What's New Robert L. Park 1 April 2011

WHAT=92S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 6 May 2011   Washington, DC

1.  GRAVITY PROBE B: EXPERIMENT CONFIRMS THAT SCIENCE IS OPEN.
It took 52 years and $750 Million, but the Stanford-based analysis group=20
and NASA announced on Wednesday that the data from GP-B does indeed confi=
rm=20
two key predictions of Albert Einstein's 1916 general theory of=20
relativity:  the geodetic effect of space-time warping around a massive=20
object, which we perceive as gravity, and the frame-dragging effect cause=
d=20
by mass-energy currents, called gravitomagnetism in beautiful analogy wit=
h=20
Maxwellian electromagnetism.   The findings were published online in=20
Physical Review Letters.  Of what value is it?  Above all it confirms tha=
t=20
science is open.  The success and credibility of science are anchored in=20
the willingness of scientists to expose ideas and results to independent=20
testing and replication. Had they gotten a different result, textbooks=20
covering the subject would be rewritten.  More than 100 PhD candidates=20
worked on some aspect of the gravity probe B experiment.  They are of the=
=20
measure of its value to society.

2.  CHARLES: SO WHO ELECTED HIM PRINCE?
I was still recovering from a serious overdose of royals when I learned=20
that the Prince of Wales was in Washington, DC this week to promote=20
sustainable farming.  Back in the UK, the Daily Mail charged Prince Charl=
es=20
with secretly lobbying ministers for homeopathic medicines on the NHS. Th=
e=20
NHS spends millions of pounds each year on alternative medicine at a time=
=20
when it=92s restricting proven lifesaving drugs for those with cancer.  T=
he=20
most popular cold medication in the world is Oscillococcinum; the active=20
ingredient is Anas Barbariae Hepatis et Cordis Extractum (extract of live=
r=20
and heart of the Barbary duck) 200CK HPUS.  The 200CK means the solution=20
has been diluted 1 part in 100, shaken, and repeated sequentially 200=20
times.  HPUS means the medication is listed in the Homeopathic Pharmacope=
ia=20
of the United States, and prepared according to 1938 federal guidelines. =
=20
That the ignorant and antiquated law sanctioning homeopathy is still on t=
he=20
books is a national disgrace. The dilution is totally meaningless;=20
somewhere around number 30 of the 200 sequential dilutions, the dilution=20
limit will be reached.  That is, not a single molecule of the so-
called "active ingredient" remains.  Millions of people all over the worl=
d=20
reach for this non-medicine every time they sneeze.  The French company,=20
Boiron, that makes Oscillococcinum should be locked and its officers put =
on=20
trial. In terms of "sustainability," all this makes perfect sense.  The=20
world will not run out of Oscillococcinum.

3. RADIATION: PHOTON ENERGY AND CELL PHONE SAFETY.
Several people this week sent me a paper by William J Bruno at Los Alamos=
=20
National Laboratory, "What does  the photon energy tell us about cell pho=
ne=20
safety?"  Bruno describes himself as, "a PhD physics researcher who appli=
es=20
physics to biology."  I do not know if the article has been submitted to =
a=20
journal for publication.  His argument is that cell phones operate in the=
=20
classical wave limit of high photon densities.  I'll try to look into the=
se=20
things this week.

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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