Thursday, Aug 09, 2012
You dont really want to know. Nevertheless, Whats New lives and theres
a lot we need to catch up on, so lets get started.
Launching the Mars Science Laboratory Rover on a 150,000,000 mile journey
to Gale Crater on Mars was a lot easier than landing it safely once it got
there, but NASA pulled the incredible landing maneuver off perfectly.
After all, this was science-NASA, the part of NASA that explores the moons
of Saturn with unmanned spacecraft, and uses space telescopes to discover
exoplanets orbiting distant stars. The new Rover, which also answers to the
whimsical name Curiosity, will explore Gale Crater for one Martian year
(687 Earth days) looking for evidence of extraterrestrial life. This may
call for a sample return mission, but its still the greatest quest in
science. There are, however, two NASAs. Curiosity is also called on to
evaluate the habitability of Mars. Thats a concession to astronaut-
NASA, the larger half of NASAs budget. Astronaut-NASA dominated the
space program from Apollo to the Space Shuttle and the International Space
Station, which trapped astronaut-NASA in low-Earth orbit. But as I pointed
out in my article in Slate Magazine on Monday, the astronaut program simply
must not be allowed to control NASA as long as there is a search for
extraterrestrial life.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has introduced the Cell Phone Right to
Know Act (H.R. 6358) requiring radiation warning labels on mobile
communication devices. If passed, the warning labels will inform consumers
of the SAR (specific absorption rate) of their device. But knowing the SAR
of their cell phones will be no help to consumers anyway, since numerous
studies find no evidence linking SAR to actual health effects. However, the
Kucinich Bill also calls for new research into cell-phone health effects
since past research found zip. The bill would also compel the Environmental
Protection Agency to review and update its radiation-emission guidelines,
despite the absence of any problem. Weve been down this road before. The
power-line-radiation fiasco in the 1990s terrified millions of people who
thought the fields from electric power lines in their homes might lead to
childhood leukemia. It took years to convince the public that power-line
fields are completely harmless. Many of those misled the public on power
lines are at it again on cell phones.
Even as some in Congress seeks to protect us from feeble microwave photons,
anyone can obtain an assault weapon that spews out 100 lead bullets per
minute, each of which can blow half your head off. There is no
justification for allowing such weapons in a civilized society. Aye,
theres the rub.
|
