What's New Friday November 7, 2008

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 07 Nov 08   Washington, DC

1.  CHANGE: SCIENCE IN THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION.
I was in the air between Washington and Seattle when the election was 
decided; I learned the result from a taxi driver, an immigrant from the 
republic of Georgia with children to educate.  He clearly enjoyed being 
the one to tell me.  He had the same enthusiasm for change that I sensed 
in the long line when the polls opened that morning.  The agent for change 
today, as always, is science, but throughout the tedious election campaign 
neither camp displayed much interest in a science debate and the idea 
died.  But what was it we wanted to know?  We already knew that neither 
candidate had any background in science.  We knew we didn’t need more 
Freedom Cars running on hydrogen or corn ethanol.  Nor do we need to 
defend the human rights of stem cells, or put up with barriers to buying 
Plan B, or for our children in science class to be taught "both sides" of 
the creationism issue.  Even less do we need old-fashioned crap like 
sending human astronauts back to the Moon in an age of automation.  What 
we need to know is who Obama will turn to for advice.   As President, he 
can call on any scientist in the country, and the time to do it is right 
now.  We’d feel even better if Obama were to signal his intention to 
elevate his science advisor to cabinet rank.  We could suggest about a 
thousand scientists who would do a good job, but it wouldn’t help if Obama 
ignores his science advisor.

2.  THE NEW OIL: A DESALINATION PLANT FOR LONDON? 
Most people think London has enough water, but the city is forced to build 
a desalination plant to accommodate population growth.  It’s not the 
fecundity of native Londoners that has risen; as in all of Europe, 
immigration is on the rise with inevitable cultural conflict.  Expect more 
such problems around the world as the demands of the green revolution 
reduce clean water, and excess population spills out of Muslim nations 
that can no longer feed their people as oil revenues decline.  

3. SCIENCE FRICTION: MICHAEL CRICHTON DIES AT 66.
Many of my students admit that they were drawn to science by reading 
science fiction novels, and one of the authors mentioned most frequently 
is Michael Crichton.  I am grateful for the students he sent me, but the 
irony is that his works were intensely anti-science.  Consider Jurassic 
Park, which was also made into a blockbuster movie.  The brilliant 
explanation of how the dinosaurs were cloned was the only treatment of 
evolution to which many fans had ever been exposed.  Perhaps that 
overshadows his plot of using this great advance in science to build an 
amusement park.  That misuse of science was at the heart of Crichton 
novels.

4. REALITY THERAPY: RICHARD DAWKINS RETIRES FROM OXFORD.
By contrast with Crichton, Richard Dawkins forces people to confront 
reality.  With his help a campaign has raised the money to pay for a 
message on the side of buses: "There is no God.  Now stop worrying and 
enjoy your life."  The pity is that the world sees truth as "shrill and 
strident."  The truth is the truth, nothing else.  Retirement, of course, 
does not require one to stop writing.  A world without the prospect of 
another book by Dawkins would a sadder place. 

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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