WHAT'S NEW Friday, June 04, 2004

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 4 Jun 04   Washington, DC

1. HAFNIUM: CONGRESS KILLS THE "ISOMER ENERGY RELEASE PROGRAM." 
In spite of the Pentagon's fascination with imaginary weapons,
the Senate Armed Services Committee listened to the scientists
and recommended a $4 million reduction in the program.  That puts
it at zero.  The House Armed Services Committee agreed: "The
committee questions the utility of this research under any
circumstances and is particularly skeptical of research into
nuclear isomer production before triggering is shown to be
possible."  WN recommends they also cancel DARPA's subscription
to Popular Mechanics http://www.aps.org/WN/WN04/wn041604.cfm .

2. HUBBLE: NASA SOLICITS PROPOSALS FOR A ROBOTIC REPAIR MISSION.
The four Hubble repair missions have been frequently invoked as
proof of the need for a human presence in space.  But with the
shuttle grounded, and a renewed emphasis on safety, Sean O'Keefe
decided another mission to the popular telescope was too risky. 
So why not send a robot http://www.aps.org/WN/WN04/wn032604.cfm ?
O'Keefe said this week that, "Our confidence is growing that
robots can do the job," but he added that the first priority is
to plop Hubble safely in the ocean.  A petition signed by 27
astronauts, sneered at the robot proposal.  This has been going
on for 200 years.  They are the descendants of Ned Ludd.  

3. INTERCESSORY PRAYER: MAYBE OUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED.
Three years ago, Columbia U. researchers reported in the Journal
of Reproductive Medicine that in-vitro fertilization is twice as
likely to result in pregnancy if the women are prayed for by a
group of total strangers, even though the women are unaware of
being prayed for.  Recognizing that such a finding would threaten
the very foundations of science, WN called on WN readers to "pray
this study is wrong" http://www.aps.org/WN/WN01/wn100501.cfm .
This week we learned that our prayers seem to have been answered. 
No one, of course, ever replicated the study.  But meanwhile, one
of the coauthors has been exposed as a con-man.  Daniel Wirth,
J.D. (not MD), is known in alternative-medicine circles for his
studies of Non-contact Therapeutic Touch on wound healing.  Touch
therapy, you may recall, was thoroughly debunked in a Journal of
the American Medical Association paper by a 9-year old scientist,
Emily Rosa http://www.aps.org/WN/WN98/wn040398.cfm .  On 18 May
'04, Wirth reportedly pled guilty to fraud charges in Federal
Court for his role in bilking troubled Adelphia Communications
out of $2M.  The senior author on the prayer paper, Rogerio Lobo,
Chairman of the Columbia Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology,
now says he provided only "editorial asistance."  Bruce Flamm,
Clinical Professor of Obstetrics at UC Irvine, who relates this
incredible tale of academic chicanery in Skeptik magazine, says
the third author, Kwang Cha, has left Columbia and isn't talking. 


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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