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A few readers suggest that female autism should be given a different name. This is a misunderstanding of the problem. Autism isn't a different condition in women, and diagnostic criteria are the same. The issue is how a behavioural difference manifests given the difference in behavioural expectations of men/boys and women/girls. This is also a …

To describe individuals with conditions such as ADHD, James Brown and Alex Conner want us to use new terms – "neurodivergent" instead of "neurodiverse", for example. They think that "vague or inaccurate language reinforces stereotypes"( 7 June, p 21 ). I beg to differ. History shows it is naive to think changing the term for …

You report that an algorithm can allow a camera to see around corners by decoding information reflected in a surface such as a wall. I wonder if this could be used on existing photos or videos, as long as the wall in question is still available to be mapped. If so, the privacy issues are …

A book you review, Out of This World and Into the Next , suggests the sun's eventual wrathful death makes it wise to get our butts to Mars. We should be able to persist on Earth for the next billion years or so before solar changes get too bad. For perspective, a billion years ago, …

A diagram for BrainTwister #73 ( 17 May, p 45 ) got a little mangled. The correct version is online at bit.ly/43QiDMS. In Almost the Last Word ( 7 June, p 46 ), Miles Drake asked about hot air blowers and Adrian Moore about flowers.

I agree with Adam Taor that some of the terminology used for female anatomy, especially reproductive parts, is extremely paternalistic, if not outright misogynistic, and could do with revision( 14 June, p 21 ). I remember a discussion on the subject involving Germaine Greer, who recalled that once she had found out "vagina" comes from …

Taor contends that male eponyms for female anatomical structures are somehow wrong. Actually, they are part of the rich history of nomenclature in anatomy. Since the 1960s, many have been supplanted by more descriptive terminology, but a lot of the enduring terms do bring to mind the lives of those long-dead anatomists and surgeons whose …

Economics could also explain why Tutankhamun's tomb contained so many high-value goods. When his father Akhenaten closed the traditional temples, presumably he seized a lot of their gold. Gold has two key functions: decoration and a medium of exchange. If the temple gold was melted down and turned into a medium of exchange – perhaps …

You don't need to go to a gym to do isometric exercise, where you tighten and hold certain muscles, for example in a plank. You don't even have to get out of bed, as no movement is needed. I started doing this when I noticed my arms getting weak – at 79, I am amazed …

The many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics may suggest that humans lack true free will, even though they feel as if they have it. Each choice a person makes splits them into parallel, pre-existing block universes, each with its own fixed past and future. While it may seem like we choose between alternatives, in reality we …