What's New Friday, 24 Jul 09 Washington, DC

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 24 July 09   Washington, DC
	
1.  NEWSCASTERS: JON STEWART DONS THE MANTLE OF CRONKITE.
Even as the revered anchor of CBS News was laid to rest, Time released the 
state-by-state results of a poll of 10,000 Americans across the nation, 
asking: who is now the "most trusted" newscaster in America?  The 
overwhelming choice, with 44%, is Jon Stewart.  Coming in a distant second 
was Brian Williams, with 29%.  What sets Stuart apart is that he is totally 
fearless.  He speaks the truth without equivocation -- no matter who is 
offended.  The poll also reflects the chaotic state of the news industry at 
the start of the 21st century. When Cronkite reigned, a handful of major 
networks broadcast the evening news at about the same time. You either 
watched the news or turned off the television; now you have a thousand 
mindless alternatives to the news.

2.  POLITICAL SCIENCE: WHY THE USSR LOST THE SPACE RACE.
Launched on 4 Oct 1957, Sputnik carried no instruments.  It just beeped as 
it passed overhead to taunt Americans.  But a month later, Sputnik 2 
carried a Geiger tube and a radio transmitter to relay the Geiger output 
back to Earth.  It also carried a tape recorder to store data when the 
satellite is over the horizon, but it wasn't working on launch day.  Soviet 
scientists placed a call directly to Premier Nikita Khrushchev requesting 
permission to delay the launch for a day, but Khrushchev refused; he wanted 
to announce another successful launch at a meeting of heads-of-state the 
next day.  At the very dawn of the space age, politics was already getting 
in the way of scientific discovery. Thus it was that the Soviet Union 
failed to make the first important discovery in space science,as we see 
below.  

3. VAN ALLEN BELTS: THE FIRST IMPORTANT DISCOVERY IN SPACE.
On 31 Jan 1958, only four months after Sputnik, the US launched Explorer 1 
carrying an experiment designed by James Van Allen, Physics Chair at the 
University of Iowa.  It was just a Geiger tube, a radio transmitter, and a 
recorder -- but the recorder worked.  Data from a full orbit confirmed the 
existence of charged particle bands around Earth, now known as the Van 
Allen belts.  It was the first major discovery from beyond the ionosphere.  
Soviet scientists were crushed; only four months after Sputnik the US had 
taken the lead in space science and has never relinquished it. Manned space 
flight remains a sideshow.  In the end, all that will endure is the 
science.  James Van Allen was the true American space hero.  During a long 
talk with Jim a year before his death in 2006, he summed-up manned space 
flight: "It's so old-fashioned."    
 
4. PHYSICS OLYMPIAD: ONE MORE GLASS CEILING IS SHATTERED.
At the 40th International Physics Olympiad held in Merida, Mexico this 
month China was first in the overall medal count, with Honduo Shi of China 
winning five gold medals.  It was the first time in the 40 year history of 
the Physics Olympiad that the top score has gone to a female. 

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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