Letters to the Editor: Vaping, Mutant Sharks, and the Cougar Conspiracy

Hello, Motherboard readers, from frigid and snowy Toronto.

As your new-ish Canada editor, I've been focused on bringing you stories about all the big, important science and tech stuff happening across the country. And this week, I found myself consumed by a really important question—are there wild cougars in Nova Scotia?

If you know anybody from Nova Scotia, ask them about it. There's a decent chance you will find yourself sucked into a heated debate. That's because wild cougars are like Eastern Canada's version of Yeti or Bigfoot—a lot of people are really, really convinced they're out there, roaming the forests. But there is zero proof of it.

So, when I wrote about how scientists are finally giving up on a ten-year study looking for proof of wild cougars in Nova Scotia—ten years! And they never found one—I had to ask our readers if they'd ever encountered one before.

The answers delighted, but did not surprise, me.

Here's a roundup of some of the emails we got this week.

RE: After 10 Years, Scientists Searching for Nova Scotia Cougars Call It Quits

I've lived in Cape Breton Island my whole life and I've had a up close and personal encounter with a cougar once. It was about 5 - 7 years ago when i was riding my bike along the road when cougar came up from down in the ditch on the other side in a hurry. He was just as surprised to see me and turned around immediately. Unmistakably a cougar with that size, short hair, light tan colour and long, thick tail. In no way a great dane, bobcat or lynx. This happened in Christmas Island and I know of other sightings around the community.

Adam Sheppard

Hi Adam,

Wow! Do you have any photos of cougars in your area?

Kate

Hi Kate

Unfortunately I have no photos of the encounter and as it lasted a grand total of 4 seconds, there was no chance to grab one.

All the best.

RE: Old Volvos Last Forever, So This Guy's Making Them Electric

One thing the article on converting old Volvos to electric didn't mention is that it is far less impact on the environment to convert an existing vehicle to electric than to mine, transport, and process all the materials, and fabricate all the parts, to make a new one. It is also less expensive. With Leaf, Tesla, and other parts now becoming available from junkyards, it is getting cheaper and is even less impact to the environment as those parts get re-used rather than processed for scrap metal. Still far greater impact than a bicycle though.

Tom Wicker

RE: Vaping's Dirty Little Secret

Hello Kaleigh and the Editors of Vice,

I was reading your article and you linked to the ISO Standards and claimed that the higher the number the cleaner it is, but in the article's link, the ISO standards are actually the opposite.

Here's the link you referenced, and I have included a screen shot of the standards I (and you) are referring to in "Vaping's Dirty Little Secrets". I do applaud your efforts to gain some traction towards at least some regulation, and I loved the questions to juice makers and FDA about "does it need to just meet tobacco standards of cleanliness, or are we looking at "medical grade" inhaler type cleanliness.

Thank you for getting the word out there, I am a strong advocate for "self-regulation" and know that when the FDA/Government does crack down, the ball is in our (vaper's) court to either comply, fight, or dissolve as an industry.

Thank you,

Ty Humphreys

Thanks so much for writing and giving me the head's up. We've fixed the error and added a correction to the story.

Cheers,

Kaleigh

RE: I Tried Tripping on Virtual Reality

Hey Victoria,

Just read your article covering the PsychFi event on Tuesday. Great stuff—I was actually at the event too. However, I feel there is more to be said about the far future of cyberdelia.

It was touched on with the idea of nanobots in the brain stimulating neurons and creating wholly new 'psychedelic' experiences. In theory, such nanobots would be able to stimulate our brains in a much more rhythmic, dynamic and deliberate way than traditional 'blunt' psychedelics ever could.

In essence I think the question we should be asking is not, "will cyberdelics (and VR) ever match psychedelics?", but rather, "Will cyberdelics ever surpass psychedelics?"

Here's a video which sums up this idea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YddWybgvszs

Anyway, keep up the good work!

Merlin

RE: A Proposed Condom Law Could Help Stalkers Harass Porn Stars, Get Paid for It

Hello,

This letter is in regard to your article: A Proposed Condom Law Could Help Stalkers Harass Porn Stars, Get Paid for It. There are some serious errors in the article.

During Cal/OSHA investigations on adult film sets, employees are asked about their work exposures as well as whatever measures the employer has taken to comply with applicable regulations. This would include information about what conduct was engaged in during the shoot, the use of barrier protection, vaccination records, employer medical follow-up after exposure and other requirements of the bloodborne pathogen regulation. The same questions would be asked of any other employee exposed or reasonably expected to be exposed to blood or OPIM on the job. The information is necessary to determine compliance with the regulation and the hazards employees are exposed to.

However, we take employee privacy extremely seriously and that information is not shared with the public. To the contrary, all personal information such as names, social security information and medical information is redacted before any file is given to the public in response to a request for information. Your article states that this is not the case. We would appreciate a correction.

Thank you,

Julia L. Bernstein

Public Information Officer

CA Dept. of Industrial Relations

RE: What The Heck Is This Shark?

Dear sir or madam,

Thank you for the interesting article about the catch of the swell shark.

I just wanted to correct one statement in the text:

The by far primary reason of shark death is the commercial fishery which catches about 70 million sharks per year. This is mainly due to the demand of shark fins (worms 2014 or clarke 2007).

You might want to check this information with fisheries or shark scientists.

All the best,

Johanna Zimmerhackel

Hi Johanna!

I wrote the story "What the Heck Is This Shark?", and received your letter to the editor about it. You are correct about bycatch not being the primary driver of shark mortality, but rather a primary driver of shark mortality. This was a mistranscription on my part and I've corrected the story to reflect that.

Thanks so much for reading the article. I hope you enjoyed it otherwise!

Best,

Sarah