What's New Friday Oct 10, 2008

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 10 Oct 08   Washington, DC

1.  PHYSICS PRIZE: SPONTANEOUS BROKEN SYMMETRY.
It has been said that the most common characteristic of Nobel Prize 
winners is longevity.  The prize is not awarded posthumously; it can take 
years before the full significance of a discovery becomes obvious.  So it 
was with Professor Yoichiro Nambu, 87, a particle theorist at the 
University of Chicago who discovered the mechanism of spontaneous broken 
symmetry in the 1960s.  It is now at the very heart of the so 
called "standard model" of particle theory.  A naturalized U.S. citizen 
born in Japan, Nambu shared the prize with Japanese physicists Makoto 
Kobayashi, 64, at the High Energy Accelerator in Tsukuba, and Toshihide 
Maskawa, 68, at Kyoto University.  On the basis of a slight asymmetry 
between matter and antimatter they predicted in 1973 that in addition to 
the three quarks already known, there should be three additional quarks; 
they were subsequently found.   

2.  MEDICINE PRIZE: WINNERS AND LOSERS, AND WHY IT MATTERS.
The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was awarded to Luc Montagnier 
and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi of the Pasteur Institute in Paris for 
discovery of the virus that causes AIDS.  A third prize went to German 
virologist Harald zur Hansen for finding that human papillomavirus can 
cause cervical cancer.  Nobel rules limit winners to three.  Left out was 
Robert Gallo of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 
Baltimore, where he directs the Institute of Human Virology.  Montagnier’s 
group first identified HIV, but Gallo’s group did much of the science that 
made the discovery possible and proved that the virus causes AIDS.  Gallo 
contends that Montagnier relied on a technique developed by Gallo’s lab.  
In 1993 the Office of Research Integrity charged that Gallo seriously 
hindered progress in AIDS research by denigrating the French contribution, 
but two years later Science magazine hailed as "one of the top scientific 
breakthroughs" Gallo’s discovery that chemokines halt the progression of 
AIDS.  Scientists need the access to research support the prize gives 
them.  That will be even more important in the economy Bush is bequeathing 
us.

3.  CREATIONISM:  SHOULD THERE BE A RELIGIOUS TEST?
Last week we reported that Michael Reiss, education director of the Royal 
Society and an ordained priest in the Church of England, was pressured to 
step down.  He was quoted, incorrectly I’m told, as favoring teaching of 
intelligent design.  Several WN readers said Reiss was unfairly dealt 
with; one asked if I favored a religious test in my department.  Maybe.  
We have a number of deeply religious faculty members; they interpret 
sacred texts that conflict with scientific fact metaphorically.  It’s not 
my taste, but I don’t have a problem with it.  I would, however, vote 
against appointment of a physicist who believes the world is 6,000 years 
old.

4.  BEARS:  MOCKING SCIENTIFIC STUDIES IS AN OLD SPORT.
Several readers sent me articles about a McCain ad that ridiculed $3 
million for a study of grizzly DNA.  The object is to match DNA against 
fur samples taken from back-scratch trees to get population trends without 
following the bears around, which is expensive.  Congress requires that 
the information be collected.  It’s not "pork."   Pork-barrel refers to 
lines inserted into bills by Appropriations Committee members in 
conference without any vote.  It is reprehensible and should be stopped - 
but that’s not what happened here.

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