding the ecology of threatened ecosystems and species, yet I fear that
the funding of British science is not structured to respond to these
challenges.
The main candidates to commission, direct and fund studies of threatened
species and ecosystems include English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage, the
Countryside Council for Wales, the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, the
Environment Agency, the Natural Environment Research Council, the Biotechnology
and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Food, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, the
Scottish Office, and the Environment and Heritage Service, Northern Ireland.
Incomplete though it is, this long list says it all. No organisation has a
clear responsibility to coordinate and fund biodiversity research, and to ensure
that research makes a difference on the ground. If responsibility for providing
scientific underpinning for British biodiversity conservation is too widely
shared, then all who share that responsibility will, partly justifiably, claim
that they thought it was someone else’s job.
Government departments seem to see biodiversity research as the conservation
agencies’ and Natural Environment Research Council’s role. The NERC appears to
many to be detached from the process鈥攅ven though it has the word “applied”
in its mission statement and has identified biodiversity as a strategic issue.
Staff at the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology seem to have to spend their time
and energy chasing contracts rather than being allowed or encouraged to take a
scientific lead. This brings us back to the conservation agencies and their
perceived lack of interest in the science of conservation, as noted by
Edwards.
Is there a solution? There seem to be two ways forward. The first is
simple鈥攖hose in the statutory sector who fund science should respond
better to the challenge of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, a plan the
government claims to endorse wholeheartedly.
Alternatively, perhaps we need a body with a nationwide responsibility for
funding British biodiversity research? This could be based in either the current
Joint Nature Conservation Committee (the umbrella body for English Nature,
Scottish Natural Heritage and the Countryside Council for Wales), or in the
Department of the Environment, Trade and the Regions itself as the lead
department for the action plan.
Where would the money come from? Some extra resources are probably needed,
but a first step would be to carve out resources from the bodies that are
currently failing to meet the challenge. 拢25 million a year is spent on
agro-environment R&D expenditure by research councils, government
departments and others. In theory, 拢8.6m of this is spent on wildlife
conservation. If only half this sum were diverted specifically to serve the
scientific needs of the action plan, it could make a huge difference to our
knowledge of threatened habitats and species.
It is ironic that one of John Major’s announcements on stepping off the plane
from Rio was about setting up the Darwin Initiative to spread British science
expertise across the world. We seem to have neglected to meet the same needs at
home.
Letters : Orders ignored
Quito, Ecuador
A couple of months ago, you ran an article about how researchers in
developing countries face prejudice when trying to get their work published
(This Week, 1 November 1997, p 22).
This is only one of the many handicaps.
The list includes trouble getting equipment through customs and other
administrative problems, often tied up with personalities in authority and/or
government instability, electricity cuts, lack of backup services for equipment
maintenance, and so on.
Another major hindrance to work is that many reagents have to be imported and
this is my gripe and the reason for this letter. We try to estimate our needs
and order from international chemicals companies in good time, but some
companies seem to disregard our orders completely.
For instance, we are still waiting for orders sent off to an American company
six months ago. Despite two telephone calls to the US and countless e-mail
messages, nothing has arrived, not even an apology or an explanation. This is an
extreme case, but this company is not alone in its nonchalant attitude.
This is unfortunate, because the major companies have full catalogues and it
would be convenient for us to order more from them. As it is, we spend a lot of
time, mostly unfruitfully, searching for other suppliers. Is it just because we
are in a small country, or is it because our orders aren’t big enough? Whatever
the answer, those companies which do not deliver promptly regularly hold up our
work.
So, if any readers, Net surfers or otherwise, know of reliable suppliers of
standard reagents (for electrophoresis, buffers, staining enzymes) who honour
small orders to foreign labs, please let us know.
Letters : . . . . .
Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester
Harris made out that all graduate scientists are in great demand and are
deciding to go into postgraduate study instead of commerce by choice. This is a
just comment for those reading IT, engineering or biochemistry. However if you
are unfortunate enough to have studied other scientific subjects, further study
is often the only option.
I am by definition a high flyer (30 UCAS points, an upper second-class degree
and a Masters), yet potential employers show little interest. This is not
because I am inarticulate, or lack interpersonal skills or an understanding of
industry, but because of my degree subject鈥攐ceanography. Like my
colleagues in environmental science and geology, I have great difficulty moving
into technical or management posts.
Letters : Unsuitable?
Graham@flounder.demon.co.uk
It was interesting to read Neil Harris’s article about employers claiming
they’re having a “hard time finding suitable recruits”
(Appointments, 24 January, p 52).
As I started reading, I thought: “Wow! They want me!”
I have been looking for employment for some months, so why haven’t I got
anything yet? Reading more gave me my answer鈥攖hree Bs or above at A level
and at least an upper second-class degree. That must be why, then.
Somehow, though, I feel that this is not the entire story. I get the distinct
impression that suitable applicants must also be young, say under 30, with years
of specific experience within industry, must not need training and must be
prepared to work鈥攐n a short-term contract鈥攆or a fairly measly
salary.
There aren’t many monetary incentives to work in science, and since those
entering other professions at A level receive similar or higher wages, it’s not
surprising good candidates are going elsewhere. Industry has only itself to
blame.
Letters : Bird's eye view
Great Chishill, Cambridgeshire
In my job as an airline pilot, I fly over many of the cities of Europe. The
amount of light shining upwards is quite amazing
(Forum, 31 January, p 47). But
in some places鈥攐n the A90 trunk road south of Aberdeen, for
example鈥攖he street lights have efficient reflectors. Seen from above, no
direct lights are visible at all, although the road surface itself is well lit.
Unfortunately, most cities, towns and even villages are a blaze of light.
This wasting of light upwards costs the users. It also increases the demand
for electricity. If lights, both commercial and private, were fitted with proper
reflectors, global warming would be reduced. We would help astronomers, save
money and help save the climate of the planet.
Letters : Cat scan
London
With reference to your item about whether or not cats and dogs can read
(Feedback, 3 January),
can I advise you that our cat scans documents by sitting
on them. When you are reading the morning paper spread out on the table, she
sits on it in front of you for about twenty minutes. Books take about half an
hour, and as for New 杏吧原创, she sleeps on it.
Letters : Hit-web wins
London
The problem of pronouncing the Web prefix (www) is at its most acute when
you’re making a radio programme
(Letters, 7 February, p 54). So in November
1996, the BBC Radio 4 programme The Network and I held a competition.
The definitive winner, for clarity if not for Latinate precision, was “hit-web”,
proposed by Alan Mackley. Read all about it at
http://www.poptel.org.uk/nuj/mike/compy.htm.
This correspondence is now closed鈥擡d
Letters : . . . . .
Wollongong, Australia
You asked whether the dead use Macs or PCs
(Feedback, 10 January). I imagine
dead people would use ZX80s, 286 PCs, and so on. The supply of Macs would be
somewhat dry, as most of them are still in use in the land of the living.
If you are dead, or die before the turn of the century, wait until 2000 and
you will get a good price on a PC as they flood the deceased market. Sadly, Macs
will not suffer this fate as they store dates differently.
By the way, I have a deceased Mac Color Classic if any living-impaired
persons wish to make an offer. I take American Express鈥擨 assume you didn’t
leave this ethereal plane without it.
Letters : Solar chips
rvanspaa@eisa.net.au
Your article on new refrigeration techniques set me thinking
(“Boiling fridges”, 24 January, p 30).
Where a voltage differential will produce a cooling effect, a temperature
differential should produce a voltage. If manufactured in a form analogous to
aluminium foil, perhaps these “chips” could be used as solar panels.
Sheets of differing materials could be bonded in a vacuum with insulating
mesh in between as separators. One of the sheets would be an electride or
alkalide, the other a simple conductor such as aluminium. The electride, for
example, would be exposed to sunlight; the aluminium (with a matt black surface)
would be in the shade. A clear plastic film on the outside of the electride
would protect it from the atmosphere.
Various series-parallel combinations should provide the desired voltage and
current characteristics.
Letters : How we survived
gregegan@pop.netspace.net.au
Nicholas Humphrey’s suggestion that we’ve tested and confirmed the Many
Worlds theory by surviving the Cold War
(Letters, 24 January, p 50) was explored
in an excellent short story by Lee Montgomerie, “War and/or Peace”, published in
Interzone, issue 11, Spring 1985.
Letters : Bad timing
Kingston, Rhode Island
Feedback (17 January) asks readers to suggest
“Papers I wish I hadn’t written”.
In what I have always thought of as an uncharacteristic masterpiece of comic
timing, some colleagues and I did some work on novel methods to clean wool
before it is spun and woven into fabric. After much experimentation, we selected
a nice safe solvent, and just as the debate on ozone depletion was gathering
momentum, we published “The Scouring of Raw Wool Using Freon TFT Solvent” (R. S.
Perry, D. J. Gray, K. Cui and M. J. Bide, Textile Chemist and Colorist,
vol 19, p 19, 1988).
Letters : Ancient art
Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire
Jeff Hecht’s piece on protecting outdoor art details another reinvention of
the wheel, another instance of “nothing new under the Sun”
(This Week, 24 January, p 6).
In the mid-1930s, I witnessed a demonstration of the British
Oxygen Company’s “metal spraying process” and came away with several samples
sprayed with different metals.
The process differed from the Los Alamos process only in using an
oxyacetylene burner instead of an electric arc. A continuous wire of the desired
metal was fed through the centre of the鈥攑resumably reducing鈥攆lame. I
cannot remember whether there was an outer cone of inert gas to propel the
molten drops.
Letters : Pilots' daughters
Braunton, Devon
I was amused by your feature on coincidences, which included the claim that
most Israeli fighter pilots’ children are girls
(“That’s amazing, isn’t it?”, 17 January, p 24).
The idea that fighter pilots father mainly girls is neither new nor confined
to Israel. I first heard it as a newly qualified (and newly wed) Meteor pilot on
No 63 squadron at RAF Thorney Island in 1948. I heard the same on various
squadrons in Britain, Germany and the Middle East.
In 1961, I moved to Coastal Command but returned to the single-seat fighter
world at RAF Chivenor in 1971. The legend was alive and well, and remained so
until I retired years later.
So is it true, or did I meet a clump of clumps? Without figures I don’t know,
but my personal tally is two daughters, no sons.
Letters : Pee is for steroid
Gliwice, Poland
Purifying human proteins from transgenic animals’
urine is an intriguing development
(This Week, 10 January, p 7).
But oestrogen is not a protein, as stated, but a steroid.
Letters : Colour by layers
Norwich, Norfolk
We were delighted to see your article on our new plastic process Smoothtex,
but sadly it oversimplified a couple of points
(This Week, 24 January, p 15).
Initially, a coloured powder coating is electrostatically applied to a nickel
electroformed mould, which is then heated to a high temperature (about 150
掳C). Immediately, a mix of the original powder coating and polypropylene
powder is applied as a second layer to provide an excellent bonding capability.
It is this layer which allows the coloured polymer coating to adhere to the
layers of Twintex that are subsequently applied to the mould.
Letters : Milk of misery
jane@toehead.demon.co.uk
Although artificially induced lactation may be used to reduce body toxins, it
would probably leave the person feeling pretty miserable
(Letters, 24 January, p 51).
I have a prolactinoma (a benign tumour of the pituitary gland) which, if
untreated, gives me higher than normal levels of prolactin. The amount of
lactation I suffered before treatment wouldn’t have filled a teaspoon, yet left
me feeling utterly wretched.
I imagine that the concert of hormones released during normal lactation
leaves the body in far better harmony than prolactin alone ever does.
Letters : Don't blame PVC
Stabroek, Belgium
It is rather premature to draw any conclusions about a link between
testicular cancer and PVC/phthalates
(This Week, 24 January, p 13).
Nearly all in-vivo tests of phthalates, even administered over two
generations, show no hormonal influence whatsoever, neither on uterus weight for
female rats, nor on sperm count or motility for males. In no case were more
testicular cancers found, even if extreme amounts of phthalates, comparable to
500 grams per day for an adult, were given. So it is very unlikely that
phthalates are the culprit.
Letters : Sinks down under
Rockhampton, Queensland
Fred Pearce’s concerns that Australia had extracted an unfair advantage under
the Kyoto protocol simply because it has reduced its deforestation activity since 1990
(Forum, 17 January, p 48)
misses a critical rider in the so-called “Australia Clause” of that agreement.
This clause (Article 3, paragraph 7) says: “Those parties included in Annex 1
for whom land use change and forestry constituted a net source of greenhouse gas
emissions in 1990 shall include in their 1990 emissions base year or period the
aggregate anthropogenic carbon dioxide equivalent emissions minus removals in
1990 from land use change for the purpose of calculating their assigned amount”
(2010 target).
The rider assumes that Australia’s land use change and forestry sector is a
net source of greenhouse gas emissions, whereas there is accumulating evidence
that the thickening of woodlands not being cleared actually makes them a net
sink. This unaccounted-for woodland sink should exceed 100 million tonnes of
carbon dioxide per year, and could even exceed 200 million tonnes for Australia
if woody plant growth below as well as above ground is included.