What's New Robert L. Park 27 Aug 2010

WHAT=92S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 28 Aug 10   Washington, DC

1. STEM CELLS: BESTOWING PERSONHOOD ON THE ZYGOTE?
On Monday federal judge Royce Lamberth, appointed to the federal bench by=
=20
Ronald Reagan, blocked the use of federal funds for research using=20
embryonic stem cells on the grounds that extracting the cells kills human=
=20
embryos.  It is of course true that, for good or ill, every embryo has th=
e=20
potential to become a totally unique human being.  The same is true of=20
every zygote created by the fusion of gametes in an in-vitro fertilizatio=
n=20
Petri dish. One or more of the resulting embryos will be transferred to t=
he=20
patient's uterus a few days later.  There will typically be many embryos=20
left over.  They are stored cryogenically in case a second transfer is=20
necessary.  By 2008 about 500,000 frozen embryos had accumulated in=20
cryogenic facilities around the United States.  That would be closer to 1=
=20
million by now, all of which retain the potential to become unique human=20
beings.  Does Judge Lamberth=92s decision mean that society must now assu=
me=20
responsibility for the continued viability of this growing population of=20
potential people?=20

2. MISCONDUCT: GRADUATE STUDENTS EMERGE AS THE HEROES.
Renowned Harvard psychology professor Marc Hauser, author of "Moral Minds=
:=20
How nature designed our universal sense of right and wrong" (Ecco, 2006),=
 =20
wrote that "Our moral instincts are immune to the explicitly articulated=20
Commandments handed down by religions and governments."  I agree with his=
=20
conclusion, and so indeed did the two Catholic seminary teachers I wrote=20
about in "Superstition: Belief in the age of science," (Princeton, 2008),=
=20
except that Hauser and I believe it to be an instinct shaped by evolution=
,=20
while the two priests said it was "written in our hearts by the Holy=20
Spirit." Details.  It is often referred to by the faithful as "the moral=20
law."  Hauser thought other primates must exhibit similar instincts, but=20
fudged his experiments with New World monkeys to show it.   It was his ow=
n=20
students, who protested, first to Hauser and then to the Dean, that the=20
experiments showed just the oppo on a site.  As Eric Felten wrote in this=
=20
morning's Wall Street Journal, they "risked their careers and reputations=
=20
to blow the whistle on him. They are the scientists to celebrate."

3. CONSERVAPEDIA: MORE ON DEUTSCHE PHYSIK AND PHILIPPE LENARD.
Two weeks ago WN commented on the conservative hatred of the theory of=20
relativity and of Albert Einstein. A week ago I added comments from Don=20
Langenberg about Philip Lenard and Johannes Stark, and also about the=20
beginning of Deutsche Physik. During the week I learned more about Lenard=
=20
from Cornelius Noack, professor of physics at the University of Bremen.  =
=20
Noack did his thesis at the University of Heidelberg with J.H. Jensen=20
(Nobel prize 1963). Jensen was a replacement for  Lenard  who was fired b=
y=20
the Allies at the end of World War II.  Jensen found himself in possessio=
n=20
of Lenard=92s personal library.  Noack read Lenard=92s hand-written margi=
n=20
notes on Einstein's 1905 article in Z. fur Physik.  The margin notes, Noa=
ck=20
writes, are full of hatred, distrust and misunderstanding. Lenard, who wo=
n=20
the prize in 1905 for his work in cathode rays, had found that it always=20
takes a set minimum of energy for an electromagnetic ray to ionize atoms,=
=20
although he never understood why. He felt that Einstein had "stolen"  the=
=20
Nobel Prize.  Noack suggests that Lenard should be recognized for showing=
=20
that cell phones aren=92t dangerous.=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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