LETTER OF THE MONTH<\/span><\/p>\n\n We all heard the devastating news that Queen Elizabeth II passed away a few hours after doctors raised concerns for her health. But it made me think that the royal family wouldn\u2019t have been able to rush to be by her side if it wasn\u2019t for the progress made possible by science and technology. Imagine if they had to receive the news by post and travel to Balmoral using carriages. But the benefits of such progress are not exclusive to the royal family. Nowadays, I can travel by air from London to Tehran in six hours to be with my family, something I couldn\u2019t have done a hundred years ago. It seems science and technology can hold our hands long before we reach our loved ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ghoncheh Azad, <\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>London<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n The writer of next issue\u2019s Letter Of The Month <\/em>wins a Suri Sustainable Sonic Toothbrush. <\/strong>Instead of plastic, the replaceable heads on the Suri toothbrush are made from corn starch and castor oil, and Suri will recycle them for free. Inside the aluminium body of the brush is Suri\u2019s new MicraSonic magnetic motor, which, despite being one-third the size of standard electric toothbrush motors, can vibrate the head at 33,000 times a minute to give your teeth a superior clean. trysuri.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n As someone who reluctantly took to exercise at 40, and who still carries more fat than he would like, it\u2019s interesting to get a fuller picture of what it\u2019s doing for me (August issue). It\u2019s nice to know that while I might not have appreciated its efforts, it has continued making them for me during the 15 years I\u2019ve spent trying to eradicate it. Maybe I\u2019ll look more kindly on it in future, although I\u2019m determined to keep exercising. The main reason being the points made in another piece from that issue, regarding the pill that might mimic the effects of exercise. Unfortunately, while it seems that effective appetite-suppressants might be possible, they won\u2019t offer the cardiovascular or musculoskeletal benefits of exercise, not to mention the positive mental effects \u2013 something a pill could never hope to offer. On the plus side, maybe such a pill would allow me to have dark chocolate Hobnobs in the house without being unable to resist them, which would be good for my mental health! <\/p>\n\n Simon Bartlett, <\/strong>via email <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n The article by Dr Modgil on the use of music for pain management (September issue) reminded me of the story of an American called Norman Cousins. He was suffering from a long-term medical condition that caused him considerable pain. He found that reading something amusing, or watching a funny film, could help relieve the pain for hours, without side effects. Cousins went on to write a book, <\/span>The Anatomy Of An Illness, <\/em> to highlight the effectiveness of humour for pain control. It\u2019s lucky that Cousins was able to come to his discovery without needing test animals, since it might have proved difficult to get mice to appreciate a good joke. Still, I suppose he could have shown them a series of Tom and Jerry cartoons.<\/span><\/p>\n\n Peter Davey, <\/strong>Bournemouth <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n There have been studies on comedy and the perception of pain. One of them showed how humour or comedy therapy can provide significant decreases in the perception of chronic pain and loneliness, as well as increases in happiness and life satisfaction. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n Perhaps this points to the fact that the arts have much to contribute to our wellbeing. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n Dr Radha Modgil, <\/strong>A&E doctor <\/p>\n\n Seeing the picture of trees cocooned in spider silk (August issue) reminded me of something I once saw on the Pennine Way: caterpillars had wrapped trees, nearby walls and vegetation in sheets of white gossamer. On closer investigation, we saw scores of them moving across it. Later we met a group of naturalists and described what we\u2019d seen (we couldn\u2019t show them the pictures as they were stuck on the film in my camera). But they were unaware of such behaviour in caterpillars. Then, 40 years later, I saw an article with a similar picture in a newspaper, that described the caterpillars responsible as \u2018bird cherry ermine moths\u2019 (Yponomeuta<\/em> evonymella). <\/em><\/p>\n\n John Harrison, <\/span><\/span><\/strong>Wokingham<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/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 Instagram<\/strong> \u2022 @bbcsciencefocus<\/a><\/p>\n\n Editor<\/strong> \u2022<\/strong> Daniel Bennett<\/p>\n\n\n\n Managing editor<\/strong> \u2022<\/strong> Alice Lipscombe-Southwell<\/p>\n\n\n\n Commissioning editor<\/strong> \u2022<\/strong> Jason Goodyer<\/p>\n\n\n\n Staff writers<\/strong> \u2022 <\/strong>Alex Hughes, Holly Spanner<\/p>\n\n\n\n Editorial assistant<\/strong> \u2022<\/strong> Amy Barrett<\/p>\n\n\n\n Art editor<\/strong> \u2022<\/strong> Joe Eden<\/p>\n\n\n\n Picture editor<\/strong> \u2022<\/strong> James Cutmore<\/p>\n\n\n\n Acute Graphics, James Abbott, Claire Asher, Rob Banino, Elena Bansh, Hayley Bennett, Peter Bentley, Brittney G Borowiec, Daniel Bright, Dean Burnett, Daniel Crespo, Stuart Clark, Emma Davies, Kate Darling, Sam Falconer, Sam Freeman, Alastair Gunn, Alice Gregory, Christian Jarrett, Stephen Kelly, Pete Lawrence, Katie Mack, Nish Manek, Adam Mazur, Neil McKim, Radha Modgil, Stephanie Organ, Helen Pilcher, Andy Potts, Jeremy Rossman, Kyle Smart, Ian Taylor, Jocelyn Timperley, Valentin Tkach, Luis Villazon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Business development manager \u2022<\/strong> David D\u2019Souza<\/p>\n\n\n\n Newstrade manager \u2022<\/strong> Rob Brock<\/p>\n\n\n\n Subscriptions director \u2022<\/strong> Jacky Perales-Morris<\/p>\n\n\n\n Direct marketing manager \u2022<\/strong> Kellie Lane <\/p>\n\n\n\n Head of apps and digital edition marketing \u2022<\/strong> Mark Summerton <\/p>\n\n\n\n Laurence Robertson 00353 876 902208 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Director of licensing and syndication \u2022<\/strong> Tim Hudson<\/p>\n\n\n\n International partners manager \u2022<\/strong> Anna Brown <\/p>\n\n\n\n Production director \u2022<\/strong> Sarah Powell<\/p>\n\n\n\n Production coordinator \u2022<\/strong> Lauren Morris<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ad services manager \u2022 <\/strong>Paul Thornton<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ad designer \u2022 <\/strong>Julia Young <\/p>\n\n\n\n Publisher \u2022 <\/strong>Andrew Davies<\/p>\n\n\n\n Group managing director \u2022<\/strong> Andy Marshall<\/p>\n\n\n\n CEO \u2022 <\/strong>Tom Bureau <\/p>\n\n\n\n Chair, editorial review boards \u2022<\/strong> Nicholas Brett<\/p>\n\n\n\n Managing director, consumer products and licensing \u2022 <\/strong>Stephen Davies <\/p>\n\n\n\n Director, magazines and consumer products \u2022 <\/strong>Mandy Thwaites <\/p>\n\n\n\n Compliance manager \u2022 <\/strong>Cameron McEwan <\/p>\n\n\n\n UK publishing coordinator \u2022<\/strong> Eva Abramik <\/p>\n\n\n\n Contact UK.Publishing@bbc.com<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/10\/GettyImages_1397344056_preview.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nScience soothes in difficult times<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
WRITE IN AND WIN!<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/10\/1-Winter-Fern-Toothbrush-SURI-Sustainable-Electric-Toothbrush_preview.jpg\")
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/10\/GettyImages_1273911689_preview.jpg\")
Grateful for fat <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
\n\nComic relief <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/10\/CocoonTrunks_preview-1024x769.jpg\")
Wrapped in silk <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
\n\n
\n\nTHE TEAM <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
EDITORIAL<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
ART<\/strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
CONTRIBUTORS<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
ADVERTISING & MARKETING<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
MOBILE<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
INSERTS<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
LICENSING & SYNDICATION<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
PRODUCTION<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
PUBLISHING<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
BBC STUDIOS, UK PUBLISHING<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dj9jqhxgw9833.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/08\/OM_Logo_ispo-logo-897x1024.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n