Readers focus on jazz music, the following era of astronauts and extra

In full swing

The swaying feeling in jazz music that compels toes to faucet might come up from near-imperceptible delays in musicians’ timing, Nikk Ogasa reported in “Jazz will get its swing from small, refined delays” (SN: 11/19/22, p. 5).

Reader Oda Lisa, a self-described intermediate saxophonist, has seen these refined delays whereas taking part in.“I recorded my ‘jazzy’ model of a beloved Christmas carol, which I despatched to a pal of mine,” Lisa wrote. “She praised my effort general, however she advised that I get a metronome as a result of the timing wasn’t constant. My response was that I’m a slave to the rhythm that I hear in my head. I feel now I do know why.”

On the identical web page

Murky definitions and measurements impede social science analysis, Sujata Gupta reported in “Fuzzy definitions mar social science” (SN: 11/19/22, p. 10).

Reader Linda Ferrazzara discovered the story thought-provoking. “If there’s no consensus on the phrases individuals use … then there may be no productive dialogue or dialog. Individuals find yourself speaking and dealing at cross-purposes with no mutual understanding or progress,” Ferrazzara wrote.

Fly me to the moon

Area companies are making ready to ship the following era of astronauts to the moon and past. These crews can be extra numerous in background and experience than the crews of the Apollo missions, Lisa Grossman reported in “Who will get to go to area?” (SN: 12/3/22, p. 20).

“It’s nice to see a broader recognition of the work being performed to make spaceflight open to extra individuals,” reader John Allen wrote. “Future area journey will and should accommodate a inhabitants that represents humanity. It gained’t be simple, however it is going to be performed.”

The story additionally reminded Allen of the Gallaudet Eleven, a gaggle of deaf adults who participated in analysis performed by NASA and the U.S. Navy within the Nineteen Fifties and ’60s. Experiments examined how the volunteers responded (or didn’t) to a variety of situations that may usually induce movement illness, akin to a ferry experience on uneven seas. Finding out how the physique’s sensory techniques work with out the standard gravitational cues from the inside ear allowed scientists to higher perceive movement illness and the human physique’s adaptation to spaceflight.

Candy goals are manufactured from this

A memory-enhancing methodology that makes use of sound cues might increase a longtime remedy for debilitating nightmares, Jackie Rocheleau reported in “L­incomes trick places nightmares to mattress” (SN: 12/3/22, p. 11).

Reader Helen Leaver shared her trick to an excellent evening’s sleep: “I realized that I used to be having sturdy disagreeable adventures whereas sleeping, and I’d awaken scorching and sweaty. By eliminating the quantity of warmth from bedding and an electrically heated mattress pad, I now sleep effectively with out these nightmares.”

Pest views

In “Why will we hate pests?” (SN: 12/3/22, p. 26), Deborah Balthazar interviewed former Science Information Explores workers author Bethany Brookshire about her new e book, Pests. The e book argues that people — influenced by tradition, class, colonization and far more — create animal villains.

The article prompted reader Doug Clapp to mirror on what he considers pests or weeds. “A weed is a plant within the improper place, and a pest is an animal within the improper place,” Clapp wrote. However what’s thought of “improper” relies on the people who’ve energy over the place, he famous. “Grass in a garden is usually a high quality factor. Grass in a backyard choking the greens I’m making an attempt to develop turns into a weed. Mice within the wild don’t hassle me. Area mice migrating into my home when the climate cools turn out to be a pest, particularly after they eat into my meals and depart feces behind,” Clapp wrote.

The article inspired Clapp to take a look at pests via a societal lens: “I had by no means considered pests when it comes to high-class or low-class. Likewise, the residual implications of [colonization]. Thanks for scary me to think about a few of these points in a broader context.”