What's New Friday December 26, 2008

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 26 Dec 08   Washington, DC

PLEASE DISCARD EARLIER VERSION.  I DEEPLY REGRET THAT THERE WAS AN 
UNFORTUNATE SWITCH IN NAMES IN ITEM 2. THIS IS THE CORRECTED VERSION!  
  
1. PCAST: OBAMA CONTINUES TO MAKE GOOD SCIENCE CHOICES. 
His choices have one thing in common: they are as different as they could 
be from those they will replace.   Science is emerging, somewhat shaken, 
from the most secret presidency in our history.  The success and 
credibility of science are anchored in the willingness of scientists to 
openly expose their ideas and results to challenge by other scientists.  
Just before Christmas, Obama tapped Harold Varmus and Eric Lander to head 
the President’s Council of Science Advisors, a task they will share with 
John Holdren.  According to the NY Times, Obama pledges to listen to their 
advice "especially when it is inconvenient.  Varmus, who shared the 1989 
Nobel Prize in Medicine with Michael Bishop for their discovery of the 
origin of retroviral oncogenes, resigned as head of NIH early in the Bush 
presidency to concentrate on the open-access system for scientific 
papers.  He believes that scientists should have control over the 
dissemination of their research rather than journal editors.   The culture 
of openness is perhaps the most important discovery of science.  
Governments should try it.

2.  THE WAGER: WHO ME, GET BETWEEN EHRLICH AND SIMON?
Blogers from the NY Times to the Atlantic have brought up the famous bet 
between biologist Paul Ehrlich at Stanford and the late libertarian-
economist Julian Simon at the University of Maryland.  You will recall 
that Ehrlich authored the Population Bomb in 1968, predicting disaster 
resulting from uncontrolled population growth.  Simon argued that 
everything that happens when population grows is good, at least for 
business.  Ehrlich thought a group of five metals would increase in price 
as they became scarce.  Simon thought the price would drop as new sources 
were found.  In a famous bet Simon won hands down and Ehrlich paid off.  
Why is this coming up again?  One of the people advising Ehrlich is said 
to have been John Holdren, Obama’s choice for White House Science 
Advisor.  The question is whether the world will become overpopulated.  I 
think the answer is that it already has.  Simon once asked me why 
physicists never agree with him.  I said it’s because they understand 
exponentials.
 
3.  CLEAN COAL?  FLOOD OF ASH-LADEN SLUDGE IS A WARNING.
On Monday, near Harriman, Tennessee, a dike at a TVA generating plant on 
the banks of the Emory River burst, spreading vile sludge over hundreds of 
acres and destroying several homes.  The immediate concern was the 
possible toxicity of the fly-ash sludge, which typically contains heavy 
metals such as arsenic and selenium that might contaminate water 
supplies.  Based on preliminary tests, TVA officials said there is no 
danger to the millions of people who get their drinking water from the 
Tennessee River further downstream.  Perhaps not, it is nevertheless an 
ugly offense to the senses.  The problem is not really coal.  The problem 
is that too many of us need too much power.  We aren’t about to shiver in 
the dark.  We can put off the inevitable by inventing more efficient light 
bulbs and building better insulated houses, but the population has already 
exceeded the sustainability limit.

4.  THE TWENTY-FIFTH OF DECEMBER: IMPORTANT BIRTHDAY.
Yesterday marked the birthday of two important figures in history:  Jesus 
of Nazareth and Isaac Newton.  Should WN compare their impact?

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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