Friday, July 10, 2009

1. NIH: FRANCIS COLLINS IS NOMINATED TO HEAD HEALTH AGENCY.

NIH is flush with stimulus money, and Collins will oversee the worlds largest single scientific research budget. He was a natural choice for NIH director, having led the National Human Genome Research project in its successful race against maverick Craig Venter. Although Collins scientific credentials are impressive, and he aligns himself with science on issues of fact, including intelligent design and stem cell research, scientists wince when he describes himself as an evangelical Christian. http://bobpark.umd.edu/WN09/wn060509.html , but now that Collins has been nominated we should look more closely. Religious converts tend to be zealots. In the final chapter of his book, "The Language of God," Collins, attributes his conversion, at 27, from atheism to Christianity to a powerful religious experience. It led him to examine the evidence for a god. He said he was persuaded by two arguments: 1) the anthropic principle, and 2) the moral law.

2. JUSTIFICATION: WHAT DO SCIENTISTS OF FAITH BELIEVE?

All seven physicist-winners of the Templeton Prize cite the same two arguments as persuasive: 1) The anthropic principle, which states that Nature's laws were designed to make life possible. I would paraphrase that in less pompous language, If things were different, things would not be the way things are. 2) The moral law, which states, we know the difference between right and wrong. Neurosciene agrees; basic morality is hardwired in our brain at birth. My priest friends explained that the wiring was done by the Holy Ghost. I suspect that the Ghost consulted with Darwinian evolution. Given the right triggers, everyone seems susceptible to emotional experiences that appear to transcend the rational. As WN said before, it is troubling that a PhD chemist with an MD did not recognize such an experience as a hormone rush.

3. LAQUILA ACCORD: WHAT WE HAVE IS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE.

At the Group of Eight meeting in LAquila, Italy this week, the world's major economies agreed to limit the rise in Earth's average temperatures but declined to set numerical targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 17 countries that account for 4/5 of the world's greenhouse gas production signed the declaration which at most amounts to an agreement that there is a problem. The conflict is between rich and poor countries. Poor countries argue that if the rich were serious they would provide funding to ease the transition of poor countries to a lower-emissions economy. A more practical solution would be to assist the poor countries to educate women and make the pill universally available.

4. FOOD FIGHT: FOREIGN INVESTORS ARE BUYING UP LAND IN AFRICA.

According to a story in the Guardian, investors in some of the world's richest countries are buying or leasing land in some of the world's poorest countries in anticipation of major world food shortages. An estimated one million Chinese farmers have been moved to Africa. India and South Korea are also major investors in African food production. In some parts of Africa the trend may save the land from being broken up into small, uneconomic farms that succumb to desertification from over cultivation.

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.