What's New Robert L. Park May 21, 2010

WHAT=92S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, May 21, 2010   Washington, DC

1. BIRTH OF SCIENCE: NEXT FRIDAY, MAY 28, SCIENCE WILL BE 2,595 YEARS OLD.
On May 28, 585 B.C. the swath of a total solar eclipse passed over the=20
Greek island of Miletus.  The early Greek philosopher, Thales of Miletus,=
=20
alone understood what was happening. The world's first recorded=20
freethinker, Thales rejected all supernatural explanations, and used the=20
occasion to state the first law of science:  every observable effect has =
a=20
physical cause.  The 585 B.C. eclipse is now taken to mark the birth of=20
science, and Thales is honored as the father.  What troubles would be=20
spared the world if the education of every child began with causality?  W=
e=20
might, for example, have been spared the absurd cell phone/cancer myth:

2. CELL PHONES: LONG-AWAITED CANCER STUDY RELEASED THIS WEEK.
No link to brain cancer was found in a 10 year, $14 million epidemiologic=
al=20
study of cell phone use in 13 countries (the US was not among them); the=20
study was led by the World Health Organization (WHO).  So is it safe to u=
se=20
cell phones?  Uh, the report doesn't exactly say, instead it concludes=20
that "more study is needed."  On the contrary, the WHO study itself was n=
ot=20
needed.  I remind you that flawed epidemiology led to the great power-lin=
e=20
scare more than 20 years ago.  Publicized by a series of ignorant article=
s=20
in the New Yorker  http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN89/wn082589.html , it=
=20
was a costly diversion that morphed into the cell-phone scare on Larry Ki=
ng=20
Live http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN93/wn012993.html . Epidemiology is =
a=20
useful tool for identifying possible environmental hazards, but it is not=
=20
science, or a substitute for science.  The science of electromagnetic=20
radiation is clear: photons with energies below the photoelectric thresho=
ld=20
(extreme blue-end of the visible spectrum) are not cancer agents.  The=20
energy of the photoelectron threshold is about 1 million times the energy=
=20
of a microwave photon. Blueberry consumption would have a greater chance =
of=20
being linked to cancer.  Even as I send this off, however, my mail is ful=
l=20
of warnings from nonscientists about the dangers of cell phones.  =20

3. NCI: HAROLD VARMUS WILL HEAD THE NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE.
Currently President of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the=20
former director of NIH has been named to head the National Cancer=20
Institute. Some are surprised that a former head of NIH would agree to=20
direct one of its institutes, but Varmus never seems limited by the=20
expected. Perhaps he believes, as many others do that we are on the=20
threshold of major progress in preventing cancer.  In this battle, the ce=
ll=20
phone myth is a tragic diversion.

4. MARS ROVER: THE OLDEST COLONIST ON THE RED PLANET.
Opportunity arrived on Mars 25 Jan 04. In the 6 Earth-years since,=20
Opportunity has never once complained about the cold nights, and it lives=
=20
on sunshine.  It has now operated on Mars longer than the 1976 Viking 1=20
lander, which ceased transmission in November of 1982.   Meanwhile, Spiri=
t,=20
Opportunity's twin, is stuck in a sand trap.  Not a lot happens on Mars f=
or=20
a stationary observer to report on, so Opportunity is trekking to a large=
=20
crater.  It should be there in a couple of years.  Long before an astrona=
ut=20
could get there.
=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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