What's New Friday October 19, 2007

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 19 Oct 07   Washington, DC

1. CLIMATE ADVICE: WHO SPEAKS FOR AMERICAN SCIENCE?
President Bush convened a conference of major economic powers last month 
at which he vowed the U.S. "will do its part" to reduce emissions.  Just 
what part is that, you might ask?  Yesterday, John Marburger Head of the 
White House S&T Office, rejected the target of holding the global rise to 
2 degrees C, recommended by leading climate scientists and European 
leaders, but he offered no alternative.  We have come to expect that.  
Where was Marburger when Bush proposed non-solutions like the "hydrogen 
economy" and corn ethanol?  No one even mentions hydrogen anymore and the 
only thing keeping corn ethanol alive is subsidies and ignorance of the 
energy balance.  Is anybody advising the President?

2. EMISSIONS: "THIS DOESN’T LOOK LIKE KANSAS," DORTHY SAID.
The Kansas Department of Health yesterday rejected a permit for a proposed 
coal fired power plant saying emissions threaten health and environment. 
It was the first government agency to cite CO2 in denying a permit, in 
keeping with a Supreme Court ruling in April that EPA must treat CO2 is a 
pollutant, http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN07/wn040607.html . "Quite 
simply," Governor Sibelius said, "we have an obligation to be good 
stewards of this state." 

3. ERRATUM: SPEAKING OF GLOBAL WARMING, I MADE A MISTAKE.
My fingers typed “Science and Technology” last week, when my brain knew I 
was talking about The Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine.  Well, I 
got the URL right, http://www.oism.org .  It’s a cottage industry run by 
Arthur Robinson and his children.  He put it in Cave Junction during the 
Cold War to avoid bombs, and sold plans for both home schooling and bomb 
shelters. 

4. SPACE STATION: A MODEST PROPOSAL TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
Remember the scary incident in June when the Russian computers that 
control ISS orientation crashed while Atlantis was docked?  
http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN07/wn061507.html . They found a way 
around it, but not the cause. James Oberg in IEEE Spectrum explains what 
happened: a cable connector corroded.  It’s a swamp up there.  Meanwhile, 
an opportunity presents itself. Tom Pickens, a Texas investor who amassed 
his billions by shrewd inheritance from, believes Big Pharma should run 
ISS and reap big profits from – well, protein crystals grown in zero 
gravity - gasp!  http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN00/wn030300.html . In 
the past I’ve suggested giving the ISS to China, but they don’t seem to 
want it.  Why not give it to Tom Pickens instead?  

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
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