What's New Friday Apr 24, 2009

WHAT=92S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 23 Apr 10   Washington, DC

1. CELL PHONES: FIVE BILLION ARE IN USE AROUND THE WORLD.
In spite of unsubstantiated reports that cell phone radiation increases=20
the risk of brain cancer, sales soared in the first decade of the 3rd=20
Millennium. Cell phones became a $1 trillion business.  There was no=20
corresponding increase in brain cancer, but perhaps there is a long=20
latency period. Cancer victims have no way of knowing what caused their=20
cancer, but the media had made their cell phones the suspect. The clear=20
scientific conclusion that cell phone radiation could not be the cause,=20
http://jncl.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/93/3/166 , went largely=20
unreported.  In short, microwave photons do not have enough energy to=20
create a mutant strand of DNA.  That can=92t happen until you get to the=20
blue limit of the visible spectrum. In the interest of full disclosure,=20
let me state that although I own a cell phone I don=92t normally carry it=
,=20
and can=92t even remember my number. I find cell phones to be rude and=20
intrusive. My wife insists I carry it when I travel so I can dial 911 in=20
an emergency. That=92s OK.

2. COSMOS: THE COHORT STUDY ON MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS.
Yesterday, the cell-phone controversy was taken to a new and substantiall=
y=20
lower level.   The Cohort Study on Mobile Communications (COSMOS) was=20
launched in the UK to determine whether microwave radiation from wireless=
=20
devices can induce cancer.  It will track 250,000 users for 30 years to=20
catch any slow growing cancers.  Note the built-in job protection. The=20
study will look for neurological diseases such as Parkinson=92s and=20
Alzheimer=92s as well.  Participants aged 18-69 are being recruited in=20
Britain, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark.  In Britain, COSMO=
S=20
is inviting 2.4 million cell phone users to take part, and hoping 100,000=
=20
or so will accept.  If they do the study really well, it will confirm=20
Albert Einstein=92s 1905 explanation of the photoelectric effect, for whi=
ch=20
he was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize. Of course, the photoelectric effect=20
is confirmed thousands of times annually by students in elementary physic=
s=20
lab courses.  If it is done badly, this tedious and expensive study could=
=20
perpetuate the public=92s unfounded fear of radiation below the ultraviol=
et=20
threshold. This must be stopped.

3. WALL STREET: DERIVATIVE-CRAZED PHYSICISTS 15 YEARS AGO.
Derivative trading bankrupted one of the richest counties in the nation,=20
it destroyed the oldest bank in England and some think it could bring dow=
n=20
the world banking system.  Who=92s responsible for this mess?  Physicists=
,=20
according to 60-Minutes on CBS.  "When Wall Street fell in love with=20
computers 15 years ago it hired a lot of very smart people with PhDs in=20
physics and mathematics, but not much background in finance," the reporte=
r=20
explains. "They sit around their computers concocting complex formulas no=
=20
one can understand."  A  60 Minutes financial expert picks up the=20
theme: "Physicists do well with billiard balls, they do well with atoms.=20
They do passably well with protons and electrons, but they don=92t do wel=
l=20
with people they don=92t understand."  The fund managers, bankers and=20
investors, presumably, were powerless. (This is a verbatim copy
from March 10, 1995.)=20

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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