51¶¯Âþ

The idea of using AI to read ancient texts raises an intriguing question: how will we know for sure that the AI is actually reading the original text and not simply engaged in its own imaginative version of creative writing( 15 February, p 16 )?

You ponder the question of when civilisation actually began. I have always viewed a key indicator of this as the advent of drainage. Disposal of human effluent and waste requires organised communities, surplus resources, management structures and a sense that sanitation is important. So, for Britain, civilisation started with the Romans, then departed, returning much …

"Text neck", the abnormal force on the cervical spine while tilting the head as we scroll on a smartphone, may not be the worst consequence. Normally, while breathing, we do so deeply from the diaphragm, but when holding a device with a bent neck, we tend to breathe shallowly. Over decades, this could damage lungs. …

The male river dolphins urinating high into the air may simply be showing off, like children ( 8 February, p 13 ).

Assuming the chirality of life on Earth was randomly selected and locked in, the opposite chirality could have happened just as easily. We are now exploring other worlds and moons looking for life. What if we discover mirror bacteria on Saturn's moon Titan? Would it be safe to return samples to Earth? Would any hitchhiking …

Numerous peer-reviewed studies have validated the demographic origins of blue zones. The insights extracted from these longevity hotspots have created principles that have helped people live longer, healthier lives for a quarter-century. Claims to the contrary insult the science of demography and the people of blue zones, who are very proud of their culture of …

You report the view that rewilding and nature restoration in the UK and other European nations risks "offshoring" food and forestry production to places where biodiversity and the environment will suffer. Most rewilding in the UK takes place on land of very poor quality, often where farming has been uneconomic for decades and persists only …

In a way, the question "When did time begin?" is a non-question. Time is our manufactured, mental measuring stick, expressed as a word, to gauge and so compare motion. In this sense, it will have begun sometime after we started to use speech, between two other questions you posed: "When did Homo sapiens originate?" and …

The wish, need or preference to pin down a precise official start date for the Anthropocene is curious. The boundary between the preceding epochs, the Pleistocene and Holocene, says Encyclopaedia Britannica , is "around 10,300 ± 200 years" ago. Perhaps it makes sense for the Anthropocene start date to remain uncertain, too ( 22 February, …

I have two further possible explanations for the rise of ancient buildings with corners. I would have thought that it would be easier to construct a waterproof roof over a rectilinear structure than over a round one. Also, what about the ease of adding extensions to structures( 8 March, p 14 )?