What's New Robert L. Park 3 July 2012

WHAT=92S NEW   Robert L. Park Friday, 3 July 2012   Washington, DC

1. INDEPENDENCE DAY: THE HIGGS FIELD IS ALL THERE IS.
After 200,000 years or so of putting up with imposters, the creator has=20=

been exposed. CERN will hold a press conference with the details tomorrow=
.

2. FCC: CELLPHONES DON=92T CAUSE CANCER, BUT . . .
The spectacular increase in the use of wireless communication over the pa=
st=20
15 years led the Federal Communications Commission to start planning its=20=

first review of wireless safety since 1996.  A BBC News Report in 1996=20=

showed terrified refugees clogging a primitive road to escape the fightin=
g=20
in Kosovo. Refugee lines are as common as war, but a farmer dangling his=20=

legs from the back of a dilapidated oxcart was talking on his cell phone.=
 I=20
have trouble understanding why there was a war in Kosovo in 1996, but the=
=20
use of a cell-phone by an ordinary farmer, in a country most of us could=20=

not point to on the map, was no mystery: It=92s an amazing technology tha=
t=20
would soon spread over the entire planet. In 2012, according to industry=20=

figures, the world=92s 7 billion people use a near-saturation 5.6 billion=
=20
cell phones, although the International Agency for Research on Cancer,=20=

along with its parent organization WHO, classifies cell-phone radiation=20=

as =93possibly carcinogenic to humans.=94  Many other organizations and w=
riters=20
cite the IARC warning, including Ronald Herberman, MD, director of the=20=

respected University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, who issued an adviso=
ry=20
to 3000 faculty and staff warning of the cell-phone cancer risk. The=20
Federal Communications Commission, however, insists there is no scientifi=
c=20
evidence that wireless phones can lead to cancer.  The National Cancer=20=

Institute agrees (http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/93/3/166.full),=20=

along with other federal science agencies.  Why is there disagreement?=20=
=20
This is a science question, not an election.  Let=92s look closer.

3. CAUSALITY: DOES THE WAVING OF THE TREES MAKE THE WIND BLOW?=20
Do epidemiologists learn nothing? We've been through all this before --=20=

three times. The most grievous error in the war on cancer is to confuse=20=

correlation with causality. 1996 was also the year the National Academy o=
f=20
Sciences released its exhaustive review of the health affects of power-li=
ne=20
fields, showing conclusively that there are none. Cancer is the=20
uncontrolled division of mutant cells in the body.  Mutant strands of DNA=
=20
are caused by external agents that supply enough energy to disrupt a=20
chemical bond, including photons of wavelengths shorter than visible ligh=
t;=20
that is, bluer than blue. Epidemiology looks for correlation between=20
exposure to potential cancer agents and subsequent development of cancer.=
=20
Science by contrast is more concerned with the mechanism. Epidemiology is=
=20
important.  They should get it right.=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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