Readers talk about jazz music, the subsequent technology of astronauts and extra

In full swing

The swaying feeling in jazz music that compels ft to faucet could 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 observed these refined delays whereas taking part in.“I recorded my ‘jazzy’ model of a beloved Christmas carol, which I despatched to a buddy of mine,” Lisa wrote. “She praised my effort general, however she instructed 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 believe 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 might 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

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

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

The story additionally reminded Allen of the Gallaudet Eleven, a bunch of deaf adults who participated in analysis completed by NASA and the U.S. Navy within the Fifties and ’60s. Experiments examined how the volunteers responded (or didn’t) to a spread of eventualities that may usually induce movement illness, corresponding to a ferry journey on uneven seas. Finding out how the physique’s sensory techniques work with out the same old gravitational cues from the internal ear allowed scientists to higher perceive movement illness and the human physique’s adaptation to spaceflight.

Candy desires are product of this

A memory-enhancing methodology that makes use of sound cues could enhance a longtime therapy 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 night time’s sleep: “I discovered that I used to be having sturdy disagreeable adventures whereas sleeping, and I might awaken sizzling and sweaty. By eliminating the quantity of warmth from bedding and an electrically heated mattress pad, I now sleep nicely 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 guide, Pests. The guide argues that people — influenced by tradition, class, colonization and rather more — create animal villains.

The article prompted reader Doug Clapp to replicate on what he considers pests or weeds. “A weed is a plant within the mistaken place, and a pest is an animal within the mistaken place,” Clapp wrote. However what’s thought-about “mistaken” relies on the people who’ve energy over the place, he famous. “Grass in a garden generally is a tremendous factor. Grass in a backyard choking the greens I’m attempting to develop turns into a weed. Mice within the wild don’t trouble me. Area mice migrating into my home when the climate cools develop into a pest, particularly after they eat into my meals and go away feces behind,” Clapp wrote.

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