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Robert Park | 16 Nov 2011 13:28
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What's New Robert L. Park 16 Nov 2011

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 11 Nov 16   Washington, DC

1. THE ALTERNATIVES: SYMPOSIUM EXAMINES QUACK CURES.
Sadly, the death of Steve Jobs from pancreatic cancer came just a month 
before the Lorne Trottier Public Science Symposium, “Alternative Medicine, 
Under the Microscope” was held 7&8 Nov 2011 at McGill University in 
Montréal, Canada.  Although it’s unlikely that alternative medicine 
contributed directly to Jobs’ death, his delay in seeking effective 
treatment probably did (WN 28 Oct 11).  Not a scientist, Jobs initially 
turned to alternative medicine rather than face surgery.  The four 
symposium speakers, Harriet Hall, Paul Offit, Bob Park, and Edzard Ernst, 
are well-known debunkers of alternative medicine.  Free to the public, the 
symposium was funded by McGill alumnus and benefactor Lorne Trottier. He co-
founded Matrox, a computer graphics corporation.  

2.CANCER AND CAUSALITY: EINSTEIN DIDN’T HAVE A CELL-PHONE.
Of the world’s 7 billion people, an incredible 5 billion have cell phones 
(“mobiles” in most countries).  The safe use of mobiles is therefore a 
global health concern. The response of the World Health Organization was to 
conduct a huge epidemiologic study aimed at demonstrating a link between 
cell-phone radiation and brain cancer.  The effort was seriously misguided –
no such link exists.  The study served only to raise widespread public 
alarm over a nonexistent hazard.  Epidemiology, which is the study of 
health patterns in populations; is important, but it’s not a substitute for 
science.  Science is the organization of knowledge into testable laws and 
theories.  It has been known for more than 100 years that electromagnetic 
radiation at frequencies below the ultraviolet is non-ionizing, and thus 
cannot create the mutant strands of DNA that constitute incipient cancers.  
In 1905, Einstein’s “miracle year,” he theorized that electromagnetic 
radiation consists of discrete units of energy, now called “photons,” which
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Robert Park | 1 Dec 2011 18:19
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What's New Robert L. Park 01 Dec 2011

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Monday, 30 Nov 2011   Washington, DC

1. BIRTH CONTROL: IT'S NOW PART OF OUR NATIONAL HEALTH POLICY. 
Earth’s population reached 7 billion this month.  As WN pointed out two 
years ago (WN 19 Jun 09) that's double what it was in 1968, the year 
Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich warned of desperate shortages in "The 
Population Bomb."  Julian Simon, a libertarian economist at the University 
of Maryland, challenged Ehrlich to a public wager on a list of commodity 
prices.  Ehrlich lost on every point, but the real loser was the 
environment: anthropogenic climate change, vast floating garbage patches in 
ocean gyres, starvation in parts of the world, the Hubbert peak in oil 
production, perpetual warfare etc. But there was also good news in 
1968; "the Pill," a combined-hormone oral contraceptive, was approved by 
the FDA.   The Pill is arguably the most important technological invention 
in history, and last week the Obama administration made it clear that 
health insurance plans are required to cover birth-control expenses without 
co-pays.  The policy follows the recommendation of the Institute of 
Medicine, but prompted protests from Catholic bishops who will have fewer 
souls to save.  An editorial in the New York Times called the policy 
a “proud achievement” of the administration.

2. CURIOSITY ROVER: WHY PEOPLE AREN'T GOING TO MARS.
You may have noticed that Martian landscapes photographed by Rovers are 
pretty drab compared to Earth landscapes taken by Ansell Adams.  The 
problem is not the cameras or the lighting.  Rocks, even red ones, simply 
do not Yellowstone Park make.  The Mars lobby insists we should be touring 
the red planet with humans rather than soulless machines.  But even if we 
could find astronauts with the artistic instincts of Ansell Adams, the Mars 
quest is for life to which we are not related.  Astronauts would be 
compelled to spend perhaps nine months waiting for the appropriate
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