New Scientist 2018 sep

54 | NewScientist | 8 September 2018

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LETTERS

ending or solution. I am sure,

for example, that at least some

children who develop an allergy

after starting school are the

targets of bullying.

In Australia, they keep

cats under curfew

From Robert Craig,

Washingborough, Lincolnshire, UK

Hugh Boyd complains that

farming is blamed for wildlife

woes and mentions that domestic

cats kill vast numbers of birds

(Letters, 4 August). In some areas

of Australia there are curfews for

cats, in contrast to the strange UK

policy of allowing them to roam

anywhere at any time. Aboriginal

communities have found that

feral cats, blamed for driving up

to 30 species into extinction,

are a great source of food.

Terraforming Mars in the

style of science fiction

From Bryn Glover, Kirkby

Malzeard, North Yorkshire, UK

I was surprised to read that “we”

(whoever that might be) have ever

dreamed of converting Mars into

an Earth-like world (4 August, p 6).

No one – surely – has ever really

proposed this as a practical

possibility, outside the realms

of science fiction. Have they?

Future geologists will

define the Anthropocene

From Jeffrey Harte, Caringbah,

New South Wales, Australia

While the International Union

of Geological Sciences (IUGS) has

declared that we are still in the

Holocene epoch (28 July, p 24),

I believe the “Anthropocene” is

functionally and stratigraphically

different to the Holocene.

But when did it start and what

evidence is appropriate to

distinguish the two?

The idea of a layer of plastic

rubbish as a marker is unlikely

to be appropriate, because over

many millennia rock strata are

reworked vertically and laterally.

Perhaps, though, the result will be

a band of “plastiglomerate” lithic

material that could serve as a new

worldwide marker. Maybe the

growth of radionuclides in

sediments accumulated since

the 20th century will provide a

uniform marker. The priority of

the IUGS may be nomenclature –

defining eras, periods, epochs and

ages. But it needs to acknowledge

the impact of a species on the

geological record and not, as Mark

Maslin and Simon Lewis intimate,

go out of its way to confuse

members of the public.

My job has already fallen

to digital technology

From Alastair Brotchie,

London, UK

Your article on rules that robots

should follow contains the

platitude “We must be careful it

isn’t only employers that benefit

from robots” (4 August, p 38). As

one of many whose profession has

already been digitally destroyed,

I am tired of this feeble plea.

For 30 years I painted backdrops

for theatre. Now all middle-skilled

work in this field is done by large-

scale digital printing. There isn’t

enough high-skilled work to

support the infrastructure of

training and career progression,

so we see the end of a profession

that dates back to the Renaissance.

The owners of this technology

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TOM GAULD

now have all our jobs, but

“progress” is both incremental

and accidental. There is no way

I or my colleagues can get the

originators or the owners of this

technology to share its benefits –

nor those who should perhaps

be described as “unemployers”.

Nor will this change. (How can

it?) All benefits accrue to those

who control the technology.

Digital technology tends to

promote the most rapacious

form of capitalism yet seen.

Relying on votes from

unsustainable farmers

From Geoff Browne,

Sydney, Australia.

Chris Milligan warns that much

of the world is in for a rough ride

from climate change (Letters,

4 August). This is timely, given

the drought gripping New South

Wales as I write. What isn’t timely

is the response of the Australian

government. As usual it is

dispensing vast amounts of

“drought relief” cash without

consideration of whether the

changing climate is making this

largesse misplaced.

How many farms are really

viable in this new climate world?

Has any research been done to

establish the viability of raising

hoofed animals on soils that are

drying and deteriorating? Of

course, the current government

depends on the farmers’ party

to stay in office.

For the record

Q Paul Jackson was not involved with

the refurbishment of the bridge that

collapsed in Genoa (25 August, p 4).