What's New this week

[Susan Gawarecki <loc@ICX.NET>]

Here is this week's "What's New" (with several physics &/or rad-related

items) for your amusement & edification:



WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 26 Oct 01   Washington, DC



1. MISSILE DEFENSE: THE 1972 ABM TREATY STILL STANDS IN THE WAY. 

On Monday, it looked like a sure thing.  A front-page headline in

the Washington Post read, "Bush and Putin Edge Closer to Missile

Deal."  The deal presumably was that, in spite of the ABM treaty, 

Russia would allow us to build a missile defense if we would

agree to major cuts in nuclear arsenals.  By Tuesday, the Post

was acknowledging on page 19 that "Missile Pact Still Divides

U.S., Russia."  This morning, the Post headline was: "Missile

Defense Tests Are Put Off," at least until after the scheduled 3-

day visit of Putin starting Nov. 12, as WN predicted two months

ago.  The New York Times quotes an administration official as

explaining that there was "no need to do something provocative."



2. SCIENCE ADVISOR: JOHN H. MARBURGER III IS CONFIRMED BY SENATE.

Nominated by President Bush in June (WN 22 Jun 01), Marburger's  

confirmation was assured even as the nation faced a technological

threat unlike any other in our history.  With a PhD in Physics

from Stanford (1962) and experience as a physics professor,

university president, and Director of Brookhaven National Lab,

there was never a question of whether Marburger is qualified to

serve as the President's science advisor and head of OSTP.



3. MARS ODYSSEY: CONVERSION OF UNITS DIDN'T SEEM TO BE A PROBLEM.

The first Mars probe since the multiple disasters of '99 is

expected to search for evidence of water on the barren planet.



4. ALTERNATIVE READING: TWO VERY DIFFERENT BOOKS DEFEND SCIENCE.

When John Diamond, a popular columnist for the London Times, died

after a seven-year fight with cancer, he left six chapters of "an

uncomplimentary book about complementary medicine."  Fortunately,

his unfinished book has been published as "Snake Oil" (Vintage,

London, 2001).  As a very public cancer victim, Diamond had been

targeted by the purveyors of alternative medicine with promises

of miracles.  But to the end, he never lost his sense of humor,

nor his confidence in the simple logic of the scientific method. 

Steven Milloy, publisher of JunkScience.com, has also written a

book exposing health scams: "Junk Science Judo" (Cato Institute,

Washington,2001), but Milloy focuses his ire on gross abuses of

statistics to support unscientific claims.  Many of his targets

are familiar to readers of WN: baloney statistics on cell phones,

alar, low-level nuclear waste, power-line EMF, radon etc.  I

found myself getting uncomfortable, however, when he attacked

studies that claim second-hand smoke is a serious health problem,

or that gun locks save children's lives.  It was the choice of 

targets in such a target-rich field that bothered me.  We should

never tolerate sloppy science, and the evidence in these cases is

sloppy to say the least.  Still, I could not bring myself to feel

sorry for the gun owners, much less the tobacco companies.  

                              

THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY and THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND. 

Opinions are the author's and are not necessarily shared by the

American Physical Society or the University, but they should be.

-- 

.....................................................

Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director

Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee

Please visit our Web site - http://www.local-oversight.org

.....................................................

************************************************************************

You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,

send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu  Put the text "unsubscribe

radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.