Friday, July 1, 2011
Kosher and halal rules for the preparation of meat, require the throat to
be slit while the animal is fully conscious. Holland has long been
considered the most culturally tolerant country in Europe and perhaps in
the world, but ritual slaughter does seem barbaric, and on Tuesday, the
Netherlands Parliament passed a bill proposed by an animal-rights group
banning ritual slaughter of animals. Laws prohibiting cruelty to animals
as well as cruel religious practices, including polygamy, female genital
mutilation, and the burning of witches are enforced in every civilized
society. According to the Netherlands chief Rabbi, however, "Those who
survived the war(WWII)remember that the very first law made by the Germans
in Holland was the banning of schechita." The Muslims, meanwhile, are
certain that the law is aimed at them. In any case, both groups are free
to practice vegetarianism and would be healthier for it.
In today's issue of Science, Dan Charles takes a clear-eyed look
at "Science on the Shuttle." For 30 years the space shuttle has been the
only Highway to Space for US astronauts. Next week, space shuttle
Atlantis, STS-135, will deliver a load of groceries to the ISS. After its
return 12 days later Atlantis will remain in Florida as a museum piece. The
other surviving shuttles will likewise serve as museums in the district's
of key members of Congress. Near the end of the retrospective, I find
myself cast as the chief shuttle critic: Among some scientists, Dan says,
antipathy to the shuttle or any human space flight runs deep. He
quotes me, "It indulged humankind's impractical space fantasies at a cost
that retarded genuine progress." And so it did, but was there any science?
He cites only the repair of the Hubble space telescope, but it would have
been cheaper to launch a new Hubble.
WN hasn't mentioned Homestake in 8 years http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN03/wn061303.html. It would be the deepest underground
science facility in the world, 2,400m below ground; deeper than the current
record holder, SNOLAB in Sudbury, Ontario at 2,100m below. At that time the
mine was dry and conversion to a research laboratory would have been
relatively inexpensive. However, rather than risk liability for
environmental infractions that might come to light, the mining company
chose to flood the mine, enormously increasing the cost of conversion. It
would now take between $1.2 billion and $2.2 billion to build and equip an
underground particle physics laboratory at Homestake, according to a study
presented last week to a federal advisory panel. Adrian Cho writing in
Science magazine this week, questions whether thats feasible. That's as
much as a shuttle trip to the ISS, and who could afford that?
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