What's New Robert L. Park 4 Mar 2011

WHAT=92S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 4 Mar 2011   Washington, DC

1. MASS EXTINCTIONS: FIVE OVER THE COURSE OF 540 MILLION YEARS.
The extinction of species is to be expected in a violent universe; that's=
=20
why we have paleontologists.  They have identified five mass extinctions=20
over the past 540 million years in which the number of species declined b=
y=20
over 75% in a geologically brief interval.  These mass extinctions mark t=
he=20
end of the Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, Triassic and Cretaceous Periods=
. =20
Recovery from each of these episodes took millions of years.  There is a=20
growing conviction among paleobiologists that Earth is on the brink of ma=
ss=20
extinction-six.   The only exception is Homo sapiens.  By any measure, Ho=
mo=20
sapiens is thriving at the expense of wild species.  Now numbering almost=
=20
seven billion, the population has doubled since Paul Ehrlich published th=
e=20
Population Bomb (Oxford, 1968) which warned of mass starvation by the tur=
n-
of-the-century.  Ironically, the developed nations are today confronted=20
with an obesity epidemic=20

2. MASS EXTINCTION-SIX: THE BALANCE OF NATURE IS A DANGEROUS MYTH.
A review article in yesterday's Nature by Barnosky et al. at UC Berkeley=20
asks, "Has the Earth's sixth mass extinction already arrived?=94  The art=
icle=20
answers in the affirmative.  The current extinction crisis, number six,=20
unlike previous episodes, results from the actions of a single species,=20
Homo sapiens.  The evidence is everywhere, global warming, enormous ocean=
=20
garbage patches, destruction of the great ocean fisheries, deforestation,=
=20
etc.  Of the 5,487 known species in the class Mammalia, for example, 1,14=
1=20
are considered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUC=
N)=20
to be "threatened with extinction."  The ancient concept of a "Balance of=
=20
Nature," described by Herodotus in 425BC, is still frequently invoked to=20
explain apparent homeostasis between species.  But there is no homeostasi=
s;=20
it was simply an illusion created by the short lifespan of humans.  That'=
s=20
why we have paleontologists.  The balance-of-nature gave way to=20
Darwin's "origin of species by natural selection" in 1858.  There are sti=
ll=20
frequent references to the Balance of Nature by those who don't understan=
d=20
evolution.  More recently, the Gaia hypothesis has developed a following.=
 =20
It=92s a more spiritual version of homeostasis in which Earth is viewed a=
s a=20
single organism.  That seems to imply a plan, which would put Gaia in the=
=20
category of superstition.=20

3. BRITISH UFO FILES:  THE TRUTH IS STILL OUT THERE =96=20
Yesterday, the British National Archives released thousands of pages of=20
files related to UFO sightings.  The only mystery is why this crap was ke=
pt=20
secret or kept at all.  It served only to fuel the UFO myth.  Within hour=
s=20
of the release, a new cover-up had emerged.  The British government=20
admitted that the files on the Rendlesham Forest Incident have=20
disappeared.  That must be the file with the unequivocal evidence of a=20
space-alien conspiracy.  I was sympathetic.  A decade earlier, pressured =
by=20
Rep. Stephen Schiff (NM), the US Air Force sent everything it had on UFOs=
,=20
to the US National Archives in a number of huge wooden crates.  Along wit=
h=20
a historian, I was asked to be present when the crates were opened and=20
verify that the contents were not tampered with.  In addition to paper,=20
there were films and photographs and some hardware.  Much of it seemed to=
=20
have little or no connection to the UFO controversy.  That so much could=20
have been made of so little, indeed of nothing at all, continues to amaze=
=20
me.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
---
Archives of What's New can be found at http://www.bobpark.org
What's New is moving to a different listserver and our
subscription process has changed. To change your subscription
status please visit this link:
http://listserv.umd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=3Dbobparks-whatsnew&A=3D1