From Ian Gammie, St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK
The cool fabric for clothing that you describe may be rewarding for the scientists who designed it, but could it be damaging to the environment? Its three layers – wool or cotton, silver nanowires and polymethylpentene – could be a nightmare to recycle, particularly as many people wear fashionable items for a short period and then discard them. It would be fine to use this material in buildings, but not clothing (22 June, p 12).
