What's New Robert L. Park 29 Oct 2010

WHAT=92S NEW   Robert L Park   Friday, 29 Oct 2010   Washington, DC=20

1. DIET PILLS: SORRY, WE=92RE BACK TO THE "PHYSICS DIET."
During our first 200,000 years or so, Homo sapiens ate food like plump=20
grubs from beneath rotting logs, and turtle eggs buried on the beach. =20
Although not as convenient as McDonald's fare, it was least as tasty, and=
=20
obesity was never a problem.  Obesity raises concerns about heart attacks=
=20
and strokes.  Earlier this month, after 13 years on the market, the FDA=20
forced the withdrawal of Meridia citing the risk of =96 heart attacks and=
=20
strokes.  Go figure!  According to a story by Andrew Pollack on the front=
=20
page of this morning's New York Times, the FDA has now rejected Qnexa,=20
aother diet pill, because of concerns about birth defects and heart=20
problems.  Just last week the FDA declined to approve a drug because it=20
caused tumors in rats.  Use the Physics Plan: "Burn more calories than yo=
u=20
consume," http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN00/wn022500.html .=20

2. FLYING SAUCERS: BALLOT INITIATIVE WOULD WELCOME THEM TO DENVER.
Jeff Peckman, who proposed the plan, points out that the city is a mile=20
above sea level, so why wouldn't travelers from the distant galaxy stop=20
here first?  A front page story by Stephanie Simon in this morning's Wall=
=20
Street Journal covers the ballot measure to set up an Extraterrestrial=20
Affairs Commission in Denver.   Why should there be a government=20
commission? Folks in Denver should be free to have affairs with anybody=20
they want.
=20
3. THE FERMI PARADOX: VIEWED FROM THE CENTURY OF THE EXOPLANET.
The first confirmed detection of an exoplanet orbiting a main-sequence st=
ar=20
was made in 1995, when a giant planet, 51 Pegasi b, was found in a four-d=
ay=20
orbit around the nearby G-type star 51 Pegasi.   A wonderful article in=20
this morning's Washington Post by Mark Kaufman gives an estimate from=20
today's Science magazine by Andrew Howard and Geoffrey Marcy that tens of=
=20
billions of Earth-sized planets exist in the Milky Way galaxy alone.  The=
=20
likelihood is that vast numbers of these Earth-sized planets are in the=20
habitable zone of their sun.  This is the Goldilocks zone in which it is=20
neither too hot nor too cold for carbon-based life to exist --  the=20
temperature of liquid water.  The technology so far, allows astronomers t=
o=20
find exoplanets down to the size of super-Earths that are three times the=
=20
size of our planet.  So the estimate is an extrapolation, but it looks=20
pretty good.  The first exoplanets were all detected by the apparent wobb=
le=20
in the position of the star as the star and its planets rotate around a=20
common center-of-mass. A more refined technique used by the Kepler Space=20
Observatory uses the transit method: Looking at the slight reduction in=20
light as an exoplanet passes in front of the star.  Howard and Marcy=20
reported on 166 star systems within 80 light=96years of Earth.  The abund=
ance=20
of planets is not unexpected.  In 1950, in an informal discussion of how=20
there might be many planets orbiting distant Suns, inhabited by intellige=
nt=20
creatures.   The great physicist Enrico Fermi asked, "Where are they." =20
This is referred to today as the Fermi paradox, but there is no paradox.=20
They are peering through their telescopes, calculating the incredible=20
difficulty of traveling to another star, and deciding to let others,=20
somewhere else, make the effort. That's what I would do.=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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