Friday, 30 July 1999 Washington, DC
1. PHYSICAL REVIEW: IT'S A BEST SELLER AMONG CANNIBALS.
Science literacy is expanding into hitherto unreachable segments of society. In the best-selling novel "Hannibal," FBI agent Clarice Starling cross-checks new subscriptions to Hannibal Lecter's favorite journals. The only one listed by name is Physical Review. The House Appropriations Committee may be a harder sell.
2. FY2K SCIENCE BUDGET: CANNIBALIZED BY THE APPROPRIATORS?
The House has already passed bills cutting science at DOE by 3% from FY 99 levels. At DOD, science is up 6%. Today, the House Appropriations Committee takes up the VA-HUD Bill. As reported out of subcommittee, it calls for a 10% cut in NASA and a 1% cut in NSF, compared to FY 99. In a letter to Subcommittee Chair James Walsh (R-NY), APS President Jerome Friedman warns, "Without sustained progress in science and technology, I fear that the projected surpluses...will never materialize.... We must not sacrifice science on the alter of political expediency."
3. CTBT: HELMS "FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATES" THE TEST BAN.
A month ago, all 45 Democratic senators wrote to Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC), chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, urging him to hold hearings on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Helms' sarcastic response was to coin a new word for arrogant obstructionism. He suggested they write instead to President Clinton urging him to submit the ABM and Kyoto Protocols to the Senate. Although polls indicate that 82% of Americans support CTBT, the White House seems to have given up on the treaty.
4. BURP ERROR! MAYBE HOCKEY PLAYERS HAVE GILLS.
Perhaps dizzy from hyperventilating, WN's calculation last week seriously understated how much oxygenated water athletes must drink to boost their blood oxygen level 1%
(WN 23 Jul 99).
The oxygen content of tap water is only 8 mg/liter. If that were doubled, as Oxyl'Eau claims, athletes would still need to drink--gasp!--146 liters in a 60-minute game to boost their oxygen intake by 1%.
5. DOE: SECOND THOUGHTS ABOUT "LOW-ENERGY NUCLEAR REACTIONS."
Science magazine reports that DOE is reviewing its decision to spend $100,000 to study the use of cold fusion to neutralize radioactive waste. According to the proposal from a nuclear engineer at the University of Illinois, "the discovery seems certain" and a follow-on scale up to pilot-plant levels is next. DOE, however, may have already paid for such a study. As WN reported two years ago
(WN 13 Jun 97),
Dr. Norm Olson at Battelle Pacific Northwest appeared with reporter Michael Guillen on ABC Good Morning America to say he was taking a "Patterson cell" back to Hanford to test it out. Maybe DOE could just check with Norm.
Helene Grossman contributed to this issue of WHAT'S NEW.
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