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> From: What's New <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: Akira Kawasaki <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 5/6/2005 1:33:46 PM
Subject: WHAT'S NEW Friday, May 06, 2005
WHAT'S NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 6 May 05 Washington, DC
1. SCOPES II: EVOLUTION ISN'T ON TRIAL, CIVILIZATION IS ON TRIAL.
State Board of Education Hearings on teaching evolution in Kansas
schools began yesterday in Topeka. A string of PhD witnesses
proved that a PhD is not an inoculation against foolishness. One
of the first was Jonathan Wells, a senior fellow of the Discovery
Institute. A graduate of Unification Theological Seminary, Wells
was "chosen" by Sun Myung Moon to enter a PhD program. He was
inspired to, "devote my life to destroying Darwinism." Wells went
on to earn a PhD in Theology from Yale and a PhD in Biology from UC
Berkeley. Another witness against evolution is Mustafa Akyol, the
spokesman for a fundamentalist Muslim organization in Istanbul that
intimidates teachers into giving the Genesis account of creation.
Jack Krebs, vice president of Kansas Citizens for Science, one of
the science organizations boycotting the hearings, complained that,
"they are trying to make science stand for atheism." Of course
that's what they're trying to do, but it's also true that many
scientists are atheists. After all, we assume that events have
natural causes. As we learn more about causes, God's domain keeps
shrinking, or at least moving, like God's Little Acre in the
Erskine Calwell novel. I leave the extrapolation to the reader.
2. NATIONAL PRAYER DAY: PRESIDENT BUSH INVOKES INTELLIGENT DESIGN.
Yesterday was also the 54th annual National Day of Prayer. In an
East Room ceremony, President Bush said, "Freedom is our birthright
because the Creator wrote it into our common human nature." Sigh.
He went on to say "we celebrate the freedom to pray as you wish, or
not at all." Oh good. On Capitol Hill, Tom DeLay (R-TX), speaking
from his soapbox in the Cannon House Office Building, called for
spending, "less time on our soapboxes and more time on our knees."
3. TABLE TOP FUSION: TOTAL MEDIA CONFUSION OVER UCLA FUSION DEVICE.
Last week, WN pointed out that media stories about a UCLA neutron
generator were, uh, uninformed. High-energy deuterium ions strike
a deuterium-loaded target. Now and then you get d-d fusion, as
Rutherford did in 1934. The new wrinkle is a pyroelectric crystal
to generate the accelerating voltage. The Economist on April 30
totally mangled the story, referring to it as cold fusion in an
editorial (it's VERY hot fusion). The story speaks of "energy from
crystals" (groan), and winds up with Dr. McCoy on Star Trek.
4. THE HEINZ AWARDS: TWO FORMER APS PRESIDENTS ARE RECIPIENTS.
Presented by the Heinz Family Foundation since 1994, the $250,000
prizes recognize individual achievement across a spectrum of
activity. Of the six recipients of this year's award, two served
as president of the APS. Sidney Drell of Stanford was APS president
in 1986. A theorist and arms control advisor, he received the
award for contributions in the "Public Policy" category. Mildred
Dresselhaus of MIT was APS president in 1984, formerly at MIT,
scientist, researcher, educator and trailblazer for women in the
sciences was the recipient in the category of "Technology, the
Economy and Employment." It was a joy to have worked for them both.
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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