And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Caution is advised in reading the following graphic description of this ongoing scientific study by NASA... there is a photo at the site of this poor furry brother, one of many mutilated and tortured in the name of science....I am horrified...Ish http://www.peta-online.org/rir/bioncase.html NASA's $33.2 million joint U.S./French/Russian Bion 11 and 12 experiments force monkeys to suffer through agonizing, invasive procedures. Fourteen electrode wires sunk into seven muscles in the monkeys' arms and legs tunnel under their skin and exit from a hole carved in their backs. More electrodes are inserted into the monkeys' brains--their exposed skulls are covered with metal caps and eight holes are drilled into their skulls to accommodate a plastic "halo" so they cannot move their heads. Wires from a surgically buried thermometer in each animal's abdomen exit yet another hole cut in their backs. Many monkeys have mutilated themselves trying to rip the wires out from under their skin, despite the fact that NASA experimenters bind the animals in straitjackets. After undergoing these painful surgeries, the monkeys are blasted into space for 14 days. During the two-week orbit, the monkeys are completely restrained, obtaining food from a "sipper tube." NASA claims the Bion experiments will help study the effects of weightlessness on human astronauts, yet NASA already has data on human beings who have spent more than 400 days in space at one time. NASA is launching the monkeys in an antiquated Russian capsule not even equipped to properly record data. If something goes wrong in space, there will be no one to help the monkeys. A February 1996 Bion Science Assessment Report criticized the project for its lack of "scientific leadership" and its failure to consider less cruel methods for obtaining data and cited many other examples of Bion's scientific failings, including repetitive and irrelevant tests. On May 10, 1996, Robert Hoffman, M.D., an expert in neurology, testified against the funding of Bion before the House Subcommittee on Appropriations, pointing out that it would be impossible for NASA to determine whether muscle changes were due to the restraint of the monkeys or to the effects of weightlessness. On June 26, 1996, in a bipartisan, 244-171 vote, the House approved the Roemer/Ganske amendment to end all funding for Bion. The Senate version of the amendment was narrowly defeated, 54-42, due to heavy lobbying efforts by NASA and the well-funded anti-animal rights organizations with which it is allied. The instrumented monkeys were launched from Russia on Christmas Eve 1996. They landed in freezing temperatures in Kazakhstan on January 7, 1997. One day later, Multik, one of the Bion monkeys, died before he could be subject to further experiments. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment ...http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ `"` `"` `"` `"` `"` `"`
