Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Sadly, the death of Steve Jobs from pancreatic cancer came just a month
before the Lorne Trottier Public Science Symposium, Alternative Medicine,
Under the Microscope was held 7&8 Nov 2011 at McGill University in
Montral, Canada. Although its unlikely that alternative medicine
contributed directly to Jobs death, his delay in seeking effective
treatment probably did (WN 23 Oct11). Not a
scientist, Jobs initially
turned to alternative medicine rather than face surgery. The four
symposium speakers, Harriet Hall, Paul Offit, Bob Park, and Edzard Ernst,
are well-known debunkers of alternative medicine. Free to the public, the
symposium was funded by McGill alumnus and benefactor Lorne Trottier. He co-
founded Matrox, a computer graphics corporation.
Of the worlds 7 billion people, an incredible 5 billion have cell phones
(mobiles in most countries). The safe use of mobiles is therefore a
global health concern. The response of the World Health Organization was to
conduct a huge epidemiologic study aimed at demonstrating a link between
cell-phone radiation and brain cancer. The effort was seriously misguided
no such link exists. The study served only to raise widespread public
alarm over a nonexistent hazard. Epidemiology, which is the study of
health patterns in populations; is important, but its not a substitute for
science. Science is the organization of knowledge into testable laws and
theories. It has been known for more than 100 years that electromagnetic
radiation at frequencies below the ultraviolet is non-ionizing, and thus
cannot create the mutant strands of DNA that constitute incipient cancers.
In 1905, Einsteins miracle year, he theorized that electromagnetic
radiation consists of discrete units of energy, now called photons, which
are equal in energy to the frequency multiplied by Planck's constant. It
marked the origin of wave-particle duality and earned Einstein his 1921
Physics Nobel Prize. His theory is verified every time a cell phone
works.
Why is not clear. A three month suspension of manned Soyuz flights, imposed
after the crash of an unmanned supply vehicle in August, ended Monday with
the launch of a three astronaut replacement team to the ISS. Two Russian
cosmonauts and an American astronaut will rendezvous with the ISS today to
replace a team that has been there since June. What will the new team do?
They will attempt to stay alive until theyre replaced.
The new rover has far greater capability than its predecessors to retrieve
and analyze samples. Moreover, the solar panels have been replaced with Pu-
238 radioisotope thermoelectric generators that will supply far more power
than the solar panels.
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