> [Original Message] > From: What's New <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: 1/20/2006 9:34:39 PM Subject: [BOBPARKS-WHATSNEW] What's New Friday January 20, 2006
WHAT'S NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 20 Jan 06 Washington, DC 1. SHAMIFLU: CAN THE ANTIVIRAL DRUG HALT AN EPIDEMIC OF BIRD FLU? We said earlier that there is little evidence that Tamiflu can stop a pandemic http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN05/wn112505.html A study published yesterday in the medical journal Lancet comes to the same conclusion. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, demand continues to soar as nations stockpile the drug. The Defense Department has also stockpiled Tamiflu. Among those profiting is Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, former Chairman of Gilead Sciences, which owns the rights to Tamiflu. 2. INFORMERS NEEDED: FINANCIAL HELP FOR STUDENTS WITH AN ATTITUDE A UCLA alumni group headed by a former campus Republican leader is offering students up to $100 per class to keep tabs on radical professors. It's not clear how the information is to be used. 3. RHIC: BROOKHAVEN COLLIDER WILL OPERATE ON PRIVATE DONATION. When the new budget failed to meet soaring energy costs, the lab planned to turn off the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider for 2006. That's when James Simons, who is a board member of the organization that operates Brookhaven, spearheaded an effort that raised $13M privately to keep RHIC operating. Simons happens to also be the billionaire founder of Renaissance Technologies, a private investment firm. It's nice that there are rich people willing to spend their money that way, but basic physics research shouldn't have to rely on charity. 4. THE DOVER EFFECT: 2006 IS STARTING OUT THE WAY 2005 ENDED. The Christmas Miracle in 2005 was Kitzmiller v. Dover School Board http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN05/wn122305.html . This week, the El Tejon school system in rural California agreed to halt the course on intelligent design at Frazier Mountain High mentioned in last week's WN. The minister's wife who taught the course said it all: "This is the class that the Lord wanted me to teach." On Wednesday, the Dover decision was characterized by the official Vatican newspaper as "correct." At the Discovery Institute they may be worrying about structural unemployment. 5. NUCLEAR TERRORISM: CHIRAC WARNS OF NUCLEAR RESPONSE SORT OF. The president of France is trying to convince Iranians that he might use nuclear weapons to retaliate against terrorism. This may be a poor strategy for dealing with Iran's strange president, who is intent on building nuclear weapons of his own. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a religious looney, seems to be anxious to collect a martyr's reward in the next life. 6. NASA: SUCCESS IN SCIENCE PROGRAMS IS MET WITH CUTS AND DELAYS. Successful launch of the New Horizons spacecraft to Pluto and the return of comet dust by the brilliantly innovative Stardust space capsule coincided with warnings from Mike Griffin that hard times are coming for science. The Webb Space Telescope launch is pushed out to at least 2013, leaving us blind to the heavens. THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND. Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the University of Maryland, but they should be. --- Archives of What's New can be found at http://www.bobpark.org What's New is moving to a different listserver and our subscription process has changed. To change your subscription status please visit this link: http://listserv.umd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=bobparks-whatsnew&A=1
