Letters archive

Your article asks: are chatbots really able to think like people? I think not. Not as long as they don't feel fear, pride or anger. What we would need for that aren't electronic computers, but chemical ones( 1 April, p 10 ). Juxtaposed to this was an article reporting that the global population could reach …

"I would put it in my bathroom if I were tiling it right now," says Colin Adams of the aperiodic "einstein" tile that has just been discovered( 1 April, p 20 ). Sure, if he can find a factory to make both the tile and its mirror image. The tiling pattern needs both. Real bathroom …

Your recent analysis of the UK government's Carbon Budget Delivery Plan highlights what I feel is a worrying trend in our discussions about climate change( 8 April, p 11 ). As our attempts to decarbonise lag ever further behind our goals that aim to prevent the more severe consequences of a warming world, talk is …

It isn't just AIs that have difficulty drawing hands. My great-grandfather, as an aspiring sculptor, was only admitted to classes in drawing at the Royal Academy in the UK after he had submitted his drawings of hands. This subject was considered to be a test of talent( 15 April, p 16 ).

To add to your pointers on growing and using asparagus, Harold McGee, in his book On Food and Cooking , noted that it consumes its sugars faster than any other common vegetable, converting them to fibres from the base up. This process is accelerated by warmth and light( 8 April, p 51 ). He recommends …

I enjoyed reading about the invention of liquid sponges. However, there was no mention of using them to store hydrogen( 11 March, p 43 ). Hydrogen storage could be a way to stockpile energy from renewable power. Hydrogen can be produced by electrolysis of water, and later burned or used in fuel cells to create …

The idea of implanting a hypoxia-inducing battery near cancerous tissue to improve the function of hypoxia-activated prodrugs (HAPs) for cancer treatment was thought-provoking. You also had an article on the human electrome ( 25 February, p 38 ) that commented on cellular voltage patterns and the characteristic electrical signatures of cancer cells( 8 April, p …

Among the comprehensive range of pollutants in your excellent piece on the state of British rivers is sewage, resulting from drains being overwhelmed by heavy rain( 25 March, p 42 (UK edition) ). The spills are discharged from dual-purpose sewage systems that can carry both waste and run-off from rainfall . There will continue to …

A simple way to encourage far-sighted thinking would be to make it mandatory for every school-leaver to plant a tree. This would root in our minds a sense of a future further down the line than the end of our short-termist noses( 25 March, p 46 ).

In a broad look at the link between wrinkles and age-related decline, Graham Lawton describes research on the efficacy of oral collagen supplements in fighting wrinkles. Of course, supplements tend to be costly. A cheaper and more nourishing solution is traditional chicken soup. As long as you add some lemon juice to bring the pH …