51¶¯Âþ

As a life-long introvert, I was taken aback by the advice in the book Me, But Better , which was reviewed in your pages. Forcing yourself to conform to perceived societal expectations around sociability is a recipe for disaster in the long term. Accepting yourself, on the other hand, fosters self-compassion that brings long-term happiness …

If researcher Oswald Schmitz is correct about fish storing such large amounts of carbon, then we need to stop commercial fishing immediately. We know that world stocks of larger species have dipped to less than 10 per cent of what they were before industrial fishing took over. We could tackle the problem of excessive carbon …

I loved Menno Schilthuizen's take on the (relatively) new urban natural history discoveries to be made. Unfortunately, he falls into the trap of thinking that only urbanites are living in landscapes that are "completely different from natural habitats". The rural landscapes of Europe (especially the UK), North America and many other places are artificial too, …

Graham Lawton's article on the recovery of useful chemicals from sewage was excellent. I have long advocated for mainstream use of composting toilets – which can make use of our waste in situ – so it is helpful to put a value on the commodities we flush away ( 29 March, p 22 ). Extracting …

There is an alternative explanation other than extra education for the reduced incidence of dementia in UK adults born four years after the cut-off birth date for the 1972 increase in the school-leaving age, from 15 to 16, compared with those born four years prior ( 15 March, p 14 ). The older cohort were …

In their study on world population, the researchers used data from dam projects as the basis for their assertion that rural populations had been significantly underestimated. Could there be another explanation for the apparent discrepancies( 29 March, p 17 )? No doubt in many cases, people living in the area to be flooded were offered …

Reading "A wobbly start to radio astronomy on the moon" got me wondering: did NASA, in a spectacular case of nominative determinism, seal the lander's fate by naming the telescope mounted on it ROLSES-1? Perhaps someone should warn the agency not to use the name "Cosmic Radiation and Associated Solar Heating Interstellar Energy Sensor" (CRASHIES) …

Andreas Hejnol is at Friedrich Schiller University Jena in Germany ( 5 April, p 13 ).

I am wondering whether "autism" is a single condition. Your article on concerns about diagnosis in girls and women reports at least two patterns: one commonly found in males and one in females. I interpret them as follows: male-pattern autism has underactivity in the social brain, whereas female-pattern autism has overactivity in it. We don't …

The problem with saying autism is underdiagnosed in girls is that, as Gina Rippon mentions, there is no known biomarker, so it is only recognised behaviourally. If it is defined by behaviour, then if girls behave in a different way, why say they are autistic? We should probably find a different term.