FUSsa-talk Mailing List: Fwd: [BOBPARKS-WHATSNEW] What's New September 25, 2009

[Robert Tapp (tappx001]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Robert Tapp <tappx001 [at] umn.edu>
> Date: September 25, 2009 8:21:08 PM CDT
> To: Humanist Institute Discussion List <hidisc [at] humanistinstitute.org>
>
>
> #2 is crucial (in all the meanings of that word!)
>
> Bob
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> > From: "What's New" <whatsnew [at] BOBPARK.ORG>
> > Date: September 25, 2009 7:08:05 PM CDT
> > To: BOBPARKS-WHATSNEW [at] LISTSERV.UMD.EDU
> > Subject: [BOBPARKS-WHATSNEW] What's New September 25, 2009
> > Reply-To: whatsnew [at] BOBPARK.ORG
> >
> > WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park    Friday, 25 Sep 09   Washington, DC
> >
> > 1.  CELL PHONES: "INCONCLUSIVE" MEANS THEY FOUND NOTHING.
> > Last week, Senate hearings were held asking whether cell phones  
> > cause brain
> > cancer. Brian Walsh, writing for Time, described the outcome
> > as "inconclusive." A collective groan rose from the nation’s
> > physicists.  "Not again?"  It's been almost 17 years since David  
> > Reynard,
> > whose wife died from brain cancer, was on Larry King Live.  Reynard  
> > was
> > suing the cell phone industry.  He said his wife, "held it against  
> > her
> > head, and talked on it all the time."  That was enough for Larry  
> > King.
> > However, all known cancer agent act by breaking chemical bonds,  
> > producing
> > mutant strands of DNA.  It would be like suing me for hitting  
> > someone with
> > a rock thrown across the Potomac River.  George Washington is said  
> > to have
> > thrown a silver dollar across the Potomac.  I can't throw that far,  
> > and
> > microwave photons can't break chemical bonds.  Not until you get up  
> > to the
> > near ultraviolet, about 10,000 times more energetic than  
> > microwaves, are
> > photons capable of causing cancer
> > http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/93/3/166 .
> >
> > 2.  LIMITS TO GROWTH:  NOW IT’S CALLED "PLANETARY BOUNDARIES."
> > It seemed to many of us that the culture police must have outlawed  
> > any
> > mention of Earth's ultimate problem.  The word "population" is now  
> > rarely
> > mentioned by the media. This week in Nature, the population problem  
> > is
> > given a new name.  "A Safe Operating Space for Humanity" is the  
> > Feature in
> > today's issue.  It’s an edited summary of a longer paper available  
> > at the
> > Stockholm Resilience Centre.  The study was led by Johan  
> > Rockstrom.  To
> > facilitate debate and discussion, Nature is simultaneously  
> > publishing a
> > number of linked commentaries from independent experts.  It may be  
> > the most
> > important project Nature has ever undertaken.  Numerical boundaries  
> > to
> > human activity beyond which our planet would risk not recovering are:
> > anthropogenic climate change, ozone depletion, ocean acidification,
> > biodiversity, freshwater, the global nitrogen and phosphorus  
> > cycles, and
> > change in land use.  In the case of anthropogenic climate change  
> > and human
> > modification of the nitrogen cycle we may already have crossed the
> > boundary.  It could be argued that the boundaries are simply  
> > surrogates for
> > the overriding problem of reducing human population.
> >
> > 3.  SNIFFER: PORTABLE BOMB DETECTER LOCATES PIGEONS.
> > According to NPR, Iraqi authorities have spent millions of dollars to
> > outfit checkpoints with handheld devices that point to explosive
> > materials.  Many U.S. officials scoff that it’s about as reliable as
> > dowsing for water, but others think dowsing works too.  In fact, the
> > Pentagon has bought a few
> > http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN98/wn092598.html .
> >
> > 4.  NASA:  AUGUSTINE’S HEAVTY DOSE OF REALITY THERAPY.
> > The Augustine summary was mostly advice on living within your  
> > budget. The
> > summary advises extending the life of the ISS, but not because any
> > important discoveries are likely.  Rather, as the Economist put
> > it, "spending a quarter of a century building something and then  
> > scuttling
> > it looks bad, even if the science that’s been done on board could be
> > written up on the back of a postage stamp."
> >
> > THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
> > Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
> > University of Maryland, but they should be.
> > ---
> > Archives of What's New can be found at http://www.bobpark.org
> > What's New is moving to a different listserver and our
> > subscription process has changed. To change your subscription
> > status please visit this link:
> > http://listserv.umd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=bobparks-whatsnew&A=1