gmane.science.physics.whatsnew

What's New Robert L. Park 1 March 2013

Robert Park — 2013-03-02T15:15:43

WHAT’S NEW    Robert L. Park   Friday, 1 Mar 2013   Washington, DC

1. BRAIN ACTIVITY: COMING UP IN THE FY 2014 BUDGET REQUEST.
Although sequestration goes into effect today I can’t seem to remember 
why.  In his 2013 State of the Union address last month President Obama 
cited brain research on Alzheimer's disease as an example of government 
investment in the best ideas.  This month, Congress gets the presidents 
budget request "Every dollar we invested in mapping the human genome," 
President Obama pointed out, "returned $140 to our economy."  A week later 
on the front page of the New York Times, John Markoff described the Brain 
Activity Map Project as a greater challenge than the Human Genome Project.  
Still, it would be a remarkably bold proposal in the midst of an epic 
partisan dispute over the sequestration fiasco.
 
2. VITAL STATISTICS: THE IMPORTANCE OF HEALTH METRICS.
A recent Nature editorial (Nature 494, 281, 2013) characterized the failure 
of much of the world to continuously gather dat

What's New Robert L. Park 15 February 2013

Robert Park — 2013-02-16T03:28:40

WHAT’S NEW    Robert L. Park   Friday, 15 Feb 2013   Washington, DC

1.  CLASS WARFARE: OBAMA'S STATE-OF-THE-UNION ADDRESS.
"It is our unfinished task," the president said, "to restore the basic 
bargain that built this country, the idea that if you work hard and meet 
your responsibilities you can get ahead, no matter where you come from, no 
matter what you look like or who you love."  Equal opportunity was Obama’s 
clear theme.  "Tonight let's declare that, in the wealthiest nation on 
Earth, no one who works full time should have to live in poverty -- and 
raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour." Obama and Romney agreed a 
year ago that the minimum wage should be linked to the cost of living so 
worker's income is not always left lagging behind the economy.  Even 
liberal politicians usually stop there.  However, with families to support, 
workers can't take an unpaid sabbatical to prepare for the next level.  
That option is open only to the wealthy. So Obama proposed an emphasis on 
making hi

What's New Robert L. Park 8 Feb 2013

Robert Park — 2013-02-08T16:11:48

WHAT’S NEW    Robert L. Park   Monday, 8 Feb 2013   Washington, DC

1. THE POLITICAL CLIMATE: GLOBAL WARMING IS NOT INEVITABLE.
"Don't look back," Satchel Paige warned, "something may be gaining on 
you."  Like maybe global warming? The 37-nation Kyoto Protocol to reduce 
greenhouse gas emissions terminated on 1 Jan 2013, having accomplished 
little or nothing in 15 years. Indeed, climate scientists find atmospheric 
carbon increasing faster than ever. If all this is true, and I believe it 
is, the vanishing of the Arctic’s summer sea-ice could mark a tipping point 
that will shift the Earth's climate into a new trajectory that could take 
millennia to reach a new equilibrium, as Clive Hamilton points out in a 
brilliant new book, Requiem for a Species.  Sadly, the issue of climate 
change was almost totally ignored in the 2012 presidential election, pushed 
aside by class warfare. Speaking of class warfare, that's not getting 
better either. 
 
2. PERSONHOOD: HOW MANY CELLS DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE A PERSON

What's New Robert L. Park 16 Jan 2013

Robert Park — 2013-01-16T18:41:50

WHAT'S NEW    Robert L. Park   Wednesday, 16 Jan 2013   Washington, DC 

1. STEM CELL: SUPREME COURT WOULD RATHER NOT TALK ABOUT IT.
Last week the court refused to keep the government out of embryonic-stem-
cell research, which is thought by many to be the most promising approach 
to the treatment of numerous human diseases. About 20 years ago, however, 
anti-abortionists pushed a bill through Congress banning the use of federal 
funds for research on human embryos.  They believed the Holy Ghost bestows 
a soul on the zygote at the moment of conception, making the zygote a 
person (see What’s New, 8 Nov 98).   The Obama administration long ago 
rejected this preposterous superstition, but it was kept alive by an appeal 
to the Supreme Court.  Rejection of the appeal assures continued funding, 
but the delay, contrived on superstitious grounds, may have cost many lives.

2. BREAKTHROUGH:  THE HIGGS WAS THE TOP BREAKTHROUGH IN 2012.
As it does each year, the journal Science picked 10 breakthroughs to mark 
t

What's New Robert L. Park 20 Dec 2012

Robert Park — 2012-12-20T17:06:09

WHAT'S NEW    Robert L. Park    Thursday, 20 Dec 2012   Washington, DC

1. GUN RIGHTS: NOTHING IS CERTAIN EXCEPT DEATH AND TEXAS.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry told a meeting of the Tea Party that you should be 
able to carry your handgun anywhere in Texas.  Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) 
said he wishes the school principal at Newtown had kept an M4 in her 
office. At the sound of gunfire she could have grabbed the carbine and 
blown Adam Lanza’s head off. Unless, of course, Adam, who she didn't know, 
was faster, or a better marksman, or had a bigger gun. I grew up on a farm 
in South Texas, belonged to the National Rifle Association, hunted deer and 
game birds. An Eagle Scout, I taught marksmanship on the rifle range of a 
Boy Scout camp one summer. But a few years later when I came home on leave 
during the Korean War my father told me he had arranged for us to go deer 
hunting. He was hurt when I said I don't hunt anymore. And I don't go back 
to Texas anymore

2.CHILDREN: THEY STILL INSIST ON LEARNING FROM THEIR

What's New Robert L. Park 3 Dec 2012

Robert Park — 2012-12-03T16:05:02

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Monday, 3 Dec 2012   Washington, DC

1. ORGANIC: BEYOND THE HIGH-PRICED STUFF AT THE SUPERMARKET. 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory director Charles Elachi, speaking to an 
international conference at La Sapienza University in Rome last week, 
implied that evidence of extraterrestrial life had been discovered on Mars 
by NASA's Curiosity Rover. The search for life to which we are not related 
is arguably the greatest scientific quest of our time. Although NASA and 
JPL now downplay the story, there’s room for uncertainty. "Organic" is not 
a particularly exclusive club.  There are about 4 million known organic 
compounds and new ones are found every day. There is an urgent need for 
more detail about the discovery and how it was made. But I remind you that 
November is "rutting season."  Even as male deer are fighting over access 
to females, science laboratories around the world are fighting for a share 
of the tight science budget.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the auth

What's New Robert L. Park 22 Nov 2012

Robert Park — 2012-11-24T03:33:34

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park Friday, 22 Nov 2012   Washington, DC
 
1. THE AFFAIRE: WASHINGTON’S TOP SPIN DOCTORS ARE CONFERRING.
The relationship between four-star General David Petraeus and Paula 
Broadwell, his nubile young biographer, has moved into the crisis-
management phase, according to Scott Shane in Wednesday's New York Times.  
Paula did not seem to be an appropriate perk for the Director of the CIA.  
However, if the real purpose was to free Petraeus to promote his biography, 
the tawdry affair could be spun as a clever tactic. Including a few details 
on the affaire could make the biography a best-seller. Meanwhile, other 
general officers are said to be ordering their staff to "shred" all, 
uh, "personal" e-mails, but Washington computer-security experts tell WN 
that you can't shred e-mail.  Once it enters "the cloud," e-mail, like 
diamonds, are forever.  (Aside: Voice recognition is a wonderful tool, but 
no matter how I enunciate "Petraeus," the Dragon insists on transcribing it 
as "betr

What's New Robert L. Park 1 Nov 2012

Robert Park — 2012-11-03T18:58:22

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 1 Nov 2012   Washington, DC

1. THE ROMNEY TAPE: AM I TOO OLD TO ENLIST IN THE CLASS WAR?
I don't think anyone has a problem figuring out where I stand on science, 
religion or politics, but a month ago I watched the now notorious "Romney 
tape.” Surreptitiously recorded at a $50,000-a-plate fundraiser for Mitt 
Romney, held in the palatial Florida residence of one of his supporters, it 
was deeply disturbing. The Mitt Romney on that tape, openly sharing his 
plans for the presidency and his contempt for the ordinary wage earner is 
unknown to the general public.  Why don't we withhold our vote?  Who would 
notice?

2. THE REPUBLICAN STRATEGY: EVERYONE AGREES IT WORKS – SO FAR.
The GOP problem in 2008 was dire; the administration of George W. Bush had 
been a disaster, squandering the record budget surplus, of Bill Clinton. 
Republicans could only invoke memories of the mythic era of Ronald Reagan. 
But Ronald Reagan used his personal charm to persuade Democratic lea

What's New 16 October 2012

Robert Park — 2012-10-16T17:33:18

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L Park   Monday, 15 Oct 2012   Washington, DC

1. MALALA YOUSAFZAI: ALL SHE WANTED WAS TO GO TO SCHOOL.
The 14-year-old Pakistani girl, shot in the head point-blank and nearly 
killed by the Taliban for supporting education for girls, has been 
transported to the UK for medical treatment.  Gordon Brown, former Prime 
Minister and U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education said in a statement 
today that he is launching a worldwide petition in support of Malala and 
every child in Pakistan to receive an education. In 2003 an arm of the 
Taliban imposed strict religious law in Pakistan, as it had in neighboring 
Afghanistan. Music was banned, and girls were forbidden to go to school. 

2. DEBATING THE DEBATE: WILL THEY TALK ABOUT THE 47% THIS TIME? 
Who knows? The Debates are by now an accepted part of the Presidential 
selection process. However, the ground rules are reinvented for each 
election. So what are we looking for in a President? Everyone has their own 
list, which can include anyth

What's New Robert L. Park 5 Oct 2012

Robert Park — 2012-10-05T17:52:57

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 5 October 2012   Washington, DC

THE REVERSAL: WILL THE REAL MITT ROMNEY PLEASE STAND UP.
Many readers objected to the political content of Wednesday's WN.  I 
confess that I was uncomfortable writing it, but the Romney Tape (WN 3 Oct 
12) dealt with policy issues that could profoundly affect science policy. 
My advice to President Obama would have been to make every effort to keep 
Wednesday's debate focused on Romney's words at the secret $50,000-per-
plate fundraiser, including his remark that 47 percent of voters are 
dependent on government and unlikely to support him in the November 6 
election. I was in shock when Obama failed to bring it up in the debate, 
but this morning at 6:34ET, there was Mitt Romney on CNN acknowledging 
that, "I was completely wrong," in spite of the fact on Thursday, one day 
earlier, he still strongly defended his 47% remark. I have no idea why he 
changed his memory this morning, although several possibilities come to 
mind. The preside

What's New Robert L. Park 3 2012

Robert Park — 2012-10-03T18:30:27

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L Park   Tuesday, 2 October 2012   Washington, DC

THE ROMNEY TAPE: AM I TOO OLD TO ENLIST IN THE CLASS WAR?
I first heard the Romney calculus many years ago in Peru.  A government 
official explained to me that: "Most of the population doesn't count; they 
pay no taxes and receive no government services." There was a revolution. I 
was not at the $50,000-a-plate fundraiser for Romney, held at the 
multimillion dollar Florida palace of one of his supporters.  "I mean, 
there won't be any houses like this if we stay on the road we're on," 
Romney told his supporters. Hmm, I think I could live with that. It's the 
person who surreptitiously taped the event and shared it with the rest of 
us that I want to know.  Nobody goes to a $50,000-a-plate affair for the 
food; it's the connections, which in Romney's case began at Cranbrook 
School in the affluent Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills, a traditional 
private boys preparatory school, with a $300 million endowment.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLA

What's New Robert L. Park 27 September 2012

Robert Park — 2012-09-27T18:05:22

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L Park   Thursday, 27 Sept 2012   Washington, DC

1. DELAY: WHAT’S NEW WAS AGAIN DELAYED BY SERVER PROBLEMS.
OT says they’ve solved it this time. Sure. Here's updates on some problems 
that never go away. 

2. "INNOCENCE OF MUSLIMS": WN DOES NOT RECOMMEND THIS FILM.
To form my own opinion about this unpleasant piece of trash, written and 
produced by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, an Egyptian Copt on parole for fraud, 
I first had to sit through it.  I’m not a film critic but I don't think 
Nakoula is expecting an Academy Award.  Salman Rushdie, the brilliant 
author of Satanic Verses, he is not, although there is a fatwa on both of 
them.  To parade their moral outrage, a mob of mindless Muslims murdered 
four Americans, including the Ambassador Chris Stevens, who of course had 
nothing to do with the film. So who expects religion to make sense? God 
speaks only to prophets. The rest of us are supposed to take their word for 
it. 

2. ENCODE: THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DNA ELEMENTS.
By 2001, s

What's New Robert L. Park 30 Aug 2012

Robert Park — 2012-08-30T19:59:02

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L Park   Monday, 27 Aug 2012   Washington, DC   1. 

1. EPIDEMIOLOGY: WORDS MEAN WHAT THE DICTIONARY SAYS THEY MEAN.
Is epidemiology a science?  Last week's WN said it's not – but a lot of 
people disagreed. I got far more mail than I could answer. This is my 
response.  I’m a physicist by training, and a troublemaker by inclination; 
a lexicographer I am not.  So I consulted a number of dictionaries; not one 
classified epidemiology as a science. However, they characterized it as 
a "branch of medicine." Does that make epidemiology a science?  I don't 
think so, but I doubt if I will ever again say it's not.  The distinction I 
wanted to make is that science is concerned with the cause-and-effect 
relationship between physical events.  Epidemiology, by contrast, looks for 
correlation. That's important too. It guides scientists in the search for 
causality, but to confuse causality with correlation is a serious error in 
logic. It's also a very common mistake.

2. ZAPPED: WHAT IS T

What's New Robert L. Park 9 Aug 2012

Robert Park — 2012-08-09T20:34:52

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park    Thursday, 9 Aug 2012   Washington, DC

1. THE LONG, HOT SUMMER: WHERE HAS WHAT’S NEW BEEN?
You don’t really want to know.  Nevertheless, What’s New lives and there’s 
a lot we need to catch up on, so let’s get started.  

2. CURIOSITY: THE ADVENTURES OF A VIRTUAL ASTRONAUT.
Launching the Mars Science Laboratory Rover on a 150,000,000 mile journey 
to Gale Crater on Mars was a lot easier than landing it safely once it got 
there, but NASA pulled the incredible landing maneuver off perfectly.  
After all, this was science-NASA, the part of NASA that explores the moons 
of Saturn with unmanned spacecraft, and uses space telescopes to discover 
exoplanets orbiting distant stars. The new Rover, which also answers to the 
whimsical name “Curiosity,” will explore Gale Crater for one Martian year 
(687 Earth days) looking for evidence of extraterrestrial life.  This may 
call for a sample return mission, but it’s still the greatest quest in 
science.  There are, howev

What's New Robert L. Park 3 July 2012

Robert Park — 2012-07-03T17:06:37

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park Friday, 3 July 2012   Washington, DC

1. INDEPENDENCE DAY: THE HIGGS FIELD IS ALL THERE IS.
After 200,000 years or so of putting up with imposters, the creator has 
been exposed. CERN will hold a press conference with the details tomorrow.

2. FCC: CELLPHONES DON’T CAUSE CANCER, BUT . . .
The spectacular increase in the use of wireless communication over the past 
15 years led the Federal Communications Commission to start planning its 
first review of wireless safety since 1996.  A BBC News Report in 1996 
showed terrified refugees clogging a primitive road to escape the fighting 
in Kosovo. Refugee lines are as common as war, but a farmer dangling his 
legs from the back of a dilapidated oxcart was talking on his cell phone. I 
have trouble understanding why there was a war in Kosovo in 1996, but the 
use of a cell-phone by an ordinary farmer, in a country most of us could 
not point to on the map, was no mystery: It’s an amazing technology that 
would soon spread over the

What's New Robert L. Park 3 July 2012

Robert Park — 2012-07-03T17:06:37

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park Friday, 3 July 2012   Washington, DC

1. INDEPENDENCE DAY: THE HIGGS FIELD IS ALL THERE IS.
After 200,000 years or so of putting up with imposters, the creator has 
been exposed. CERN will hold a press conference with the details tomorrow.

2. FCC: CELLPHONES DON’T CAUSE CANCER, BUT . . .
The spectacular increase in the use of wireless communication over the past 
15 years led the Federal Communications Commission to start planning its 
first review of wireless safety since 1996.  A BBC News Report in 1996 
showed terrified refugees clogging a primitive road to escape the fighting 
in Kosovo. Refugee lines are as common as war, but a farmer dangling his 
legs from the back of a dilapidated oxcart was talking on his cell phone. I 
have trouble understanding why there was a war in Kosovo in 1996, but the 
use of a cell-phone by an ordinary farmer, in a country most of us could 
not point to on the map, was no mystery: It’s an amazing technology that 
would soon spread over the

What's New Robert L. Park 13 June 2012

Robert Park — 2012-06-13T15:36:13

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 13 Jun 2012    Washington, DC 

1. VACCINATION: THERE IS NO INOCULATION AGAINST INCOMPETENCE. 
Vaccination programs prevent more human suffering than any other branch of 
medicine.  Their success depends on public confidence in their safety.  But 
according to a report released last Wednesday by the U.S. Department of 
Health, spot checks by the Office of the Inspector General finds that free 
vaccines, provided under the nationwide Vaccines for Children program, are 
often stored at the wrong temperature, which can render them ineffective.  
The first generation to receive MMR vaccinations are now parents. They have 
been spared not only the direct misery of the illness, but also serious 
side effects that can show up many years later.  They should be the first 
to demand strict standards of safety and effectiveness in administering 
vaccines. Someday perhaps, eradication of pathogenic diseases will be 
routine, but were not there yet.  What prevents it?  

2. ERADICA

What's New Robert L. Park 30 May 2012

Robert Park — 2012-05-30T17:10:46

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 30 May 2012    Washington, DC 

1. NATURAL LAW: CATHOLIC INSTITUTIONS SUE THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION.
The lawsuit argues that the Obama healthcare plan violates the religious 
freedom of Catholic institutions by requiring them to cover the 
contraception costs of employees.  In the eyes of the Church, artificial 
contraception violates the doctrine of Natural Law.  If sexual intercourse 
cannot lead to procreation it removes the sovereignty of God over Creation. 
Try thinking that through while having sex. What are the odds of the Church 
winning its suit?  The Church hasn't won a case based on Natural Law since 
615 when the Inquisition forced Galileo to recant his belief in a 
heliocentric universe.

2. SPACE X: SPACE TRANSPORT COMPANY DELIVERED NO ONE TO THE ISS. 
Founded in 2002 by PayPal entrepreneur Elon Musk, Space X last Friday 
became the first private company to dock on the International Space 
Station.  Presidential science adviser John Holdren called it, "an

What's New Robert L. Park 18 May 2012

Robert Park — 2012-05-19T12:28:21

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 18 May 2012    Washington, DC 

1. BOMBS: AN "OPEN-MIC BOMB" IS DETONATED ON THE HOUSE FLOOR.
At a nuclear safety summit in March, President Obama, unaware that a nearby 
microphone was live, told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he would 
have “more flexibility” in missile defense negotiations after the 2012 
elections. The United States currently maintains an arsenal of 5,113 
nuclear warheads, down from a peak of 31,225 in 1967, but it’s still vastly 
beyond any conceivable need, expensive to maintain and a target for 
diversion by terrorists. Nevertheless, determined to sabotage any Obama 
initiative, House Republicans voted yesterday to block nuclear stockpile 
reduction. 

2. FIRE RETARDANTS: CHICAGO TRIBUNE EXPOSES INDUSTRY SCAM.
Last week the Chicago Tribune published a riveting four-part 
series, "Playing With Fire," about the widespread use of toxic flame-
retardant chemicals. It's not like it's a trade-off, where fire safety 
comes at the cost of

What's New Robert L. Park 6 May 2012

Robert Park — 2012-05-06T21:35:17

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park   Sunday, 6 May 2012    Washington, DC

1. ALBERT WHO?  DEAD PHYSICIST DISPELS MOBILE-PHONE MYTH. 
According to news reports last week: "There is still no evidence of harm to 
health from mobile-phone technologies," or other wireless devices such as 
Wi-Fi.  A study for the UK's Health Protection Agency (HPA) is said to be 
the most complete review yet and new evidence is still being examined, 
according to Professor Anthony Swerdlow of the Institute of Cancer 
Research, who chaired the study.  I once had a rubber stamp made that 
said: "More research is needed," since it’s found at the end of every 
science paper. The unanswered question is why anyone thought microwave 
radiation might be a cancer agent in the first place?  Cancer is linked to 
the formation of mutant strands of DNA.  More than 100 years ago in his 
1905 paper on the photoelectric effect, Albert Einstein predicted an abrupt 
threshold for photoemission at about 5 eV, just above the lovely blue limit 
of the v

What's New Robert L. Park 24 April 2012

Robert Park — 2012-04-24T18:05:26

WHAT'S NEW    Robert L. Park   Tuesday, 24 April 2012    Washington, DC

1. THE MOMMY WAR: THE GREAT CULTURAL REVOLUTION OF OUR AGE. 
Was rich stay-at-home-mom Ann Romney detached from the real world, or just 
a hard-working mom devoted to rearing her offspring? The media told the 
story both ways. The only mistake Hilary Rosen made was to apologize for 
saying Ann Romney "never worked a day in her life." In the context of 
holding a job, Hilary was right.  "I made a choice to stay home and raise 
five boys," Ann Romney said; "Believe me, it was hard work."  But few women 
today have that choice; they need their job to help feed their families.  
Many wouldn't want it any other way.  The rate at which women are assuming 
leadership positions in government and industry is unprecedented.  The 
invention of "the pill" in the 1960s freed women to explore their potential 
as equal members of the human race. So does it matter that Ann Romney 
decided to stay home and have babies?  Of course it matters; this tiny