Superhawks, techno-psychics, herbal non-remedies, and more "EMF"

[Susan L Gawarecki <loc@icx.net>]

Dr. Park is in particularly good form today.  There may be one or two 

"on-topic" issues in the following WN.



--Susan Gawarecki



WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 23 Aug 02   Washington, DC



1. MISSILE DEFENSE: RUMSFELD DISCOVERS CRUISE MISSILES.  So far

we've spent maybe $95B trying to stop ballistic missiles, but

it's not going too well (WN 14 Jun 02).  The solution?  Find a

missile that's easier to stop.  According to the Washington Post,

Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld sent the White House a classified

memo warning that cruise-missile technology is the really big

threat these days.  The low-flying, air-breathing missiles are

hard to detect and hard to distinguish from friendly aircraft,

but the technology to defeat them already exists.  All it would

take is a lot of money.  Hey, this is looking better and better.

The prospect of an entire new defense system that costs a bundle

is likely to prove irresistible to the superhawks in Congress. 



2. AIRPORT SECURITY: DOES NASA PLAN TO READ YOUR MIND?  A story

on the front page of Saturday's Washington Times claimed NASA is

working on a device to read terrorists minds at airports.  NASA

would use "non-invasive neuro-electric sensors" to pick signals

up from the heart and brain.  Sigh, the only thing worse than

polygraphs, which don't work, would be brain scanners that do. 

But does anyone really believe NASA could build such a device? 

Gimme a break, NASA can't read its own mind.  The NASA News Room

person insisted they knew nothing about it, but the WN researcher

persisted and found a NASA press release denying the WT story. 



3. HERBAL LOWS: $MULTIBILLION INDUSTRY THREATENED BY TESTING. 

Sales of herbal medications have soared since passage of the 1994

Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act, which allows natural

supplements to be marketed without proof of safety, efficacy or

purity.  Mindful of the popularity of alternative health claims,

Congress showers money on NIH's Center of Complementary and

Alternative Medicine.  But a remarkable thing has happened.  NIH

has begun testing many of the popular herbal medications.  The

most important discovery in the history of medicine was the

randomized double-blind test.  It allows us to find out what

works and what doesn't.  So far, herbals are in the "doesn't"

category: St. John's Wort doesn't relieve depression, but it does

interfere with some cancer drugs; echinacea doesn't ward off

colds and flu; ephedra causes frequent injuries and even death;

and this week we learn that ginkgo biloba doesn't enhance memory

in people over 60.  There's another one, but I can't remember it.



4. FREE ENERGY: THE PATENT OFFICE DECIDES TO TAKE ANOTHER LOOK. 

In April, we reported that Patent 6,362,718 had been issued for a

Motionless Electromagnetic Generator that "extracts energy from a

permanent magnet."  We are happy to report that the Patent office

will now test and certify patent examiners on a regular basis 

and will change the way it recruits examiners.  Oh yes, and the

Patent Commissioner ordered a Reexamination of Patent 6,362,718.



THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND and THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY

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

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

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