Friday,
8 June 1990 Washington, DC
1. THE ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELD RESEARCH AND INFORMATION ACT
of 1990 (H.R.4801) has been introduced by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-
NJ). The bill would authorize $34M over the next five years to:
(1) research health effects of exposure to electric and magnetic
fields, (2) find ways to reduce the exposure, and (3) inform the
public about what is learned. What scientist would oppose a bill
that calls for additional research and an informed public? Much
of what the bill calls for, however, is already under way. Last
September, the National Cancer Institute undertook a four-year
large-scale epidemiological study to look for any possible link
between electromagnetic fields and acute lymphocytic leukemia.
Manufacturers, meanwhile, are happily selling "low field"
electric blankets and video terminals to worried consumers.
2. HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVES SUPERCOLLIDER FUNDS
behind closed doors. The Energy and Water Subcommittee yesterday
approved the full $318M SSC request. Even as the subcommittee
met, industries hoping to share in the bonanza were holding a pep
rally on the other side of Capitol Hill. Speaking at the
industry meeting, Rep. Joe Barton (D-TX), whose district includes
Waxahachie, predicted that while prospects for the SSC are good,
the final SSC appropriation could be reduced this fall either by
the budget summit or sequestration. That view is echoed by a
Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee staff member.
3. UTAH PRESIDENT CHASE PETERSON IS GETTING IT FROM ALL SIDES.
Following disclosure that the source of an "anonymous donation"
of $.5M to the University's National Cold Fusion Institute was
the University of Utah itself
(WN 1 Jun 90), the Academic Senate
passed a resolution on Monday calling on the Board of Regents to
examine whether "continuation in office of the current president
is in the best interest of the University and the community it
serves." In other action, the Fusion-Energy Advisory Panel that
oversees the state's $5M investment in cold fusion, met yesterday
and called for a financial and scientific audit of the program by
Aug 20. No one at the University has ever had a look at Pons's
data. If that wasn't enough, Peterson himself reportedly received
one of the legal threats from Pon's lawyer
(WN 25 May 90).
4. TRITIUM CONTAMINATION OF THE PALLADIUM USED IN CATHODES
has
been identified as the source of some of the persistent "Elvis
sightings" that have kept the spark of hope alive in the breasts
of cold fusion loyalists. Kevin Wold, a Texas A&M physicist who
has reported small amounts of tritium in cold fusion cells, has
traced the origin to a single supplier of palladium. The same
palladium was used at Los Alamos and in the Chemistry Department
at A&M by John Bockris. The contaminated palladium does not
explain the occasional large tritium bursts reported by Bockris,
but the source of that tritium is expected to be revealed soon.
Be patient, the long night of cold fusion is almost at an end.
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