26 October 2019 | New Scientist | 27should be added to his list of
“planetary boundaries”. Rockström
responds that Earth’s life-support
systems aren’t defined by human
activity. Really? The extraordinarily
rapid growth of the human
population, particularly over
the past two centuries, is surely
the major influence on
all of those boundaries.
Were these succulent
berries down to the wire?
24 August, p 42
From Claire and Greg Sullivan,
Ottawa, Canada
Research into the effects of
electric fields on plant growth
has resumed in China. A number
of years ago, we owned an old
summer house in Charlevoix,
east of Quebec city. An activity
that we enjoyed there was picking
the wild blueberries that were
abundant not too far away.
Sometimes we hiked for a
couple of miles to the swathe
of power lines carrying electricity
down from hydroelectric plants in
Labrador.
Under the lines, the blueberries
were much bigger and juicier than
they were close to our home. We
jokingly commented that it was
the “juice” from the wires above
that had enhanced them.
I insist that thought does
depend on language
Letters, 7 September
From David Werdegar,
Naperville, Illinois, US
People with severe aphasia –
the loss of ability to understand
or express speech – may be
unimpaired in other thinking
abilities, such as chess or spatial
navigation, Peter White argues.
And Martin Greenwood suggests
that composers use non-verbal
thinking, and cites mathematical
physicist Roger Penrose’s claim
that much scientific and
mathematical thought is
non-verbal (Letters, 31 August).
A composer may internally
hear a melody, hum the tune and
have a second person hum it too.
But developing it for an
instrument or an entire orchestra
requires much thought, and that
thought requires language.
Penrose may think he can purely
conceptualise without any words,
but the mathematics he uses
is a language in itself.
Aphasia is caused by brain
damage. Those with a severe
form are unable to navigate
their way down a hospital corridor
and require help with feeding,
because they can’t conceptualise
the corridor, the dining room or
that the fork or spoon in front of
them are to be used as a means
of transporting food.
Language skills, words and
grammars are so subtly accessed
in most of our pursuits that we are
often unaware of them lying just
below the surface of our actions.Insight on the information
rate of language perhaps
14 September, p 17
From Peter Lavers,
Canberra, Australia
You report experiments appearing
to show that the rate at which
speech conveys information is
about the same in different
languages, despite them having
varying densities of information
per syllable. This reminded me of
evaluating the accessibility of an
online product’s user interface
with a tester who was blind and
used screen-reader software.
We found it very difficult to
keep up with him, as he set the
speech rate of the reader to what
seemed like three or four times
the rate of normal speech. This
included reading instructions
and checking prose, such as
legal agreements, as well as
page navigation. We joked that
he must get really bored and
impatient with our slow speech.
Exploring such scenarios may
shed light on the phenomenon.Want to get in touch?
Send letters to New Scientist, 25 Bedford Street, London
WC2E 9ES or [email protected]; see terms at
newscientist.com/lettersSigning is another example that
could help distinguish auditory
from semantic content
information processing.Refit your kitchen for heat
transfer between fluids
Letters, 14 September
From Matthew Allan,
Eastleigh, Hampshire, UK
Dinah Sage comments on the
relative inefficiencies of ovens
and microwaves, inviting us to
reconsider our use of domestic
appliances. A new approach to
services within the home could
create opportunities to increase
efficiency and reduce carbon
dioxide emissions.
Typically, a house in a developed
country contains a washing
machine, a dishwasher, a tumble
dryer, a fridge, a freezer and room
heating, with or without air-
conditioning. These are installed
as discrete units, incorporating
duplicated components such
as pumps, compressors, heat
exchangers, valves and controls.
But the key functions of each
system involve heat transfer
between fluids. They could be
designed as an integrated whole,
creating a more efficient and
robust building services unit.
Heat that is discarded in
conventional systems could be
recovered and used elsewhere.
It would be straightforward
to give the homeowner options
in terms of the style, size and cost
of the domestic appliances built
into such a unit.
The principle could be extended
to include water recycling, rain
water and grey water recovery,
heat recovery from cooking
appliances and inputs from
renewable energy sources.
Such an approach could
improve comfort in homes while
helping meet targets to reduce
environmental damage.We don’t need evolution to
explain religion’s origins
21 September, p 38
From Andrew Brooker,
Dursley, Gloucestershire, UK
In his interview with Richard
Dawkins, Graham Lawton refers
to the idea in evolutionary biology
that human brains are naturally
receptive to religious ideas. I am
not sure we need an evolutionary
explanation for religious belief.
Like many animals, we can
see patterns and relations in
geography, time and behaviour.
These are essential for survival,
helping us learn where to find prey
or ripe fruit, how to obtain water
in very dry seasons and which
areas we need to be careful in.
But humans also have the
ability to find explanations of
how the world works and, indeed,
a need to find them and a pleasure
in doing so. For most of our
existence, we have lacked the basic
knowledge required to answer
many important questions.
Why are some years bountiful
while others bring droughts or
floods? Why does an epidemic
take some children and not
others? What are thunder,
lightning and volcanoes?
What made the world and
what can destroy it?
Answers to these questions
have been attributed to spirits
and gods: that makes sense if you
have no real science or technology.
The gods and spirits must then be
praised and placated. A priest
caste develops, with doctrines
and rituals, and defined rights
and wrongs. These become part of
human cultures, often developed
far beyond the original teachings.A broader perspective on
annoying teenagers
14 September, p 56
From Ben Haller,
Ithaca, New York, US
Dean Burnett says “far from being
a constant annoyance, teenagers
may be the reason humanity is
as smart and successful as it is”.
Can’t they be both? ❚