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What's New | 2 Jan 2010 00:18

What's New Friday, Jan 1, 2010

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park    Friday, 01 Jan 10   Washington, DC

1. UNDERWEAR BOMBS: THE ONLY DEFENCE IS FULL EXPOSURE. 
The problem with suicide bombers is that they’re never experienced. We 
endure the minor indignity of removing our shoes when passing through 
airport security ever since a young Al Qaeda recruit named Richard Reid 
attempted to detonate an explosive substance in his shoes on a flight from 
Paris to Miami on 22 Dec 2001 without having first tried it.  Either the 
flight was sold out on Christmas or Richard had it confused with the winter 
solstice.  Removing your shoes is no big deal, but about 2 million people 
pass through airport security in the US every day; over eight years that’s 
something in the neighborhood of 1 billion pairs of shoes being taken off 
and put back on, not to mention the number of lost shoes. Think of it as a 
sort of tax on staying alive. The guy that invented the shoe bomb that 
failed to go off for Richard Reid on Winter Solstice 2001 must have 
invented the underwear bomb that didn’t go off for Umar Abdulmutallab on 
Christmas 2009.  Let’s hope they keep this guy.  But what are we supposed 
to do now?  We can't parade our private stuff in public.  Or can we?  Air 
travel could be limited to those willing to go naked through terminals.  If 
you have it, you should flaunt it.  

2. BREWING TROUBLE: NOT ALL THE THINGS WE LIKE ARE BAD FOR US.
It's a common experience: your doctor is treating you for some chronic 
condition and suggests you try cutting back on coffee. This is based on an 
ancient medical principle that the things we enjoy most must be bad for us. 
The Personal Journal section of the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday gives 
the other side in a striking visual: 6 cups per day lowered the risk of 
advanced prostate cancer in a 20 year study of 50,000 men, 5 cups per day 
lowered their risk of Alzheimer's by 65%, 4 cups per day cut the risk of 
stroke by 43% in a study of 83,000 nurses, and so on. This, of course,
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What's New | 8 Jan 2010 23:23

What's New January 8, 2010

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park    Friday, 08 Jan 10   Washington, DC

1. CELL PHONES: KEEP YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE MICROWAVE OVEN.
Several readers admonished me for my unqualified assertion in last week's 
WN that "cell phone radiation does not cause cancer." They point out that 
microwave photons may not eject photoelectrons but they do excite molecular 
vibrations (heat). That's why your microwave oven has a safety interlock on 
the door.  So does the miniscule energy deposited by the cell phone cook 
your brain?  No!  Rapid blood circulation keeps the brain temperature at 
that of the blood, which is regulated by the hypothalamus at the base of 
the brain.  Thermoregulation is a high priority for the brain.  That’s why 
marathoners run hard for more than two hours, often hatless beneath a 
midday summer sun, yet their rise in blood temperature is about that of a 
mild fever.

2. WARNINGS: MAINE LEGISLATURE AGREES TO TAKE UP CELL-PHONE WARNING LABELS.
State Rep. Andrea Boland (D) is pushing for the state to become the first 
to require cell phone makers to put warnings on packaging like those on 
cigarettes. The bill was filed in October but is on a fast track. It’s 
considered “emergency legislation” because there are 900,000 cell phones in 
the state. Rep. Bolden's concern was based on a 2006 study in Sweden 
showing a correlation between brain tumors and heavy cell phone use. 
However, a Danish study that came out in December found that the rates of 
brain cancer in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden had remained stable 
from 1974 two 2003. Such studies are possible in Scandinavia where record-
keeping is an obsession. If the effect is real, the frequency of brain 
cancers should have turned up sharply in 2000. An estimated 277 million 
people use cell phones in the US. I doubt if such a label would reduce that 
number significantly.  Scientific truth becomes something to be negotiated.
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Aaron L. McQueen | 19 Jan 2010 18:10
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What's New Robert L. Park January 15, 2010

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park    Friday, 15 Jan 10   Washington, DC

1. EARTHQUACK: PAT ROBERTSON EXPLAINS THE HAITI DISASTER.
With the death toll in Haiti now estimated at about 50,000, the evangelist 
broadcaster explained to "The 700 Club" what it all meant. In colonial 
times, he said, Haiti cut a deal with the devil to get rid of the French -- 
and has been cursed ever since. According to a BBC news report White House 
spokesman Robert Gibbs characterized Robertson's remarks as “stupid.”  
There was in fact a lot of "stupid" going around this week. 

2. CIA: HOW MANY SPIES HAS THE POLYGRAPH EXPOSED?   
According to a CBS News account of the suicide bombing at a CIA base in 
Afghanistan, "The double agent was brought onto the base without first 
being given a polygraph test, one of the basic tools in establishing a 
spy’s trustworthiness."  Really?  Aldrich Ames, the master Soviet spy who 
was a high-ranking CIA analyst, routinely passed polygraph exams, even as 
he passed information to the Soviets. Nor did the polygraph expose Larry Wu-
Tai Chin a Chinese language translator working for the CIA who sold 
information to China, or Robert Hanssen of the FBI.  In fact, not a single 
spy has been caught by a polygraph screening exam.  In 2003 the National 
Academy of Science issued a report, "The Polygraph and Lie Detection," that 
found the majority of polygraph research to be unreliable, unscientific and 
biased.  The high rate of false positives was considered unacceptable. I 
have argued, however, that the small number of true positives is the real 
problem. I propose replacing the polygraph with a coin toss. That would 
identify 50 percent of the double agents compared to zero with the 
polygraph. The unfortunate increase in false positives constitutes 
collateral damage, which is inevitable in war.

3. BABY GABRIEL: THE REALITY OF LIE DETECTION IN POPULAR CULTURE.
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What's New | 22 Jan 2010 22:42

What's New Robert L. Park January 22, 2010

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park    Friday, 22 Jan 10   Washington, DC

1. DARWIN: HAVE THE PHILISTINES TAKEN OVER THE NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD? 
What's going on? ThE 2010 Science and Engineering Indicators came out last 
week and for the first time this invaluable biennial publication of the 
National Science Board contains nothing on evolution in the chapter on 
public acceptance of science. Without information on public attitudes 
toward evolution the rest of the report is suspect. That this should occur 
just as we are winding up the Darwin Year (he will be 101 on February 12) 
is doubly disappointing. It is also the week the remarkable film "Creation" 
reaches theaters.

2. "CLIMATE OF SUSPICION": AN IMPORTANT EDITORIAL IN YESTERDAY’S NATURE.
I hope this will be the last time I mention the pilfered e-mails from the 
Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. The Nature 
editorial "Climate of suspicion" in the January 21 issue should be read by 
scientists in every field of research. The most important contribution of 
science to the world may be to demonstrate the power of openness in the 
advance of knowledge. We cannot allow ourselves to be intimidated by a 
small band of deniers into discussing hugely-important issues in private. 
We must openly communicate with one another and learn how to bring the 
public along on the adventure.

3. MONTREAL PROTOCOL: CAN MANKIND INFLUENCE EARTH’S CLIMATE?
Of course we can; we have a clear proof-of-concept: the Montréal protocol, 
signed in 1987, restricts the release of chlorofluorocarbons, man-made 
compounds that destroy the naturally existing ozone layer of the 
atmosphere. Ozone acts as a shield, blocking harmful ultraviolet radiation 
from reaching Earth's surface. The ozone hole has diminished since the 
protocol was agreed to.
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What's New | 29 Jan 2010 23:35

What's New Robert L. Park January 29, 2010

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park    Friday, 29 Jan 10   Washington, DC

1. SPIRIT: ITS GREAT ADVENTURE ISN’T QUITE OVER.
The very name given the Mars rover implies vigor and energy.  But 
telerobots, like those who build them, suffer decline with age. Sent to 
Mars in 2004 on a two-month assignment, in rover-years Spirit is now 210 
years old.  Its been limping most of that time, 
www.bobpark.org/WN04/wn100804.html . My wheels don't work like they used to 
either, but Spirit is now hopelessly stuck in a sand trap. NASA has 
abandoned hope of getting it out, and now plans to use Spirit as a 
stationary observatory. It’s like watching out the window of a nursing home.

2. MYSTERY: WHAT IS FARTING ON MARS?
As this week's Nature points out, the mantra for the rovers was to find the 
water; that would lead them to life. Unfortunately, water has been hard to 
find. Methane of course is not an unambiguous indicator of life. It can be 
produced geologically. In any case, methane found in the atmosphere gives 
no indication of where it came from.

3. FRAUD: WHY NOT GIVE THIS BUSINESSMAN A POLYGRAPH EXAM?
We reported last fall that a British company, ATSC, sold Iraq security 
forces 1500 fraudulent bomb detectors for $85 million 
www.bobpark.org/WN09/wn110609.html .  The head of the company has now been 
arrested on suspicion of fraud. As WN pointed out, the device is simply a 
telescoping antenna mounted on a swivel held by pistol grip.  A slight 
movement of the handle will cause the antenna to swivel to its lowest 
point. It works like a dousing rod pointing anywhere the operator wishes. 
Law enforcement officers love them because it gives them an excuse to 
search anyone who looks suspicious. A scientific device that no one 
understands serves as protection against the charge of profiling.
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