> [Original Message] > From: What's New <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: 10/13/2006 1:51:36 PM Subject: [BOBPARKS-WHATSNEW] What's New Friday October 13, 2006
WHAT'S NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 13 Oct 06 Washington, DC 1. FIZZLE? SOMETHING EXPLODED, BUT NOBODY SEEMS TO KNOW WHAT. There was a seismic event near Kilju, North Korea. The signature was characteristic of an explosion: a sharp leading edge, unlike the release of elastic energy in a tectonic movement. But so far there is no report of airborne radioactivity, which is the most reliable evidence of a test and says the most about what sort of nuclear device it was. North Korea says it was deep underground, but there is typically some venting. If it was a nuclear bomb, it was very small. Bomb freaks in the Pentagon hyperventilate at the thought of a mini-nuke, but a fizzle would be more likely. 2. WOMEN IN PHYSICS: NEW BOOK TELLS THE STORY FOR THE FIRST TIME. "Out of the Shadows: Contributions of Twentieth-Century Women to Physics," edited by Nina Byers and Gary Williams, is an important contribution to the history of science. It is forty stories of women who made major contributions to twentieth century physics, written by distinguished scientists who are themselves actively engaged in the areas of physics about which they write. Cambridge University Press, produced a beautiful 500-page volume, and the Sloan Foundation provided a grant that reduced the list price to $35. It cannot be read without a sense of regret at what the world lost by not having greater involvement of women in science. Even today, my freshman physics class averages only 10% women. 3. PERPETUUM MOBILE: GAS PRICES STIMULATE MORE ZERO-POINT DREAMS. About five times a year somebody comes out with a new device to make free energy. Most involve magnetic fields. See for example http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN06/wn082506.html . The oldest perhaps was Perigrinus in 1269, who proposed a magnet to attract iron teeth arranged around a wheel. Once you started it moving, inertia was supposed to carry it beyond the difficult gap to the next tooth. I tire of debunking these things, but this week a reporter called about Magnetic Power, Inc. He said deep-pocket investors, are putting money in it. They always do. MPI says its "Quantum Dynamos" tap the "Virtual Photon Flux, a limitless source of energy." Inventors used to call that "perpetual motion," but the Patent office won't patent perpetual motion machines. That was only a policy of the Patent office before 1985. It became case law after Joe Newman sued in federal court to force the Patent Office to issue a patent for his "infinite source of energy" (Quigg v. Newman) and lost. 4. DOVER EFFECT: MICHIGAN STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION BACKS DARWIN. Michigan had been targeted by the Discovery Institute in an effort to include intelligent design along with evolution in public school science curricula. However, following the Dover decision in federal court (Kitzmiller), the intelligent design move was reduced to trying to soften support for evolution. Instead, the Michigan Board solidified its support for evolution. 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
