Friday, 3 October 97 Washington, DC
1. ABC-TV: "FRINGE OR FRONTIER? SCIENCE ON THE EDGE."
It was more like over the edge. Remember Good Morning America science
editor Michael Guillen? We last saw him gushing over Patterson
cells (WN 13 Jun 97), cold-fusion devices that also "neutralize
radioactivity." Well, this week Guillen was back with a three-part series, gushing over precognition ("these guys are not
flakes," he concludes), astrology ("I think we're just going to
have to suspend judgement") and psychokinesis ("you have to take
it seriously...if it's right you can foresee a future of mind-controlled wheel chairs, computers and jet fighters"). Guillen,
a PhD physicist who is uniquely positioned to help millions of
viewers understand that they live in a rational universe, has
chosen instead to tell them that their sad superstitions are open
scientific questions. It must be very good for ratings.
2. FY 98 BUDGET: SCIENCE SEEMS TO BE DOING PRETTY WELL.
We are now into the new fiscal year, and although only three of the
thirteen appropriations bills are complete, Congress quietly
passed a continuing resolution to keep the government running.
Meanwhile, word is beginning to come in from the conference
committees. The NSF research budget is up almost 5%, which is
actually above the anemic administration request (WN 7 Feb 97).
At DOE, High-Energy Physics is up 1.5%, double the request;
Nuclear Physics is up by the same factor, and Magnetic Fusion is
at least flat. What looks like a 2.9% increase for Basic Energy
Sciences is actually closer to 8.7%; last year, about $17M of the
BES budget was earmarked for pork-barrel projects in districts of
lame duck members (WN 27 Sep 96) and there were also rescissions.
This year, there are no threats of rescissions and the BES budget
is apparently free of earmarks. The worst news may be from DOD;
in line with the administration request, after five years of cuts
the Senate called for an 8% increase in basic research, but the
House wanted more cuts (WN 12 Sep 97). The compromise was flat
funding for basic research, and a 9% increase for applied.
3. SPUTNIK: 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATED BY ZAPPING A SATELLITE?
The space age began on Oct 4, 1957 with the launch of Sputnik.
Well, let's not get all mushy about it, the Pentagon wants to
mark the occasion by blasting an Air Force satellite out of the
sky with an infrared chemical laser left over from SDI. The
Soviet Union is history, nuclear arsenals are being dismantled,
and SDI is dead, but the laser lobby lives on. The Pentagon
insists the purpose of the test is purely defensive, to learn how
to protect our satellites from laser attack, but no potential for
antisatellite laser weapons exists anywhere else in the world.
4. MARS: INITIAL REPORT OF A WEAK GLOBAL MAGNETIC FIELD WAS WRONG
(WN 19 Sep 97). NASA now says there may have been an internal
dynamo, but all that remains are magnetic objects in the crust.
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