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If cows does this mean they're using Pat-Nav?
Alex, Oxford

This concerns the article "Cattle Shown To Align North-South". I have alternative thinking on this. A north-south aligned animal (such as cattle, deer, etc) will expose more body surface area to the sun. Less body area is exposed to the colder north and south winds. Cattle tend to graze parallel to waters, most of which (in North America) flow north to south, giving the stock a longer feed with fewer barriers. Lastly, the lay-down of the grasses tends to be north-south. It may be easier for grazers to get a bite on such grasses. A nodding motion rather than side-to-side.
John D Rockhill, Tempe, Arizona, USA

In "Cattle shown to align north-south", we are told that animals graze in the same direction, something which has allegedly remained unnoticed for "thousands of years". Although not of farming stock, I can think of at least one instance where this phenomenon was discussed as common knowledge: in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. The eponymous hero has to prove his rural credentials by answering (inter alia) the following question.

"If fifteen cows is browsing on a hillside, how many of them eats with their heads pointed the same direction?"

"The whole fifteen, mum."

"Well, I reckon you HAVE lived in the country..."
David, Dublin

Sorry, but smiling pictures of Team GB's return from Beijing just make me grumpy. I also flew into Heathrow yesterday afternoon, but not until my plane had circled a few times waiting for a landing slot, while presumably the Team GB plane flew straight in. Given that most of them seem to enjoy going pointlessly round in circles, I'm sure it would have been better to make their flight circle over Heathrow instead.
Adam, London, UK

Those . Blown up because they were structurally unstable. Despite having 3,000 holes drilled in it which were filled with explosives, a third of the north tower remained standing after the explosion. That's not my definition of unstable.
Dave Moore, Par, Cornwall

Can I ask why so many of your stories seem to have sprung mysterious "quotations" all of a sudden? This epidemic seems to "afflict most sections of your site", but is seemingly "most prevalent" on the Health pages, where I counted 13 out of 17 headlines had "Inverted Comma Syndrome". Could someone tell me "what they mean" and "why they're used"? Are they denoting "quotations", "paraphrasing", "irony" or simply "rapidly becoming more irritating than the overuse of the word 'row'"?
Alex Knibb, Bristol, UK

Francesca (Monday's letters) - I too always thought Meatloaf alleged to be a Cilla Black fan on ice, until my husband appraised me of the fact he actually hits the highway "on a silver black Phantom bike". But I'm still convinced Beelzebub has a devil for a sideboard.
Kate, York

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