> [Original Message] > From: What's New <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: 10/6/2006 9:54:32 AM Subject: [BOBPARKS-WHATSNEW] What's New Friday October 6, 2006
WHAT'S NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 6 Oct 06 Washington, DC 1. THE PHYSICS PRIZE: LOOKING BACK AT THE EMBRYONIC UNIVERSE. "Are we so fortunate that we live at a time when we can develop the theory of creation?" George Smoot mused in a 1992 press conference http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN92/wn042492.html . It was at the April Meeting of the APS in Washington; Smoot had announced results from the Cosmic Background Explorer mission launched in 1989. The COBE findings appear to confirm the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe. Smoot, who is at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, and John Mather of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, share the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics for the COBE measurements. It was an exciting time. Sadly, however, it couldn't happen now. NASA has chosen to set aside relatively inexpensive science in favor of "Hollywood" sci fi spectaculars. 2. GIMME AN "A": IMPORTANT PROGRESS MADE IN MANNED SPACE FLIGHT. One small step in data enhancement. After 37 years, the missing "a" turned up. An Australian computer programmer used high-tech software to analyze Neil Armstrong's "One small step for man..." quote. He claims Armstrong said "a man" just like he insisted. I tried to lip-sync it while listening to the tape, but couldn't squeeze the "a" in. I guess that's why I'm not an astronaut. 3. FUEL EFFICIENCY: THE DEMAND IS GROWING FOR SMALLER PEOPLE. According to Holman Jenkins in the Wall Street Journal, Detroit is talking small cars again, following the near collapse of the SUV market amid higher gas prices over the last two years. He points out, however, that the popularity of SUVs and pickups was linked to the obesity epidemic. People need taller cabs so they can fit behind the steering wheel and still reach the pedals. Meanwhile, gas prices have fallen 25% since the peak just two months ago, but they may be at the bottom. Reports that OPEC is preparing to cut production is already starting to raise oil prices. There is a way out. If we keep converting crop land to making ethanol, rising food prices will begin to reduce American waistlines. We just have to stay the course. 4. THE BOMB: THE "AXIS OF EVIL" IS TURNING UP THE PRESSURE. Foreign Ministers are gathering in London for crisis talks on how to deal with Iran's refusal to end its nuclear program, even as North Korea's threatens to conduct a test of a nuclear weapon. 5. NANO: FDA LACKS RESOURCES TO REGULATE THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY. There are 320 nanomaterials products already on the market, including cosmetics, dietary supplements, drugs and medical devices, with 200 more in the pipeline. However, there is no record of anybody being harmed, in spite of Prince Charles' worries about the world being reduced to a mass of "grey goo" by self-replicating nanodevices. We call such devices "bacteria," http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN03/wn050903.html . 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
