Letters.He'll have Nunavut It's nice to see the editors of a U.S. magazine trying to keep up-to-date with Canadian politics, but "Even Nunavut gets plenty of dioxin" (SN: 10/7/00, p. 230) shows how difficult that can be at times. While Nunavut was indeed carved from Canada's Northwest Territories last year, it didn't become a new province, just a new territory, changing Canada's totals from 10 provinces and two territories to 10 provinces and three territories. Spike Y. Jones Dundalk, Md. Cats like weevils? "Bean weevils get a kick out of mates" (SN: 10/21/00, p. 264) describes how the male bean weevil's spiked reproductive part damages the female's reproductive tract to reduce the chance that she will mate with other males. Could this also explain the barbs on the organ of the domesticated do·mes·ti·cate tr.v. do·mes·ti·cat·ed, do·mes·ti·cat·ing, do·mes·ti·cates 1. To cause to feel comfortable at home; make domestic. 2. To adopt or make fit for domestic use or life. 3. a. tom cat? I have read that the pain of copulation copulation /cop·u·la·tion/ (kop?u-la´shun) sexual union; the transfer of the sperm from male to female; usually applied to the mating process in nonhuman animals. cop·u·la·tion n. 1. induces the female's ovulation ovulation /ovu·la·tion/ (ov?u-la´shun) the discharge of a secondary oocyte from a graafian follicle.ov´ulatory o·vu·la·tion n. The discharge of an ovum from the ovary. , but I wonder if it might also reduce the chances of her mating with other toms during that estrus estrus Period in the sexual cycle of female mammals, except the higher primates, during which they are in heat (ready to accept a male for mating). Some animals (e.g., dogs) have only one heat during a breeding season; others (e.g. . Peter B. Newman San Rafael, Calif. Honor the whales The thought that anyone, Eskimo or otherwise, would willingly kill a member of an endangered species endangered species, any plant or animal species whose ability to survive and reproduce has been jeopardized by human activities. In 1999 the U.S. government, in accordance with the U.S. that may have been swimming when George Washington was still alive makes me sick at heart ("Cetacean cetacean Any of the exclusively aquatic placental mammals constituting the order Cetacea. They are found in oceans worldwide and in some freshwater environments. Modern cetaceans are grouped in two suborders: about 70 species of toothed whales (Odontoceti) and 13 species of seniors," SN: 10/14/00, p. 254). Honoring one's ancestors could surely be achieved by going out in a whaleboat, engaging in a mock hunt, and showing true reverence for ancestral traditions by not slaughtering an intelligent, magnificent animal that may have eluded those very ancestors. Gordon J. Louttit Manhattan Beach, Calif. Field of nightmares? Your cover article on using magnetic fields magnetic fields, n.pl the spaces in which magnetic forces are detectable; created by magnetostrictive ultrasonic scalers to cause the tips of instruments such as ultrasonic scalers to vibrate. to map and possibly treat brain disorders ("Snap, crackle crackle /crack·le/ (krak´'l) rale. , and feel good?" SN: 9/23/00, p. 204) contrasted sharply with the article a few pages earlier about magnetic fields inducing cells to develop tumors ("Cells proliferate in magnetic fields," SN: 9/23/00, p. 196). I would strongly suggest that both the science community and the regulatory community tread carefully until the biological effects of electromagnetic fields are credibly defined. Otherwise, we could repeat the early years of the field of nuclear medicine, when patients were exposed willy-nilly to all sorts of radiation levels and types for all sorts of illnesses before the full effects of nuclear radiation on the body were known or even suspected. Tim LeGore West Richland, Wash. |
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