Friday, October 5, 2007

1. SPUTNIK AT 50: ITS INFERNAL BEEPING DROVE US NUTS.

A month later, Sputnik II was taking radiation measurements. Our embarrassment was compounded by the Vanguard debacle 2 months later. But just 4 months after Sputnik I, Explorer I detected the Van Allen radiation belts - the first major discovery of what lay beyond the ionosphere. The U.S. had taken the lead in the scientific exploration of space, and has never relinquished it. Forget the dogs and chimpanzees and astronauts - the herd shot ‘round the world - they have made no contribution at all to life here on Earth. It is our space machines that expand our knowledge of the universe and enrich our lives. We urgently need more space machines to tell us what's happening to Earth.

2. POLITICAL SCIENCE: SCIENCE HELD HOSTAGE TO POLITICS.

How did Sputnik II miss the Van Allen belts, you might wonder? The data recorder on board wasn't working. Scientists wanted to delay launch to make repairs. Khrushchev refused - he was headed to an important international conference and wanted to announce another success. Thus, at the dawn of the Space Age, science was already held hostage to politics. Yesterday at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, Hillary Clinton spoke on "Reclaiming our Commitment to Science and Innovation." Her strongest words came after the speech in an interview with the NY Times. She called for protection of research from "political pressure," including restoration of cuts in space-based climate research.

3. MALICIOUS: AUTHOR OF FRAUDULENT PAPER SUES CRITIC.

We've been reporting on the Columbia prayer study for six years (WN 23 Feb 07) . It claimed that the prayers of total strangers halfway around the world doubled the success of in Vitro fertilization. As problems showed up, one author, the Ob/Gyn Dept Chair at Columbia Univ. said he had nothing to do with the work, a breech of scientific ethics. Another, a business-man/fertility-doctor who operates fertility clinics in Korea and California, was charged with plagiarism in Korea in a separate case. A third author, a parapsychologist and lawyer, went to federal prison for an unrelated swindling conviction. Meanwhile, Bruce Flamm, clinical professor of Ob/Gyn at U.C. Irvine, who uncovered much of this, thought the J. of Reproductive Medicine should pull the paper, and Columbia should disavow it - neither happened. So Flamm kept up the pressure. The result? Kwang Y. Cha, the fertility-clinic operator, is suing Flamm for defamation. The infamous paper, meanwhile, can still be found at the Journal site http://www.reproductivemedicine.com/Features/2001/2001Sep.htm .

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.