Friday, 14 January 2000

1. CLIMATE WARS: IN CASE YOU HADN'T NOTICED, IT'S GETTING WARMER.
A report released yesterday by the National Research Council concludes that a global surface warming trend is "undoubtedly real," and it's accelerating. The panel was specifically charged with reconciling trends of surface temperatures with those in the lower to mid-troposphere. Global warming skeptics used to crow over results from satellite and balloon observations showing a slight cooling of the upper atmosphere (WN 1 May 98), but recent corrections have turned that into a slight warming. Although the troposphere has warmed less, the panel bluntly states that: "The disparity in no way invalidates the conclusion that the surface temperature has been rising." The report does not attempt to explain the reasons for the warming. CBS broke an embargo on the release of the report, which had the effect of muting coverage.

2. NIF REVIEW: "NO ONE GETS A PASSING GRADE ON MANAGEMENT."
The National Ignition Facility is now projected to overrun its $1.2B budget by $400M, and to miss its scheduled 2003 completion date by two years. A DOE Task Force, headed by John McTague, former Ford VP and White House science advisor, issued an interim report this week slamming the DOE Office of Defense Programs, Lawrence Livermore labs, and the University of California. No one knew who was responsible for what. But the panel cautions against too much monkeying around with the lab culture (WN 23 Dec 99): "There a real danger that in addressing this issue, duplicative and paralyzing oversight mechanisms may be introduced."

3. STAR WARS: PENTAGON PLAYS DOWN "SUCCESSFUL" TEST.
Even as the Pentagon prepares for a critical test of its ballistic missile defense next week, it is backing away from the claims made for an earlier test, according to a story in today's New York Times. The hit-to-kill vehicle had the wrong star map and was wandering lost when its IR sensors picked up a bright object. It turned out not to be the warhead, but a decoy in the vicinity of the fainter warhead. Without the decoy serving as a beacon, critics argue, the kill vehicle would never have found the warhead. Next week's test may be critical to President Clinton's decision on deployment, which was promised for this summer (WN 24 Nov 99).

4. MIR: YET ANOTHER BAILOUT PLAN FOR THE DIEHARD SPACECRAFT?
Who would invest in a wobbly space station that leaks?, WN asked last June (WN 4 Jun 99). A "British billionaire" had convinced the Russians that he could round up investors willing to put up $100M each to get a piece of the action. It was a scam. Then it was a group of US entrepreneurs proposing to use a 7-kilometer tether to boost Mir (WN 22 Oct 99). That died too. This week, a press report said "Golden Apple" was ready to put up $20M to rescue the abandoned craft. It turned out to be an offshore investment firm named Gold & Apel. I'm trying to reach them about this bridge.



Bob Park can be reached via email at whatsnew@bobpark.org
THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
Opinions are the author's and are not necessarily shared by the University, but they should be.