Please explain

This is with reference to New light on black holes (August 21), describing the high probability of the existence of Cenbol as conjectured by Prof. Sandip Chakraborti and Dr Anuj Nandi. The article was interesting, but certain clarifications for a novice like me could have made it even more helpful. The traffic jam theory would have been more conceivable had it spoken about taking alternate routes to avoid jammed paths. Otherwise, the black hole at the jamming spot can never be avoided — it can at best only be delayed. The article did not mention the distance at which matter approaching the black hole starts oscillating. The story did summarise that in the distant future, the universe will shrink. But I wonder whether black holes obey any tenets of creation or existence or the future of the universe, be it the Big Bang theory or otherwise! Incidentally, the snippet Gravity Change (August 21) did speak about the calamities changing the earth’s surface. But it did not speak about any gravitational change in the centre of gravity, although one agrees that such a change would make a very small difference to the earth’s rotational time.

Piyush Banerjee Calcutta

Old is reliable

The article Old drug still offers hope (August 14) has managed to convince us that chloroquine can cure malaria. The explanation provided is almost the same as in an article in the journal, Transactions. I would like to state that the incidence of vivax malaria is somewhat higher than 50 per cent, as suggested by your article. What I am worried about is the usage of malarial drugs of higher grades at the very beginning without considering the effectiveness of local, primary ones. Doing so would further complicate the condition of the patient. I think the higher grade medicine should only be administered if the primary ones fail.

Dr S. K. Rudra Bankura

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