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I have just seen two people exercising together. She was running while he cycled beside her. She was only moving herself, but he was moving the bike too. Who expended [...]

27 May, p 27 From Hillary Shaw, Newport, Shropshire, UK We can't communicate with chimps who share 99 per cent of our DNA, says Chris Impey, so what are the [...]

11 February, p 42 From Peter Slessenger, Reading, Berkshire, UK Kayt Sukel reports on people scheduling set periods when they are allowed to worry as a way of managing and [...]

The other three squares neighbouring the white dot must have white diagonals, and then the pairs of tiles remaining next to the black dots must have black diagonals. Note that a cyclist going at a moderate cycling speed (MET 7.5) will burn around twice as many calories as someone walking at a moderate walking speed (MET 3.5), but, of course, the cyclist is going much faster and further. The formula for these values is MET × weight (kg) × time (hours) = calories burned (kilocalories). [Extracted from the article]

This document is a collection of letters from readers published in the New Scientist. The letters cover a range of topics, including climate change, extending human lifespans, navigation devices, geoengineering, the potential impact of a passing star on Earth, animal behavior, artificial intelligence, the true cost of products, and car culture. The letters provide diverse perspectives on these subjects, offering insights and raising questions for further exploration. [Extracted from the article]

On the prospects of chatting with aliens 27 May, p 27 From Hillary Shaw, Newport, Shropshire, UK We can't communicate with chimps who share 99 per cent of our DNA, says Chris Impey, so what are the chances we could communicate with aliens? Maybe we should view AIs as potential descendants Letters, 3 June From Len Mann, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, UK Should we fear AI? However, lower-income countries are expected to do as higher-income countries say, not as they have done and still do. [Extracted from the article]

B True value of clean rivers is far bigger than we think b I From Paul Whiteley, Bittaford, Devon, UK i You say that £870 million a year is the supposed beneficial impact on the UK's health thanks to rivers and lakes encouraging physical activity and relaxation. B All hail energy saving, now let's look at water b I From Maria Felice, Bristol, UK i I thoroughly enjoyed reading your feature on the 2000-watt energy-saving challenge(11 February, p 36). I From Gethin Bermingham, Lancaster, UK i Jacobson makes the point that we will only achieve our climate goals on the short timescales necessary if we use existing technologies. [Extracted from the article]

Sonification is great and has been around for years 31 December 2022, p 46 From Susan Fowler, New York, US My colleague Alice Preston and I were delighted by your article on sonification of astronomical data. Editor's pick Give animal feelings the benefit of the doubt 14 January, p 27 From Richard Brown, Huntly, Aberdeenshire, UK When I qualified as a vet in 1981, I would have agreed with Marlene Zuk that we should question the trend of attributing human-like motivations and feelings to animals, such as bees "playing" with objects. Warm connections at risk in the internet age 14 January, p 46 From Denis Watkins, St Just in Roseland, Cornwall, UK In "How to be happy", Robert Waldinger says we evolved to be social animals and that "having warm connections with other people predicts how long you stay healthy". [Extracted from the article]

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to previous articles including articles in the August 27, 2016 issue by Zoltan Istvan on decoupling science and technology policy from short-term planning of political establishments and evidence-based government policy, and an article in the September 3 issue on when the Anthropocene epoch started.

The article presents questions and answers on the topics including hairfall due to chemotherapy in dogs, quantity of lead in leaded petrol, and gravitational attraction.

The article presents questions and answers on miscellaneous topics including the risk of being struck by lightning while swimming in a pool surrounded by trees, why mushrooms release water while cooking, and why ink coagulates at the nib, or tip, of a pen.

The article provides an answer to a question concerning scale readings on different types of floors, and provides a lists of questions concerning singing range, the effect of Earth's gravitational field on asteroids, and protruding ears for readers to answer.

This article states that large animals generally exert more pressure on the ground than small ones. The tiger is 125 times as heavy as the cat. If it were an exactly scaled-up model of the domestic cat, it would be five times as long, five times as wide and five times as high. Each paw would have 25 times the area of the cat's paw. So, 125 times the weight would be supported on just 25 times the area, and the pressure under the tiger's paws would be 5 times the pressure under the cat's paws. The pressures under the hooves of standing cows are between 10 and 15 newtons per square centimetre.

The article presents a question on the best strategy to immediately get rid of multi-lane traffic jams.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to a letter sent by Brian Porter on lunar surface in the December 1, 2011 issue.