Friday, 5 March 1999 Washington, DC
1. CTBT: RATIFICATION THIS YEAR IS A CLINTON PRIORITY AGAIN.
Speaking to the National Press Club, Secretary of Energy Bill
Richardson declared that CTBT is "an issue where the whole
cabinet is going to be deployed." Does this sounds vaguely
familiar? There was talk all last year of a "big push," which
never came. Richardson predicted that the bill would pass "if it
is allowed on the floor of the Senate." Big "if." Senator Helms
(R-NC) still refuses to let the bill out of committee as long as
the ABM treaty lives. Meanwhile, China has joined the list of
nations that "plan to ratify" the treaty, according to Japanese
Foreign Ministry officials. The treaty must be ratified by 44
countries, including the five declared nuclear states, to go into
effect. India and Pakistan, which are nuclear power wannabes,
have indicated a willingness to sign the treaty.
2. CP VIOLATION: HOW MANY SIGMA MAKES IT A DISCOVERY?
Monday's
stunning announcement by the KTeV collaboration at Fermi Lab that
they had directly measured CP violation in the decay of K mesons
is the first result beyond the indirect discovery by Fitch and
Cronin 35 years ago. According to a story in The Chronicle of
Higher Education, however, scientists at CERN insist the result
merely confirms their 1988 finding. A spokesman for KTeV
responded that the CERN result was only 3 sigma not enough to
establish a real effect. The KTeV result is 7 sigma going on 10.
3. BUDGET: SCIENCE COMMITTEE CALLS FOR A THREE PERCENT MINIMUM.
Yesterday, the Committee issued its Views and Estimates, calling
for a minimum increase of 3% this year, and expressing concern
over the level of commitment for Space Station research. More
than a month ago, James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) scolded the White
House for an out-year budget which, he said, fell below
inflation. He has yet to reveal his own plan for the out years.
4. FREE ENERGY: STATE DEPARTMENT OPENS ITS DOORS TO NEW AGERS.
Something called the Integrity Research Institute has announced
the First International Conference on Free Energy (CoFE), April
29-30. IRI markets books and videos with such titles as The Race
to Zero Point Energy, Anti-Gravity: The Dream Made Reality, and
Holistic Physics and Consciousness. It is headed by a US Patent
Examiner named Tom Valone, who has been recruiting other open-
minded people to become Patent Examiners
(WN 20 Nov 98).
The
speakers list for CoFE is certainly open minded; topics include:
assisted nuclear reactions (a.k.a. cold fusion), sonoluminesence
(a.k.a. cold fusion), hydrogen technologies (a.k.a. cold fusion),
tabletop nuclear transformations (a.k.a. cold fusion), as well as
zero point energy generation, negative resistance and...well, you
get the idea. Where would you hold such a uh, um open-minded
conference? The notice says CoFE will be "under the auspices of
the U.S. State Department in the Dean Acheson Auditorium."
|
