WHAT'S NEW Friday, 22 Nov 02

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 22 Nov 02   Washington, DC

1. SUV MILEAGE: THE ADMINISTRATION WON'T RAISE THE BAR TOO FAR.  
A year ago, the House crushed a move to raise the CAFE standard
for SUVs from the present 20.7 mpg to 35 mpg(WN 3 Aug 01).  Now
the Bush administration is reviewing a proposal to raise it by a
meager 0.5 mpg each year for just three years, starting with the
2005 model year.  Take that Mr. Saudi oil baron!  How did they
arrive at the 22.2 mpg figure?  Well, they asked the automakers
what was possible.  But the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
says even a 1.5 mpg increase would be "a real challenge."  Gosh,
maybe we're asking too much.  Instead of tinkering with the SUVs,
why don't we just shorten the mile?  Lopping a mere 127 feet off
the mile each year for three years would meet the same standard. 
The rest of the world won't care.  They went metric years ago.  

2. CELL PHONES: PROTECTING YOUR SECOND MOST IMPORTANT ORGAN. 
There is no credible evidence that cell phone radiation is linked
to cancer (WN 4 Oct 02) and no reason to think it could be, but
you can't be too careful.  Last month we told you about a new
line of Dockers with material that blocks cell-phone radiation if
you carry the phone in your pocket(WN 13 Sep 02).  Now, a company
in Norway is selling caps for $53 that have a layer of woven
silver to shield your brain when you hold the phone up to your
head.  It also blocks solar UV, but so does a paper hat.

3. MISCONDUCT IN PHYSICS: APS COUNCIL REVISITS ETHICS AND VALUES.
In what may be remembered as the summer of lost faith, physicists
woke up to find two separate cases of blatant fabrication in
physics research.  And it wasn't just two loners: Ninov and
Schoen.  They had as many as 15 coauthors on some of the papers
(WN 19 Jun 02).  This was not supposed to happen in physics.  In
some soft science maybe, but not in physics. At its meeting two
weeks ago, the APS Council revised the "APS Guidelines for
Professional Conduct" to spell out coauthor responsibility
www.aps.org/statements/02.2.html  and added a "Statement on
improving education for professional ethics, standards and
practices" www.aps.org/statements/02.4.html 

4. GLOBAL TERRORISM WARNING: MAYBE YOU DIDN'T NOTICE.  The first
warnings issued by the administration after 9/11 were front page
headline stuff. This week, the New York Times devoted 2 column
inches at the bottom of page A17 to the latest helpful warning.
It was truly a classic: "Terrorist actions may include, but are
not limited to, suicide operations or kidnappings."

5. MASS MEDIA FELLOWSHIPS: APPLICATIONS INVITED FOR SUMMER 2003.
Tired of the media misreporting science?  Do something about it.
APS supports a ten-week summer fellowship to allow physics
students to work full time as reporters, researchers or
production assistants in a mass media organization.  Priority
will be given to graduate students in physics or closely related
fields.  The deadline is 15 January 2003.  Details at
www.aps.org/public_affairs/massmedia/index.shtml .

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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