What's New Robert L. Park 25 Feb 2011

WHAT=92S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 25 Feb 2011   Washington, DC

1. SELLING SCIENCE: HOW THE TEMPLETON FOUNDATION BOUGHT THE AAAS.
Last week in item 2, I made a serious error.  The final sentence said, "T=
he=20
AAAS later backed out, but it serves to remind us that, however obtained,=
 a=20
disproportionate share of the world's wealth, even in the hands of the we=
ll-
intentioned, threatens us all."  The sentiment was right-on, but the AAAS=
=20
had not backed out of the deal with Templeton; the terms were merely=20
altered.  It is now called the AAAS Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and=20
Religion.  I have been a Fellow of the AAAS for most of my adult life and=
=20
have no plans to resign.  I will gladly work with other AAAS scientists t=
o=20
terminate this program. Science, with its insistence on openness and=20
physical evidence, has a responsibility to inform the world of what has=20
been learned even when people would prefer not to hear.  This is not easy=
=20
in a world carved into 193 sovereign nations, but political boundaries ca=
n=20
be penetrated far more easily than the superstitious barriers that make u=
p=20
of the world's religions.  The result is a planet in crisis; religion is =
a=20
major part of the problem.

2. EPIDEMIOLOGY: RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE UK STUDY SAYS IT ALL. =20
There has been no increase in brain cancers in the UK since the=20
proliferation of mobile phones in the 1990s.  his firm conclusion comes=20
from a study released by the University of Manchester this week.  All the=
=20
researchers required were laptops to access publicly available data from=20
the UK Office of National Statistics.  Contrast that with the 10 year, $1=
4=20
million case-control study of cell phone use in 13 countries carried out =
by=20
the World Health Organization.   The costly study seemed unable to draw a=
ny=20
firm conclusions, http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN10/wn052110.html .   A=
n=20
important branch of medicine, epidemiology is concerned with the=20
distribution of disease, but in the case of electromagnetic radiation (EM=
F)=20
it got off to a bad start.  In 1976 an unemployed epidemiologist, armed=20
with a list of addresses of childhood leukemia victims, drove around Denv=
er=20
looking for common environmental factors.  She saw a lot of power lines. =
=20
Environmentalists saw brain cancer.  Tort lawyers saw class-action=20
lawsuits.  Epidemiologists saw full employment.  But cell-phone radiation=
=20
just doesn't cause cancer.  Do cell phones have any observable effect on=20
our brain?  Let's see.

3. MICROWAVING THE BRAIN: IS THERE AN OBSERVABLE EFFECT?
Cell phones went from zero to ubiquity in a single decade. The Journal of=
=20
the American Medical Association this week reported an NIH study of 47=20
healthy recruits injected with a glucose solution and then exposed for 50=
=20
min to radiation from a hand-held mobile phone.  The side of the head the=
=20
phone was held against was switched randomly.  Positron Emission Tomograp=
hy=20
(PET) scans exhibited changes associated with glucose metabolism on the=20
side of the brain closest to the cell phone.  This was said to demonstrat=
e=20
that exposure to cell phone radiation activates the brain, but "the=20
clinical significance of this finding is unknown."  Hmm, that's sort of=20
limp. I am hopeful that someone will explain to me how the effects of=20
metabolism are distinguished from changes in blood flow associated with=20
thermoregulation.  The only effect of microwave photons is to excite=20
molecular vibrations (heat).  Blood serves as a coolant to keep the=20
temperature of the brain nearly constant in spite of cell phone radiation.

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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