-----Forwarded Message-----from Akira Kawasaki >From: What's New <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Feb 9, 2007 1:29 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [BOBPARKS-WHATSNEW] What's New Friday February 9, 2007
WHAT'S NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 9 Feb 07 Washington, DC 1. SKIPPING AHEAD: BUSH SENDS CONGRESS HIS 2008 BUDGET REQUEST. Congress, however, is still trying to put together a 2007 budget. The 2008 request isn't great news for every field of research, but in physics, NSF, NIST and the DOE Office of Science did well. In the absence of a 2007 budget, agencies are still spending at 2006 levels. However, a resolution adopted by the House does call for 2007 increases at NSF, NIST, and the DOE Office of Science. The Senate will presumably take up the House resolution soon. In any case, a 2008 budget won't pass Congress before October. Meanwhile, the Iraq War and the climate are both heating up, and the Democrats committed themselves to balancing the budget. This is not very promising for science funding. 2. SPACE STATION: LATEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN SPACE EXPLORATION. The "space-exploration" component of the request, got one of the largest increases. "Exploration" has come to mean "exploration by astronauts," so we decided to let you know how "exploration" is going. The only space being explored right now is the orbit of the ISS, about 400 km above Earth. It was a big week on the ISS: The cooling system was overhauled. In the process, two records in space walking were set. NASA announced that station commander Michael Lopez-Alegria now holds the U.S. record, 61 hrs and 22 min, while astronaut Sunita Williams set the women's record at 22 hrs and 27 min. Way to go guys! The Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, of course, set records every day, but they don't count because they aren't people. On the positive side, robots never require psychological counseling. 3. COUNSELING: LOOK WHAT IT DID FOR TED HAGGARD IN ONLY 3 WEEKS. "Pastor Ted" resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals after he admitted buying meth from his male prostitute http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN06/wn110306.html . He has since undergone three weeks of intensive counseling overseen by four evangelical ministers, and emerged "completely heterosexual." NASA might want to talk to his therapist. 4. THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE: "ENFORCING" POPULATION LIMITATIONS? Several readers last week took WN to task over the population question. Should we force abortions, they ask, or jail parents, or take even more stringent measures? That doesn't seem to be necessary. Among affluent and educated nations, native-born populations are stable or shrinking now. Their growth is almost entirely by immigration. All that's needed is to remove our legal obstacles to birth control, and raise the standard of living and educational level of impoverished nations. That would probably be enough. If not, reduce tax deductions and other fecundity incentives. A few will still behave irresponsibly, but society can tolerate them in the name of freedom as we do with those who are environmentally insensitive. 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
