What's New Robert L. Park April 2, 2010

WHAT=92S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 2 Apr 10   Washington, DC

1.  CHECK-IN: NEW PROTOCOL FOR FLIGHTS TO THE U.S.
When I see a photo of Richard Reid, the "shoe bomber," I try to imagine a=
n=20
airline ticket agent that could not recognize that this is a person with =
a=20
serious problem.  Because of Richard, 100 million shoes are removed for=20
examination in the US every year while their owners pad along the check-i=
n=20
lines in their socks.  Has it helped?  Well, no one has tried to detonate=
=20
a shoe bomb since. However, the Christmas Day bomber wore explosive=20
underwear instead.  Would people  have to remove their underwear for=20
inspection? To avoid that, President Obama signed off on a new security-
check system.  "This is not a system that can be called profiling in the=20
traditional sense," an official told a White House press briefing.  "It's=
=20
intelligence based." Nice distinction.

2.  CELL PHONES: CANCER IN MAINE IS MAINLY IN THE BRAIN.
The Maine House of Representatives has voted to reject a law that would=20
require cell phone makers to affix labels warning consumers of possible=20
brain cancer risk due to electromagnetic radiation.   There is no credibl=
e=20
evidence whatever of a link between cell phone radiation and cancer.  It=20
is not clear why some people are so anxious to believe there is.

3.  NASA: CLIMATE RESEARCH IS NOW A MAJOR FOCUS.
There has always been two NASAs: Adventure-NASA that caters to a public=20
weaned on Star Trek, and Science-NASA that gathers real information about=
=20
our universe.  Support for the two NASAs has been in almost inverse=20
proportion to their value.  That is changing.  On Wednesday, NASA laid ou=
t=20
plans to boost spending on climate research over the next five years to=20
make up for cuts by the Bush administration.  NASA=92s Earth Science budg=
et=20
will increase 62 percent.  Although NASA has 13 climate research=20
satellites in orbit, most are far beyond their design lifetimes.  Ten=20
replacement satellites are scheduled for launch.  DSCOVR, the Deep Space=20
Climate Observatory, put in storage during the Bush years, is  also=20
scheduled for launch.

4.  CLIMATEGATE:  CLIMATE RESEARCH UNIT IS CLEARED =96 SORT OF.
A U.K. government investigation of the Climate Research Unit at East=20
Anglia University, confirmed the "scientific consensus" that global =20
warming is taking place.  However, it was highly critical on questions of=
=20
openness =96 as it should be.

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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