WHAT'S NEW Friday, 2 May 03

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 2 May 03   Washington, DC

1. LOS ALAMOS: MANAGEMENT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS LAB OPEN FOR BIDS.  
How did the laboratory remain stimulating and creative year after
year when its location was chosen for its isolation?  It did what
great universities do.  It built a complete community of scholars
that can turn inward.  In the Manhattan Project, Los Alamos was
created in the image of the University of California, and UC has
managed the Lab ever since.  Wednesday, however, DOE Secretary
Spencer Abraham said that when the current contract runs out in
'05 the Department will seek competing bids.  Abraham based his
decision on a report by DOE Deputy Secretary Kyle McSlarrow and
Linton Brooks, acting head of the National Nuclear Security
Administration.  Their report suggests the Los Alamos culture,
which "exalted science and devalued business practice," must be
changed.  Attracting top scientists with these priorities
reversed could be difficult.  UC President Richard Atkinson
indicated the university will "compete hard" for the contract.

2. COLUMBIA: C. ELEGANS SURVIVES BREAK-UP OF THE SHUTTLE.  It was
reported yesterday that an experiment cannister from Columbia had
been found containing thousands of tiny nematode worms.  Not only
had they survived, they had reproduced several generations.  This
was exciting news, of course, but our Press Kit for STS-7 made no
mention of worms.  "Of course not," we were told many phone calls
later, "you were looking at the list of experiments issued at the
time of the flight, not the revised list."  When was it revised? 
"April 17."  That's six weeks after the accident; about the time
they found the container.  Only 1 mm long full grown, C. elegans
is used in hundreds of biology experiments to study basic animal
biology.  Usually it dines on bacteria and stuff; NASA, we were
told, was testing a new synthetic worm chow.  We are still trying
to find out why it had to be tested in microgravity.  In our
research, we were awed to learn that most of C. elegans is taken
up by its reproductive system.  Wow!  No wonder NASA is reluctant
to talk about it.  It must be that C. elegans is being fed the
stuff offered in the spam that's on our computers every morning,
promising to enlarge our reproductive equipment.

3. PRIVACY: "TOTAL INFORMATION AWARENESS" ISN'T AN EDUCATIONAL
PROGRAM.  It only goes the other way.  The Bush administration
yesterday sought to give the CIA and the Pentagon far-reaching
new powers to demand personal and financial records of Americans
as part of an intelligence authorization bill.  Like an earlier
attempt at "Total Information Awareness," it was beaten back(WN
24 Jan 03), but they won't stop trying.  Now let's see if we've
got this straight: while our leaders get to cover up everything
(WN 4 Apr 03), the rest of us are stripped naked (WN 11 Apr 03).

4. MARS ROVERS: ANTI-NUKES OBJECT TO PU-238 TOE WARMERS. The
nights get pretty cold on Mars (days too) and the twin rovers,
due to be launched in June, are equipped with radio-isotope
warmers.  Activists are concerned about an accident on launch,
and NASA's record of predicting catastrophes is not reassuring.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND and THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY.  
Opinions are the author's and are not necessarily shared by the
University or the American Physical Society, but they should be.
---
Archives of What's New can be found at http://www.aps.org/WN
You are currently subscribed to whatsnew as: <[email protected]>
To unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail to: <[email protected]>
To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to: <[email protected]>