forward from [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Akira Kawasaki) > [Original Message] >From: What's New <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: 3/18/2006 12:58:12 AM Subject: [BOBPARKS-WHATSNEW] What's New Friday March 17, 2006
WHAT'S NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 17 Mar 06 Washington, DC 1. THE BIGGER PRIZE: IS "THE ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE" INFECTIOUS? Sir John Templeton had stipulated in 1972 that his prize for "Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities," now at $1.4 million, was to always be bigger than the Nobel. British cosmologist John Barrow has been awarded the Templeton Prize for 2006. Barrow is best known for "The Anthropic Cosmological Principle," written with Frank Tipler in 1986. The "anthropic principle" states that the laws of nature were fine-tuned by the Great Designer to allow the existence of beings so intelligent that they could discover the anthropic principle. This is so incredibly deep that something happens to scientists who dwell on it too long. In Tipler's case, it led him in 1996 to write, "The Physics of Immortality," in which he derives, "the existence of God and the resurrection of the dead" http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN94/wn100794.html . In Barrow's case it led to the 2006 Templeton Prize. 2. BELOW THE GROUND STATE: BEFORE SPRING THERE IS MARCH MADNESS. On March 23, 1989 in Salt Lake City, the University of Utah held a press conference to announce the discovery of cold fusion, but the story had already been leaked to the world's most influential financial dailies, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. Both papers continued to print unfailingly optimistic reports for weeks. Among those lured into the swamp was Randell Mills, a 1986 graduate of Harvard Medical School. Two years later Mills held a press conference of his own to announce that it wasn't fusion. It was better! Hydrogen atoms can shrink into "hydrinos," releasing energy. With the 17th anniversary of cold fusion approaching, both papers are now running credulous stories about Mills and his company, BlackLight Power. BLP, which has never produced anything, is rumored to be preparing an IPO. 3. PERPETUAL FRAUD: NOTORIOUS HUCKSTER IS UP TO HIS OLD TRICKS. Dennis Lee doesn't sell perpetual motion machines. He sells dealerships for perpetual motion machines. He's done hard time, but he wears it as a badge of honor, proof that the establishment is trying to suppress his inventions. He has never delivered a free-energy machines to a dealer, but he still sells dealerships. Can he be stopped? In 2002 the state of Washington, with the help of an obscure professor of physics, barred Lee's company, Better World Technologies, from doing business. Six months later, with the help of the same physics professor, it was Maine. It was slow, but at that rate he'd be out of business by my 100th birthday. It was not to be. Last week, Eric Krieg, a long-time nemesis of Lee and the head of an active group of skeptics in Philadelphia, pointed out that Lee is on tour again. One stop on the tour is Seattle. Seattle, WA? How could this be? It's not Better World Technologies that doing the tour, it's Better World Alternatives, a separate marketing company set up by Lee. In the age of the internet, education is the only weapon against scams. THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND. Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the University of Maryland, but they should be. --- Archives of What's New can be found at http://www.bobpark.org What's New is moving to a different listserver and our subscription process has changed. To change your subscription status please visit this link: http://listserv.umd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=bobparks-whatsnew&A=1
