Friday, October 5, 2007
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.
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.
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 .
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