What's New Robert L. Park January 29, 2010

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park    Friday, 29 Jan 10   Washington, DC

1. SPIRIT: ITS GREAT ADVENTURE ISN’T QUITE OVER.
The very name given the Mars rover implies vigor and energy.  But 
telerobots, like those who build them, suffer decline with age. Sent to 
Mars in 2004 on a two-month assignment, in rover-years Spirit is now 210 
years old.  Its been limping most of that time, 
www.bobpark.org/WN04/wn100804.html . My wheels don't work like they used to 
either, but Spirit is now hopelessly stuck in a sand trap. NASA has 
abandoned hope of getting it out, and now plans to use Spirit as a 
stationary observatory. It’s like watching out the window of a nursing home.

2. MYSTERY: WHAT IS FARTING ON MARS?
As this week's Nature points out, the mantra for the rovers was to find the 
water; that would lead them to life. Unfortunately, water has been hard to 
find. Methane of course is not an unambiguous indicator of life. It can be 
produced geologically. In any case, methane found in the atmosphere gives 
no indication of where it came from.

3. FRAUD: WHY NOT GIVE THIS BUSINESSMAN A POLYGRAPH EXAM?
We reported last fall that a British company, ATSC, sold Iraq security 
forces 1500 fraudulent bomb detectors for $85 million 
www.bobpark.org/WN09/wn110609.html .  The head of the company has now been 
arrested on suspicion of fraud. As WN pointed out, the device is simply a 
telescoping antenna mounted on a swivel held by pistol grip.  A slight 
movement of the handle will cause the antenna to swivel to its lowest 
point. It works like a dousing rod pointing anywhere the operator wishes. 
Law enforcement officers love them because it gives them an excuse to 
search anyone who looks suspicious. A scientific device that no one 
understands serves as protection against the charge of profiling. 

4. OBAMA: HIS SPEECH WILL BE REMEMBERED MOSTLY AS LONG.
I usually count the number of times that the word "science" comes up in the 
State of the Union address. Some presidents avoid mentioning it at all, and 
others mention it only in connection with some wildly impractical scheme 
they have been sold like Star Wars or the hydrogen car. President Obama 
used the word "science" several times but there were no new plans. 

5. MEDICINE: IS MARIJUANA A MEDICINE?
This is question was not asked in some rock music rag talking about "the 
summer of love," but in the Personal Journal section of the Wall Street 
Journal, the stuffy newspaper that doesn't use photographsand is read only 
by the well-to-do and overweight. But if you haven't been reading the Wall 
Street Journal, it’s is a different kind of paper now.  It’s readable.

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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