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What's New | 3 Feb 2006 22:02

What's New Friday February 3, 2006

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 03 Feb 06   Washington, DC

1. STATE OF THE UNION: THE AMERICAN COMPETITIVENESS INITIATIVE. 
Last year, we had to do a word search on the transcript to find
"science."  Not this year; the President announced the American
Competitiveness Initiative, which calls for doubling investment
in basic research in the physical sciences over a ten-year period
and increased emphasis on math and science education.  The
President's FY07 budget calls for $137B in R&D, up 50% from 2001. 
It's good to go into the budget process with a big request, but
November is a long way off and spending on Iraq is undiminished.

2. SHH!  TOP CLIMATE SCIENTIST SAYS NASA TRIED TO SILENCE HIM. 
Physicist James Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute
for Space Studies told the New York Times that since he gave a
talk at the American Geophysical Union meeting on 6 Dec 05, NASA
has screened his coming talks and requests from journalists for
interviews.  In his AGU talk, Hansen had argued that an increase
in automotive fuel efficiency standards would significantly cut
emissions.  The administration policy is to rely on voluntary
measures.  Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), Science Committee Chairman,
admonished NASA Administrator Griffin and pledged to investigate.
It's not the first time Boehlert has leaped to the defense of
climate scientists.  Last July, Boehlert objected to harassment
of climate scientists by Joe Barton (R-TX), Energy Committee
Chairman http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN05/wn070805.html .  WN
would suggest that Mr. Boehlert might also want to look into
NASA's termination of the Deep Space Climate Observatory.

3. JUNK REPORTING: FOX NEWS COLUMNIST IS AVAILABLE FOR HIRE.
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What's New | 10 Feb 2006 22:02

What's New Friday February 10, 2006

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 10 Feb 06   Washington, DC

1. GLOBAL WARMING: MAYBE SCIENTIFIC OPENNESS IS "ONLY A THEORY." 
Last week, WN reported that top NASA climate scientist James
Hansen was under pressure to cool it on global warming.  The
pressure, we have since learned, was coming from 24-year old
White House appointee George Deutsch, who had been an intern in
the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign.  Earlier, Deutsch had
informed a NASA contractor that the word "theory" had to be added
to every mention of the Big Bang.  "This is more than a science
issue," he declared, "it is a religious issue."  On Friday, NASA
chief Michael Griffin made it clear to all NASA employees that
it's not the job of public affairs to "alter, filter or adjust"
material from the technical staff.  Wednesday, Deutsch resigned.
What was he doing in a sensitive position in the first place? 
Although his job at NASA was a reward for work in the re-election
campaign, he did have a journalism degree from Texas A&M, didn't
he?  Well, actually no.  He lied about that.  Deutsch was right
about one thing: science issues can also be religious issues.

2. EVANGELISTS:  MAYBE GOD DIDN'T MAKE HIMSELF PERFECTLY CLEAR.
There is a rare split among evangelical Christians.  A group of
86 evangelical leaders formed the Evangelical Climate Initiative
to combat global warming www.christiansandclimate.org , even
taking out a full-page ad in the NY Times.  However, a number of
evangelical heavy weights, including Jerry Falwell and James
Dobson, oppose the initiative, and the National Association of
Evangelicals has decided not to take a position.  But what does
God say?  "Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and
subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
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What's New | 17 Feb 2006 21:30

What's New Friday February 10, 2006

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 17 Feb 06   Washington, DC

1. DOVER EFFECT: HAS INTELLIGENT DESIGN SUFFERED A MORTAL WOUND? 
The Ohio Board of Education voted 11 to 4 on Tuesday to scrap a
requirement that "critical analysis of evolution" be taught in
biology classes.  Ohio's "critical analysis" ploy for teaching
intelligent design had been hailed by The Discovery Institute as
a model for the entire nation.  Rejection by the Education Board
came as a direct consequence of the Dover ruling by U.S. District
Court Judge John E. Jones III: teaching ID is unconstitutional
http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN05/wn122305.html .  A Discovery
Institute spokesman publicly scoffed that the Dover ruling was
not binding elsewhere, but Judge Jones expanded the blast radius
by awarding damages to the parents who brought suit.  That got
the attention of school boards.  The Discovery Institute has bet
the farm on selling ID as science, but the Dover effect has
blunted it in California, Indiana and Wisconsin, and now Ohio. 

2. EVOLUTION SUNDAY: CHRISTIAN CHURCHES HONORING CHARLES DARWIN?
Go on!  Yes, Sunday was the 197th birthday of Charles Darwin.  At
450 churches around the nation it was celebrated with sermons and
programs that mingle biological evolution and faith.  Something
is happening.  The public is getting an unprecedented exposure to
evolution in books, museum exhibits, and news programs.  Coming
soon to a theater near you is Flock of Dodos.  Film maker and
marine biologist Randy Olsen has made a movie about evolution and
intelligent design http://www.flockofdodos.com .  It has what
fundamentalists all lack   a sense of humor.  And we owe it all
to the Discovery Institute and intelligent design.
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What's New | 24 Feb 2006 22:24

What's New Friday February 24, 2006

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 24 Feb 06   Washington, DC

1. DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS: TWO-MORE POPULAR SUPPLEMENTS STRIKE OUT. 
Last week, saw palmetto, used by 2.5 million American men to
treat prostate problems, was found to be ineffective.  This week,
the New England Journal of Medicine published the eagerly-awaited
results of a trial of glucosamine/chondroitin, used by about 5.2
million Americans for arthritis pain at a cost of $30 to $50 a
month.  In 2004 alone, sales were $730M.  The NIH sponsored study
cost taxpayers $12.5M.  Glucosamine/chondroitin, like saw
palmetto, was found to be ineffective.  Both are marketed under
the 1994 Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act (DSHEA),
which allows natural supplements to be sold without proof of
safety or efficacy.  After Stephen Strauss became director, the
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at NIH
began in-depth studies of the most popular supplements.  It takes
time, and it's expensive, but let's look at the score: echinacea
doesn't ward off colds or flu, St. Johns Wort doesn't relieve
depression, ginko biloba doesn't improve memory, ephedra aids
athletic performance but kills people, and is the only supplement
to be banned.  A year ago, the Institute of Medicine called for
revision of DSHEA to require all treatments to meet the same
standards http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN05/wn011405.html .
Congress has done nothing, but I guess they've been busy. 

2. SPACE PRIORITIES: NASA CHOOSES TO EMPHASIZE FAILED PROGRAMS.
When was it that NASA began having these suicidal fantasies?  The
2007 budget request calls for sinking more money into the failed
Shuttle and Space Station programs at the expense of robotic Mars
sample returns and Terrestrial Planet Finders and anything else
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What's New | 3 Mar 2006 22:12

What's New Friday March 3, 2006

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 3 Mar 06   Washington, DC

1. GLUCOSAMINE AND CHONDROITIN: INEFFECTIVE FOR ARTHRITIS PAIN? 
We got a lot of mail last week about our comment on these popular
dietary supplements.  Based on an NIH-funded trial, reported in
the New England Journal of Medicine, WN characterized G-C as
"ineffective" for osteoarthritis knee pain.  The study reported
that: "Overall, glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate were not
significantly better than a placebo in reducing knee pain by 20
percent."  The double-blind trial was placebo controlled, and
celecoxib (Celebrex) was used as a positive control.  The problem
is that the 1583 patients in the trial were divided into subsets
based on severity of pain.  Although it was ineffective overall,
indignant WN readers pointed out that for the moderate-to-severe
subset G-C "provided statistically significant pain relief
compared to a placebo."  Statisticians groaned: by dividing the
cohort into subgroups, the outcome for a specific subset can
usually be altered by fiddling with the boundaries.  The bottom
line in the NEJM study, incidentally, is the ubiquitous report
ending, "continued research is needed to establish efficacy." 

2. WE FEEL YOUR PAIN: WHAT'S NEW DOES A STUDY OF THE BOTTOM LINE.
Much of the e-mail about G-C was anecdotal.  Not just from people
who used it themselves, but also those who had treated dogs, cats
and horses with it(vets love G-C, and point out that pets don't
respond to placebos).  "The plural of anecdote," someone said,
"is data."  Although anecdotes are not blind; we decided to see
what the data might tell us about What's New.  First we divided
the messages into subgroups.  The groups ranged from,"He's just
guessing," to "Park is a liar and must be getting paid under the
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