LETTER OF THE MONTH<\/span><\/p>\n\n If you had asked me six months ago to read BBC Science Focus <\/em>magazine, I would have laughed, politely, but with genuine hilarity at the idea! <\/p>\n\n\n\n But for my father, in his late 70s, this magazine has offered him a lifeline of stimulating and challenging reading to keep his \u2018little grey cells\u2019 active. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Having passed the magazines on to me for months, I finally picked them up and struggle to put them down! So now, as Dad and I meet for our weekly lunches, I am able to meet his enthusiasm for the latest discoveries with equal awe and wonder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As a visual learner, I really appreciate the accessibility of the information, recently described by reader Dr Ron Barnes in April\u2019s issue as \u201ctrendy units\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Please don\u2019t lose these comparative measures, think of those of us who are less academic! Not because I\u2019m \u2018trendy\u2019 \u2013 heaven forbid \u2013 I\u2019m just perfectly able to imagine the vastness of lakes and colossal entities as football pitches and elephants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mrs H Daniels,<\/strong> via email <\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n The writer of next issue\u2019s Letter Of The Month <\/em>wins a GameSir X2 Bluetooth Wireless Mobile Game Controller. <\/strong>Both iOS and Android devices are supported: simply lock your phone into the controller to transform your mobile gaming into a more traditional handheld experience. <\/p>\n\n In the April issue, one article stated that listening to music can make you feel happy, whereas the following article said that a fabric is being researched that is so sensitive that it could be used for hearing. <\/p>\n\n Hearing aids just amplify sounds and tones, making some music, especially classical, so awful as to make it not worth listening to. <\/p>\n\n Hopefully this new fabric \u2013 by using an entirely different approach to loss of hearing \u2013 will give those with this disability a better alternative. <\/p>\n\n Dr Roger Webber,<\/strong> via email<\/span><\/p>\n\n I was surprised to read in your article \u2018The race for the Moon\u2019 (April issue) that the metals known as rare earths are so-called because of their scarcity, especially given that a 2014 BBC article was headlined \u2018Rare earths: neither rare nor earths\u2019. This kind of sloppy and unchecked reporting debases the whole concept of what should be a reliable review of scientific activity. <\/p>\n\n David Scott, <\/strong>Isle of Man <\/span><\/p>\n\n Although fairly abundant, it\u2019s getting hold of rare earth metals that is tricky. In many ores, concentration levels of rare earths are so low, and so unevenly distributed throughout the crust, that to extract and process them is expensive, time-consuming and damaging to the environment. Once processed, only tiny amounts are needed. So, as you quite correctly pointed out, the BBC News article from 2014 is correct, and the term \u2018rare earth\u2019 is somewhat of a misnomer, although they are scarce in pure form and the name arises from the rarity of the minerals from which they were isolated. <\/p>\n\n Holly Spanner, <\/strong>staff writer<\/em><\/p>\n\n In your article about the signs of alien life (February issue), your author made a mistake. <\/p>\n\n Tabby\u2019s Star dims due to an uneven ring of dust orbiting the star, not due to dust in our Solar System, as was stated in the article. Excess dimming in ultraviolet (UV) compared to infrared (IR) suggests that dust is responsible (fine dust preferentially blocks UV over IR). <\/p>\n\n I\u2019ve been following developments on Tabby\u2019s Star, as for a while it looked like the most likely candidate for a partial Dyson sphere or other large structure in orbit around the star. Plus, as an F-type main sequence star, it is a prime candidate for having developed a stable set of planets and an alien civilisation. <\/p>\n\n Michael Wehner, <\/strong>Cave Creek, Arizona <\/span><\/p>\n\n You are correct. The most likely location of dust responsible for the dimming of Tabby\u2019s Star is in orbit around the star itself. It is also true that it is difficult to explain all the details of the complex pattern of stellar dimming with any dust model so far proposed. The instinct of all astronomers, however, is to exhaust all possible natural explanations for an anomaly before accepting an ET explanation. <\/p>\n\n Marcus Chown,<\/strong> BBC Science Focus<\/em> contributor <\/p>\n\n Well, this is embarrassing. A few of you noticed that in the April issue, one of our Eye Openers <\/em>said that blue light has a longer wavelength than red and orange light. This should have read as: \u201cSunlight is scattered by molecules in the atmosphere, and short-wavelength blue light is scattered most strongly. When there is dust in the air, there\u2019s more scattering of blue light, which means that more of the longer wavelength red and orange light makes it through.\u201d <\/p>\n\n Email<\/strong> \u2022 reply@sciencefocus.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n Post<\/strong> \u2022 BBC Science Focus<\/em><\/em>, Eagle House, Colston Avenue, Bristol, BS1 4ST<\/p>\n\n Twitter<\/strong> \u2022 @sciencefocus<\/a><\/p>\n\n Facebook<\/strong> \u2022 www.facebook.com\/sciencefocus<\/a><\/p>\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/05\/58499c42-ea2f-4d5c-80e8-90dd913c7264.jpg\")
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WRITE IN AND WIN!<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
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Happiness from music <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
\n\nTreasures on the Moon <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
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Star or sphere? <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
\n\nOops! <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
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