by Dave Thomas : nmsrdaveATswcp.com (Help fight SPAM!  Please replace the AT with an @ )

Damadian Interviewed by New York Times...

In a Dec. 14th interview, the scientist who was not recognized in this year's Nobel Prize for magnetic resonance imaging was asked about his repeated advertisements challenging the Nobel committee's decision. A snippet:

NYT: If you know you're right about inventing the M.R.I., why care about the Nobel?

Damadian: I don't care about the Nobel.

NYT: You've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on full-page ads, lamenting not winning it.

Damadian:  I don't want to mislead anybody and lead them to believe that I didn't aspire to it, because I did. But I feel different now. Having been through what I've been through, I don't want it. I am concerned about the Nobel effect of being written out of history.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/14/magazine/14QUESTIONS.html

Keeping Up With Science for Kids - It's Not Easy...

In an interesting piece on the difficulties of writing science books in fields with lots of new discoveries, like evolution, this Dec. 16th New York Times article says "Writing a children's book is never easy. But the challenges are multiplied for children's books about science. It is all too common for the paramount importance of accuracy to conflict with the need to make a book enticing, or at least accessible. That does not, however, seem to daunt the authors and publishers who each year produce hundreds of books on science for the classroom, library and bookstore. In fact, for many reasons, including improvements in printing and changes in the market, children's science books are thriving, experts say. ..."

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/16/science/16KIDS.html

Artifacts from first modern humans?

The National Geographic reports on Dec. 17th that "Humans have had a refined artistic bent for at least 33,000 years, according to the discovery of three deftly carved ivory figurines in a cave in southwestern Germany. The miniature statues include a horse, a diving waterfowl, and a half-man, half-lion. The figurines come from an ongoing excavation of Hohle Fels Cave in the Ach Valley and are dated to a time when some of the earliest known relatives of modern humans populated Europe, an era known as the Aurignacian. ..."

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/12/1217_031217_modernhumans.html

Beagle 2 Undocks from Mother Ship for its Christmas Day Landing on Mars...

The BBC News reported today (Friday Dec. 19) that "Beagle 2 has successfully separated from its "mothership" for the final leg of the journey to Mars. Mike McKay, flight operations director at the European Space Operations Centre (Esoc) at Darmstadt, Germany, confirmed the separation just after 1110 GMT. The tiny probe will now glide the last three million kilometres to the Red Planet alone; silent, powerless and in hibernation mode. The lander is expected to touch down on Mars on Christmas Day, to search for signs of life, past or present. ..."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3331511.stm

Speaking of Mars... Was Life Found There in 1976?

Back in May of this year, the BBC also reported that "Claims have re-emerged that the US space agency (Nasa) found signs of life on Mars during the historic Viking landings of 1976. Dr Gil Levin, a former mission scientist, says he now has the evidence to prove it, just days before the US and Europe send new expeditions to the Red Planet. ..."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2941826.stm

Milky Way - Another Arm Is Found...

CNN reports on Dec. 16th that "Australian astronomers have discovered an extra cosmic arm in the Milky Way that they believe wraps around the outskirts of the vast galaxy like a thick gas border. Astronomers at scientific research group, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), hope the find will help paint a better picture of the Milky Way galaxy, which is home to Earth. ..."

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/12/16/milkyway.boundary.reut/index.html

New Spitzer Infrared Telescope Delights, Informs ...

Paul Recer of the Associated Press reports on Dec. 18th that "NASA unveiled the first views Thursday from its space infrared telescope, a super-cooled orbiting observatory that can look through obscuring dust to capture images never before seen. The telescope, a $670 million project launched in August, can detect extremely faint waves of infrared radiation, or heat. Astronomers for the first time are able to peer into the heart of stellar fields that had been blocked from the view of conventional telescopes by dense clouds of dust and gas. 'This gives us a powerful new capability that will enable us to see things not seen before and to answer questions we couldn't even ask before. This is a very powerful new tool for astronomy,' Michael Werner, an astrophysicist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said at a news conference. He is the project scientist for the Spitzer Space Telescope, named in honor of the famed astronomer Lyman Spitzer Jr. ..."

Source: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20031219/D7VH62S80.html (Some Excellent Images!)

Did Global Warming Begin with Cavemen?

The Sydney Morning Herald (Aus.) reported on December 11 that "Measurements of ancient air bubbles trapped in Antarctic ice offers evidence that humans have been changing the global climate since thousands of years before the industrial revolution. From 8000 years ago, atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide began to rise as humans started clearing forests, planting crops and raising livestock, a scientist said on Tuesday. Methane levels started increasing 3000 years later. The combined increases of the two greenhouse gases implicated in global warming were slow but steady and staved off what should have been a period of significant natural cooling, said Bill Ruddiman, emeritus professor at the University of Virginia. The changes also disrupted regular patterns that dominated the 400,000 years of atmospheric history that scientists have teased from samples of ancient ice. ..."

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2003/12/10/1070732281706.html

LANL Scientist:  Global Warming on MARS, too...

Space.com reports on Dec. 8th that "Scientists have suspected in recent years that Mars might be undergoing some sort of global warming. New data points to the possibility it is emerging from an ice age. NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter has been surveying the planet for nearly a full Martian year now, and it has spotted seasonal changes like the advance and retreat of polar ice. It's also gathering data of a possible longer trend. There appears to be too much frozen water at low-latitude regions -- away from the frigid poles -- given the current climate of Mars. The situation is not in equilibrium, said William Feldman of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Layered deposits covering older, cratered surfaces near Mars' south pole dominate this image taken last month. The margin of these layered deposits appears to be eroding poleward, exposing a series of layers in the retreating cliff. It is one piece of a puzzle scientists are putting together on an apparently changing Martian climate. 'One explanation could be that Mars is just coming out of an ice age,' Feldman said. 'In some low-latitude areas, the ice has already dissipated.' ... "

Source: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mars_ice-age_031208.html

Big Solar Flares nothing new...1859 saw "The BIG One"...

Space.com reported back on Oct. 27th that "A pair of strong solar storms that hit Earth late last week were squalls compared to the torrent of electrons that rained down in the 'perfect space storm' of 1859. And sooner or later, experts warn, the Sun will again conspire again send earthlings a truly destructive bout of space weather. If it happens anytime soon, we won't know exactly what to expect until it's over, and by then some modern communication systems could be like beachfront houses after a hurricane. In early September in 1859, telegraph wires suddenly shorted out in the United States and Europe, igniting widespread fires. Colorful aurora, normally visible only in polar regions, were seen as far south as Rome and Hawaii. ..."

Source: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mystery_monday_031027.html

Speaking of Solar Flares, Aurora-viewing Astronauts are Vindicated At Last...

Space.com reports on Dec. 10th that "The first direct images ever made of a solar storm as it engulfs Earth have also vindicated astronauts who said they'd seen colorful sky lights at dubiously high altitudes. The study shows that auroras reach far higher into the atmosphere than expected, though scientists are still puzzled over how it is possible. ..."

Source: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solar_aurora_031210.html

ID Leader Phillip Johnson: what's at stake is "the whole Bible from beginning to end" ...

The Dec. 13, 2003 issue of World Magazine names Intelligent Design leader Phillip Johnson as its "Daniel of the Year." Johnson joins previous Daniels, who include John Ashcroft, Franklin Graham, and Ken Starr. In the article about Johnson, John Perry writes "...But once someone accepts the fact that random evolution couldn't produce life on Earth, it has to have developed some other way. 'I looked for the best place to start the search,' Mr. Johnson says, 'and I found it in the prologue to the Gospel of John: 'In the beginning was the Word.' And I asked this question: Does scientific evidence tend to support this conclusion, or the contrary conclusion of the materialists that 'in the beginning were the particles'? ' Mr. Johnson notes that 'if we start with the Gospel's basic explanation of the meaning of creation, we see that it is far better supported by scientific investigation than the contrary. At this point we haven't proved the Bible's claims about creation, but we've removed a powerful obstacle in the way of such belief. And all I really want to do with the scientific evidence is to clear away the obstacle that it presents to a belief that the creator is the God of the Bible. ...Resistance from some Christians to Intelligent Design has been one of Mr. Johnson's biggest surprises and greatest disappointments. He expected many scientists to attack him because their careers depend on Darwinism: 'The more frustrating thing has been the Christian leaders and pastors, especially Christian college and seminary professors. The problem is not just convincing them that the theory is wrong, but that it makes a difference. What's at stake isn't just the first chapter of Genesis, but the whole Bible from beginning to end, and whether or not nature really is all there is.' Taking Christian morality out of the culture is the logical consequence of the acceptance of Darwinism. That has led to no-fault divorce, legalized abortion, a pro-homosexuality agenda, and all the other tragedies of Darwinist moral relativism. ... He continues, 'When we speak of God, Jesus, the resurrection, are we speaking of things that really happened or the things that occur only in a mythical land called religious belief? If the God of the Bible really is our creator, cares about us and what we do, then our culture has made a terrible mistake in turning away from this God because we haven't just changed a religious belief, we have repudiated reality.' .."

Source: http://www.worldmag.com/world/issue/12-13-03/cover_1.asp

Segway Scooter a Head Start for Military Robot? ...

Canadian TV and the AP reported on Nov. 28th that "It's called the Segway Human Transporter, but the Pentagon is drafting the two-wheeled scooter as part of a plan to develop battlefield robots that think on their own and communicate with troops. ..."

Source: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1070032823376_233/?hub=SciTech

Bush to Push Return to Moon?

Dennis E. Powell of the National Review writes on Dec. 3rd that "When President Bush delivers a speech recognizing the centenary of heavier-than-air-powered flight December 17, it is expected that he will proffer a bold vision of renewed space flight, with at its center a return to the moon, perhaps even establishment of a permanent presence there. ..."

Source: http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/powell200312030858.asp

Earth's Magnetic Field Not a Perfect Shield...

Yahoo and Space.com writer Robert Roy Britt reported on Dec. 4th that "Earth's natural defenses are routinely compromised by huge cracks that open up for hours, allowing space storms to pour through like a hurricane through an open window, scientists announced today. ... 'We discovered that our magnetic shield is drafty, like a house with a window stuck open during a storm,' said Harald Frey of the University of California, Berkeley. 'The house deflects most of the storm, but the couch is ruined.' ..."

Source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/space/20031204/sc_space/cracksinearthsdefensesletspacestormsin

Various Hums (Including the Taos Hum) Still Making the Rounds...

The New York Times reported on Dec. 2nd that "No one else in Phil Ciofalo's neighborhood in northeast Albuquerque by the foothills of the Sandia Mountains is bothered by the humming sound that irritates him constantly. They can't even hear it. In other neighborhoods around the globe, however, Mr. Ciofalo has company, other people who complain of hearing a persistent humming sound, usually when they are in their homes seeking peace and quiet from a busy world. ...The people who hear a hum do not appear to be suffering from tinnitus, a persistent ringing in the ear that is not produced by an external source. Dr. James Kelly, an ear specialist and director of surgical sciences at the University of New Mexico who examined complaints of a hum in Taos, said that 'tinnitus hearers report hearing higher frequency sound' than the people he studied. 'The Taos hum is a low-frequency phenomenon,' he said. ...Not everyone is convinced that the hum is real. In most cases there is simply no evidence that the hum people are hearing is coming from an external source. ..."

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/02/health/02HUM.html

New Mammal Finds, Including Ancestral Elephant, Found in Africa...

The Washington Post reported on Dec. 3rd that "Scientists in Africa have unearthed the remains of six new species of large prehistoric mammals, including an ancestor of elephants and a 5,000-pound rhinoceros-like beast that roamed Ethiopia's highlands 27 million years ago. The discoveries offer new clues to the fate of Africa's mammals during the 'dark period' in the interval between 32 million years ago and the time 8 million years later when the prehistoric continent known as Afro-Arabia began to connect with Eurasia. ..."

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33168-2003Dec3.html

Oldest Male Organ Rears its Head...

Yahoo/AP reported on Dec. 4th that "A fossil of a small sea creature extracted from a 425-million-year-old British rock formation is the oldest unequivocally male fossil known, researchers say. The animal, a new member of a large species group called ostracode, was buried under volcanic ash which mineralized and retained an image of its soft body parts...."

Source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20031204/ap_on_sc/oldest_male&e=2

Echinacea no Panacea for Kids' Colds ...

ABC News repotrted on Dec., 3rd that "Parents whose kids are suffering the sniffles would try just about anything to help them get better. But at least one herbal 'remedy' — echinacea — may simply be a waste of money. ...new research on the herbal supplement in the current Journal of the American Medical Association reports kids given echinacea for their colds did not get better because of it. ..."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/SciTech/echinacea_kids_031203.html

Santa Goes to Florida to Prove His Reality...

ABC News reports on Dec. 3rd that "Santa Claus is coming to town — visiting a South Florida Elementary School this week after a first grade teacher told her students he didn't exist. Some parents said they were outraged when their children came home to tell them their teacher at Annabel C. Perry Elementary School in Miramar, Fla., had informed them there was no Santa Claus. ... 'We made a phone call to the North Pole and as soon as Santa Claus heard what happened he decided he would drop everything and make a trip down to South Florida,' explained Joe Donzelli, a community relations specialist for the Broward Co. School Board. Now children in the class are expecting a visit from Santa this week. ..."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/WorldNewsTonight/santa_fake_flap_031203.html

And we wonder why people are so ready to believe the paranormal?!?

He Talks to Dead People?

ABC News is profiling "medium" John Edward tonight (Friday Dec. 5th) on 20/20. Don't expect the show to be the usual "Ready-to-believe" soft-sell approach adopted by many television reports. For this one, skeptic Michael Shermer will weigh in on cold reading, and how it's done. In a Dec. 5th article on the ABCNews website, it is mentioned that "One hour into 20/20's session with Edward, he turned to the side, toward the 20/20 crew and producer Michael Pressman. ... For more than 35 minutes, Edward quizzed Pressman with dozens of questions and observations and names. Only a handful turned out to be vaguely relevant; only one thing he mentioned was a concrete 'hit.' He guessed Pressman's wife's name. One good hit — out of 41 tries. ..."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/Living/John_Edward_031205.html

Strange "Crunching" Sound Alarms Space Station Crew...

Mark Carreau of the Houston Chronicle reported on Nov. 26th that "The U.S. and Russian crew of the international space station reported a brief unexpected metallic crunching noise outside the outpost early today. Astronaut Mike Foale told NASA's Mission Control the noise sounded as if something had struck the aft end of the Russian module that houses the crew's sleeping quarters, kitchen and lavoratory. Both U.S. and Russian ground-based experts could find no evidence of penetration of the station's airtight hull or the cooling system for the electronic equipment that is responsible for many of the operations. ..."

Source: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.hts/space/2252777

IDers try Back Door in Ohio...

In a Nov. 24th column printed in The Plain Dealer (Ohio), Lawrence M. Krauss and Patricia Princehouse write "Two weeks ago, the Texas State School Board decided to leave biology texts alone. It won't require that textbooks in the state be altered to include discussions of intelligent design. ... We in Ohio are, of course, familiar with this debate. Organizations that oppose modern evolutionary biology on religious grounds attempted to alter new proposed life-science benchmarks; they wanted the intelligent design concept inserted into the state science standards. Note that the Supreme Court had already ruled that ID's ancestor, 'creation science,' is not science but religion. The 1987 ruling also included the concept of creation by an 'intelligent mind.' It was a great victory for science education in this state that instead, for the first time ever, the word evolution appeared in the standards in the context of biology. There is no requirement to teach intelligent design creationism. There was a snag, however. The following 'indicator' was inserted into the standards: 'Describe how scientists continue to investigate and critically analyze aspects of evolutionary theory.' Taken literally, this statement would require teaching of cutting-edge evolutionary biology. Yet many, including us, were concerned that those who are trying to force intelligent design creationism into the curriculum would claim this statement opened the gate. So, the board clarified: 'The intent of this indicator does not mandate the teaching or testing of intelligent design.' One might have hoped the matter would have ended there. Unfortunately, this issue has come back with a vengeance. A copy of a draft curriculum approved for field-testing and public comment in the state has been leaked. The Department of Education board approved this draft in September but withheld it from public scrutiny. We now understand why. ... the nine supposed 'challenges' to evolution come straight out of intelligent design creationism. A main source listed in the curriculum is the discredited book 'Icons of Evolution,' by the Rev. Jonathan Wells, one of the Discovery Institute authors who came to Ohio to promote teaching intelligent design. Especially ridiculous is the ninth so-called 'challenge' on the natural selection of peppered moths. This is Dr. Wells' favorite hobbyhorse in his self-declared war on Darwin. ...."

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1069583465270033.xml?ocoth

Turkey "Pardons" -  A CRUEL HOAX...

ABC News's John Stossel, in his weekly e-mail to 20/20 viewers, writes this week that "Friday I've got a column on that turkey that was spared by President Bush this week. Presidents have pardoned Thanksgiving turkeys every year since Harry Truman began the tradition. The presidents tell us the turkeys are sent to a petting farm, where they live out their lives in splendor. But years ago, I went to that farm, and the turkey pen was empty. Those birds that were supposed to be living out their 'golden years' had all died. Turkeys bred to be eaten are way too fat to survive for long at the petting farm. One lasted only a day. This presidential pardon ritual is kind of a hoax. ..."

More: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/DailyNews/GMAB_turkey_011121.html

ABC News calls Oliver Stone's Bluff...

On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, ABC News presented a major report on the various conspiracy theories that have developed over the decades. Kudos to ABC for having the guts to say, calmy and in public, that "Oliver Stone is wrong" (referring to Stone's pro-conspiracy movie "JFK," which passes as "history" for many people born after 1963).

Interactive Tour: http://abcnews.go.com/jfk_conspiracy/jfk_conspiracy_index.html

Analysis Summary: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/WorldNewsTonight/jfk_beyond_conspiracy.html ("Forty years later, there has not been a single piece of credible evidence to prove a conspiracy. Robert Dallek, author of An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, says it's inconceivable that a conspiracy could have been kept secret for four decades 'given a society like ours, which is so open in so many ways and so porous. I know that millions and millions of people in this country believe that there was a conspiracy because, I think, it's very difficult for them to accept the idea that someone as inconsequential as Oswald could have killed someone as consequential as Kennedy,' said Dallek. ...")

More from CSICOP Stalwart Gerry Posner:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/WorldNewsTonight/JFK_Gerald_Posner-1.html

Speaking of Anniversaries, Happy 50th Debunking of Piltdown ...

The BBC, in a report titled "The Unmasking of Piltdown Man," notes "Piltdown Man went from being one of the biggest discoveries of the 20th Century to being its greatest scientific embarrassment. On 21 November 1953, the fossils discovered 40 years earlier and acclaimed as the "missing link" between apes and humans were finally revealed to be forgeries. Today, the word Piltdown is a term of abuse, used to label any fraudulent or shoddy research. Click through these pages to read more about the fake hominid. ..."

Check out the cool 3-D animations of the reconstruction.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/sci_nat/03/piltdown_man/html/default.stm

Acquaintance of Darwin still kicking (or crawling, at least) ...

The "What's On When" website reported on the Nov. 14th birthday of Harriet the Tortoise, now residing in Australia, but originally a resident of the Galapagos Islands. "Certainly the oldest inhabitant in The Crocodile Hunter's Australia Zoo on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, and surely the oldest inhabitant on the Australian continent, Harriet is a giant Galapagos land tortoise, collected by Charles Darwin on his famous Voyage of the Beagle. With her date of birth calculated to 1830, she's well into her 18th decade now, although she has some way to go to surpass Darwin's gift of a tortoise to the King of Tonga that lived to 189! Steve Irwin (TV's Crocodile Hunter) and his Zoo staff have cared for Harriet since 1987. ..."

Source: http://www.whatsonwhen.com/events/~14769.jml

Aussie scientists find Inorganic Chemistry can mimic Biology...

The Australian Broadcast Network reported on Nov. 14th that "Researchers have been cooking up inorganic, worm-like structures that look like some of the earliest fossils believed to exist. An international team of chemists, physicists and geologists, including Professor Stephen Hyde of the Australian National University, publish its startling evidence in today's issue of the journal Science. ... The biomorphs looked remarkably like 3.5 billion year-old fossils found in Western Australia's Pilbara Region, whose origin has been hotly debated. Some scientists believe they are the earliest signs of life; others aren't convinced. ..."

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s989149.htm

Creationist threatens Minnesota Science Standards Team with "Grim Biblical Reminder" ...

The Star-Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul) reporeted on Nov. 17th that "Some members of the committee working to develop Minnesota's science standards were unnerved recently by e-mails sent from an Albert Lea man who heads a creationist group. Bryce Gaudian referred to a grim biblical reminder of what awaits them if they don't provide students with both sides of the evolution vs. creationism argument. The 40-member committee is deciding on the new academic science standards, which will guide instruction in Minnesota public school classrooms. ..."

Source: http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4215964.html

What were the creationist threats?  The full text of the letter appears on David Harris's Science and Literature Blog. A snippet: "Apparently you are all meeting again this Saturday, November 15th. It should make it easy for you to complete your work and not have any one alienated if you drop evolution completely from K-12 in the State of Minnesota. Be the first state in our United States to do the right thing. If you are not willing to do this, then I must reiterate to you all once again Scripture's stearn warning of grave peril for your offence: 'But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea….woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!' (Matthew 18:6-7) ..."

http://blogs.salon.com/0001092/2003/11/13.html#a545

More Evidence linking Permian/Triassic Extinction to Space Impact...

USA Today reported on Nov. 20th that "Researchers studying rocks from Antarctica have found chemical evidence that a huge meteorite smashed the Earth 251 million years ago and caused the greatest extinction event in the planet's history, killing about 90% of all life. The extinction, which scientists call the Permian-Triassic event, came some 185 million years before a similar meteorite collision with the planet killed off the dinosaurs. ..."

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2003-11-20-meteorite-evidence_x.htm

Speaking of Meteors, WHAT WUZZAT?

A strange object entered earth's atmosphere the evening of Thursday, Nov. 20, and was observed from California to New Mexico. A Bay area TV station reported "NBC11 was flooded with calls from Bay Area drivers who a saw bright blue flash in the sky Thursday night. So far, scientists don't now for sure what happened. Astronomers do not think the flash was caused by recent sun flares, or last week's Leonid meteor shower. Whatever it was, they don't believe it caused any damage. Astronomer Brian Day said, 'Most meteors burn completely in the atmosphere. This was big enough where something might have come down, but if it did, it was out over the Pacific Ocean.' ... "

Source: http://www.nbc11.com/news/2655056/detail.html

And local Albuquerque station Channel 7 reported "...A mysterious object that New Mexicans reported seeing falling from the sky Thursday evening was actually a rare astronomical event. After receiving several phone calls from concerned residents, Action 7 News contacted U.S. Strategic Command. Officials there said they did not track any manmade objects entering Earth's atmosphere over New Mexico Thursday night. Astronomer Jack Drummond said the object was an unusual type of meteor with a lingering tail, called a Glow Worm. ..."

Source: http://www.thenewmexicochannel.com/news/2655776/detail.html

Waxman waxes poetic against 'Hit List' of scientists...

Paul C. Campbell, Daily Lobo columnist, writes in the Nov. 11th edition "Although difficult to imagine, a true American hero emerged this week from the chaotic rubble in Washington caused by the Republican debauchery of our democracy. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is my hero of the week for his commitment to the integrity of scientific research by standing up to the religious right. In late October, Waxman sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson inquiring about a 'hit list' of top American researchers. The Traditional Values Coalition, a conservative think tank, compiled the list. ... This 'hit list' has about 150 names of scientists and their research projects along with how much they receive from the National Institute of Health in the form of federal grants. Because all the 150 targeted scientists and their projects cover many areas related to HIV/AIDS and the sexual behaviors of particular groups within the American public, the Traditional Values Coalition is aiming to remove all federal funding. ..."

Source: http://www.dailylobo.com/main.cfm?include=detail&storyid=554384

Journalism, Science and Objectivity...

Cornelia Dean of the NY Times wrote in the Nov. 11th issue "Last summer, the pollster Daniel Yankelovich reported what might seem a strange finding: scientists are distressed by the media's insistence on presenting 'both sides.' ... All too often, Mr. Yankelovich wrote, scientists who talk to reporters 'find themselves pitted in the media against some contrarian, crank or shill who is on hand to provide 'proper balance.' The scientists who hold this view have put their finger on an important problem. In striving to be 'objective,' journalists try to tell all sides of the story. But it is not always easy for us to tell when a science story really has more than one side — or to know who must be heeded and who can safely be ignored.' ..."

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/11/science/11EXPL.html (registration required)

"Deep Time" Project set to nail down Earth's Chronology ...

The Sun Herald (MIssissippi) reported on Nov. 10th, in an article by Robert Boyd of Knight Ridder Newspapers, that "Scientists have launched a project to construct a highly accurate calendar of key events in what they call "deep time," the almost unimaginable span since Earth was born 4.5 billion years ago. Sponsors think a precise prehistoric time scale can help them better interpret what is happening to our planet and predict what may lie ahead as the world gets warmer. For example, they hope the project, called CHRONOS (Greek for 'time'), will help settle arguments over the causes and effects of climate change on the evolution and extinction of species. ... Researchers are counting on tools and technologies developed over the last 10 years to greatly increase the accuracy of the geologic time scale, said Samuel Bowring, a geology professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. Bowring told a deep-time conference in Washington in October that the goal is to achieve a resolution of 1/10th of 1 percent - far better than the existing errors of 2 percent or more - by 2015. That would cut some uncertainties from millions to thousands of years. ..."

Source: http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/nation/7228572.htm

IRB's for Homeopathic "Medicine" Company Slammed in the Trib...

Dan Mayfield of the Albuquerque Tribune wrote on Nov. 14th that "It's all about jobs - but should it be? Harry Murphy wants to know. Now that the Bernalillo County Commission has approved industrial revenue bonds for Heel Inc., an Albuquerque homeopathic medicine producer, he's asking the question. 'Homeopathy is one of the craziest alternative medicines in existence, and I was floored when the commission decided to support this,' said Murphy, a 72-year-old retired physicist. 'They could've supported a brothel and had a more honest product.' The Bernalillo County commissioners who approved the bond issue disagree, arguing Heel is a clean, long-established Albuquerque company that employs 78 people and produces several products that sell well. ..."

Source: http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news03/111403_news_heel.shtml

Read the REST of the story on the NMSR website:
http://www.nmsr.org/quacky.htm
("...This is an incredibly bad decision by the County Commission, roughly on a par to issuing industrial revenue bonds to a Haitian company making voodoo dolls....")

Gilman on So-called Biology Book 'Weaknesses'...

Michael King, in the Nov. 14th issue of the Austin Chronicle, discusses last week's (Nov. 6th, 7th) vote by the Texas Board of Education to endorse textbooks which had been opposed by "Intelligent Design" creationists. King writes "Dr. Alfred Gilman, a professor at UT's Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and a Nobel Laureate in medicine, called the SBOE decision a very important vote in defense of scientific education. 'The people from the Discovery Institute have tried to invent a 'theory in crisis' concerning evolution,' said Gilman. 'This is propagandistic nonsense. Evolution is not a theory in crisis -- it's the foundation, the cornerstone, of biology.' He said opponents' attempts to magnify what they call 'errors' in the experimental history amount to 'making mountains out of molehills.' 'They no longer make explicitly religious arguments against evolution,' Gilman continued, 'because they know they've been beaten on that one. But we should not dignify their pseudoscience by agreeing that these so-called weaknesses are scientific 'errors.' No textbook is perfect, but they're just looking for excuses to throw the baby out with the bathwater.' ... "

Source: http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2003-11-14/pols_feature8.html

Native Americans were First to make Genetically Modified Corn ...

In the Nov. 14th issue of the Albuquerque Journal, John Fleck reports that "...early Americans turned a wild Mexican grass called teosinte into the highest yielding grain crop in the world and changed human culture on this continent. Nurtured by early Native American farmers, the genes turned the bushy teosinte grass into the cornstalks we know today, and the rock-hard teosinte seeds into the tender kernels that grace modern cobs. New research being published today in the journal Science traces that evolution and, for the first time, links genes found in modern agricultural corn to cobs found at ancient archaeological sites.Using DNA extracted from corn cobs found at archaeological sites in New Mexico and elsewhere, a team lead by German anthropologist Viviane Jaenicke-Després is using the genes to begin piecing together the history of humans' domestication of the Americas' most important crop. ..."

Source: http://www.abqjournal.com/scitech/109679science11-14-03.htm (Subscription required)

More Info: "The technique was not as sophisticated as the methods used for modern genetically modified crops, but experts said in a study released Thursday that the general effect was the same: genetic traits were amplified or introduced to create plants with improved traits and greater yield. 'Civilization has been built on genetically modified plants,' said Nina V. Fedoroff of Pennsylvania State University. ..." : http://www.santafenewmexican.com/main.asp?FromHome=1&TypeID=1&ArticleID=35599&SectionID=2&SubSectionID=406

Noted Evo-Biologist Lewontin Speaks at Los Alamos...

Jeff Tolleson of the Santa Fe New Mexican reported on Nov. 12th "Richard Lewontin compares a common model of biological evolution to a mountain climber who always feels compelled to go up. In the evolutionary model, up represents movement toward fitness, toward solving problems presumably posed by nature, and species are always going up. The problem with this model is that it ignores random evolutionary change, the Harvard University professor told a packed crowd at the James A. Little Theater on Tuesday night. In reality, Lewontin said, evolution might appear more like a mountain climber who has had a few stiff drinks, stumbling across a slope, going up, down and around. ..."

Source: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=35527&SectionID=2&SubSectionID=&S=1

New Mexican Sets 'em Texans Straight...

In a Letter to the Editor published in the Star-Telegram (Dallas-Ft. Worth) on Nov. 14th, NMSR's president Dave Thomas said "I'm writing to ask that you correct an error of fact about New Mexico and the teaching of evolution that has been printed three times in the Star-Telegram -- most recently in a Nov. 6 news story by R.A. Dyer. The offending articles contained this inaccurate statement: 'Alabama, Nebraska and New Mexico made changes … that, to varying degrees, challenge the pre-eminence of evolution in the scientific curriculum.' Regarding New Mexico, that might have been true seven years ago -- but not now, and not for the last four years. It's true that, in 1996, creationists on the New Mexico State Board of Education stripped evolution from science standards adopted that year. But after the Kansas creationism debacle, and with the election of new board members, evolution was firmly reinstated in New Mexico's standards in October 1999. And in August, New Mexico adopted science standards that provide truly excellent treatment of evolution, unclouded by creationist thinking. In other words, creationist efforts to weaken treatment of mainstream science were soundly defeated in New Mexico in 1999 and again this year. After seeing the inaccurate statement in the Star-Telegram Sept. 11, I wrote to the newspaper to advise that New Mexico hasn't been in the creationist camp for quite some time. I was therefore surprised to see the same inaccurate statement Nov. 6, using the same words. The bottom line: On Nov. 6, the Texas State Board of Education did not cave in to creationist demands. (See Nov. 7 news story "Biology texts get initial approval.") That puts both Texas and New Mexico solidly in the pro-science camp. - David E. Thomas, Peralta, N.M."

Source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/local2/7261053.htm

See for Yourself! 

Reporter Matt Frazier, in the Jul. 09, 2003 Star-Telegram: "Evolution is required by the state to be included in textbooks. But arguments against evolution have been successful over the past decade in other states. Alabama, Nebraska and New Mexico made changes that, to varying degrees, challenge the pre-eminence of evolution in the scientific curriculum."
Source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/6263915.htm

Reporter R.A. Dyer stated in the Sept. 11th Star-Telegram that "Evolution is required by the state to be included in textbooks. But arguments against evolution have been successful over the past decade in other states. Alabama, Nebraska and New Mexico made changes that, to varying degrees, challenge the pre-eminence of evolution in the scientific curriculum."
Source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/6745176.htm

Finally, R. A. Dyer again stated in the Nov. 6th issue of the Star-Telegram that "The state requires that textbooks include evolution. Alabama, Nebraska and New Mexico made changes in recent years that, to varying degrees, challenge the pre-eminence of evolution in the scientific curriculum."
Source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/7196556.htm

It is rumored that Jason Blair (recently fired by the New York Times for plagiarism and making up news) has applied for a position at the Star-Telegram, but this hasn't been confirmed.

Confessed 'Green River' killer was cleared back in 1984...with a Polygraph!

On Nov. 5th, Gary Leon Ridgway confessed that he committed 48 murders as the "Green River killer." But almost 20 years ago, he was cleared as a suspect on the basis of VooDoo science - the Polygraph. The King County Journal notes that on "May 7, 1984: Ridgway passes a polygraph examination. Coupled with a follow-up investigation, 'Ridgway was considered to be cleared as a possible Green River suspect,' according to court documents. The polygraph is later ruled invalid. March 20, 1986: Ridgway agrees to a second polygraph, but on the advice of his attorney later declines. FBI inactivates the Ridgway investigation. ..."

Source: http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/148168

National Science Teachers Association Backs Evolution Again...

In a Nov. 6th Press Release, the NSTA declared that "The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the largest science teacher organization in the world, has published an updated position paper to reaffirm its standpoint on the teaching of evolution. The statement upholds and reinforces the position of the Association that NSTA 'strongly supports the position that evolution is a major unifying concept in science and should be included in the K-12 science education frameworks and curricula.' ... The statement reaffirms the need to better support science teachers 'against pressure to promote nonscientific views or to diminish or eliminate the study of evolution;' reaffirms the importance of evolution in bolstering scientific literacy; and reaffirms the recommendation that science textbook publishers 'should not be required or volunteer to include disclaimers in textbooks that distort or misrepresent the methodology of science and the current body of knowledge concerning the nature and student of evolution.' ..."

Source: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031106/dcth026_1.html

The Statement: http://www.nsta.org/159&psid=10

Kecksburg DeBunked...

In response to a new Science Fiction Channel "documentary" on October 24, 2003, claiming that a "UFO crash" in Kecksburg was "a second Roswell," skeptic Robert Sheaffer has published a new web page titled "The Kecksburg, Pennsylvania 'UFO Crash' - actually the Great Lakes Fireball of December 9, 1965 ." Sheaffer writes "The reality is that a major fireball meteor was widely seen at that time, and studied extensively by scientists. Several scientific papers were published about it in astronomical journals. The supposed 'crashing UFO' reported from Kecksburg matches exactly with the great fireball in time, and in direction. ... "  The article has lots of graphics and links to additional information, and even some commentary by Zippy the Pinhead!

Source: http://www.debunker.com/kecksburg.html

Speaking of UFO's...Condon Report Researcher Still Kickin'...

The Durango Herald reported on Nov. 2nd that "Now, for the first time, scholars and others interested in the data that led [Roy] Craig, now a La Plata County resident, and other Condon Project scientists to conclude flying saucers probably don't exist can peruse Craig's field notes at Texas A&M University's Cushing Memorial Library. Included in nine boxes of files are Craig's investigative jottings, correspondence and photographs as well as popular and scientific articles related to alleged visits by space aliens. Also available for examination are objects aluminum shavings, globs of metal and a lawn-mower muffler found at the sites of purported UFO landings. Part of their value lies in the scientific insight they can provide students of science fiction. 'If you say the Condon report is absolute foolishness, that there's nothing behind it, well we have nine boxes behind it,' said Hal W. Hall, curator of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Collection at A&M. 'People can look at Roy Craig's appointment calendar, see all the notes and background articles, and judge the validity of the study's scientific methodology. You can't get that from the printed book. It says in the book that it (UFO debris) was a muffler. Well, we've got the muffler.'..."

Source: http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/03/news031102_1.htm

IDers "Respond" to Zogby Poll Criticisms...

The October 29th Access Research Network article by Mark Hartwig begins with "It looks like the Darwinist camp has had a hard time responding to a series of polls commissioned by the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, the leading organization of the intelligent design movement. ..." Hartwig mentions blistering critiques by Chris Mooney (see http://www.prospect.org/print/V14/1/mooney-c.html and http://www.csicop.org/doubtandabout/polling/ ), but does his best to duck the real issues Mooney brought up. Indeed, there's not even a hint of the scandal that arose here in New Mexico, which Mooney described in detail, involving the release of a "Zogby Poll" purporting to show that Sandia and Los Alamos scientists support teaching Intelligent Design by "Four-to-one." (The actual number polled was far less than the 16,000 claimed by IDnet-NM, the president of Sandia Labs called the poll "bogus," and IDnet-NM has yet to disavow the poll (see ) as they said they would do back in August - see http://www.nmsr.org/id-poll.htm ).

Hartwig's article: http://www.arn.org/docs/wedge/mh_wedge_031029.htm

Mooney's reply is here: http://www.chriscmooney.com/blog.asp#406

More: This article by Brad Edmondson describes "some of the most common reasons why polls that appear to be authoritative are, in fact, total trash." http://www.iun.edu/~mathiho/mathpol/fall00/Bogus.htm

Richard C. Lewontin appearing at Los Alamos Lecture Series ...

The Santa Fe Institute has announced noted evolutionary biologist Richard Lewontin of Harvard will be speaking at LANL next week. "November 11, 12, 13, 2003, Tenth Annual Stanislaw Ulam Memorial Lectures, The Coevolution of Organism and Environment, Richard C. Lewontin, Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Population Biology."

Source: http://www.santafe.edu/sfi/events/publicLectures.html#Lewontin

Biology Wins Big in Texas...

The NCSE reported on Nov. 7th that "On Friday, November 7, the Texas State Board of Education (SBoE) voted 11-4 to place all submitted high school and advanced placement (AP) biology books on the “conforming” list, making them eligible for adoption by local districts. ... Although the Discovery Institute (DI) and its Texas allies, Texans for Better Science Education, attempted to persuade board members to require publishers to incorporate wholesale changes in the coverage of evolution, the changes that publishers have filed thus far with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) have been largely cosmetic. ...During the November 7 proceedings, Mavis Knight proposed that all books be adopted, and that a hard copy of a web-based document prepared by NCSE’s Alan D. Gishlick, entitled “‘Icons of Evolution’? Why Much Of What Jonathan Wells Writes About Evolution Is Wrong,” be placed in the permanent record of the meeting. ..."

Source: http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/news/2003/TX/682_textbooks_approved_in_texas_11_7_2003.asp

Don't miss Pulitzer-winner Ben Sargent's excellent 'Toon: http://www.ucomics.com/bensargent/2003/11/04/

NEW FEATURES AT NMSR.ORG...

Check out these New Features on the NMSR website:

WHAZZAT?!?!? Weird Pics! Guess what these pictures are, then tell us!
http://www.nmsr.org/weirdpix.htm

Rationally Speaking by Massimo Pigliucci: November 2003 : "Edward Teller, Dr. Strangelove"
http://www.nmsr.org/r_s_1103.htm

SPECIAL REPORT: BERNALILLO COUNTY COMMISSION VOTES INDUSTRIAL REVENUE BONDS FOR HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINE COMPANY. Analysis by Harry M. Murphy, Nov. 7th, 2003
http://www.nmsr.org/quacky.htm

November 12th NMSR Meeting: Christopher Whittle (UNM)  on "Paranormal Belief: Bull Hockey or Cultural Imperative?"
http://www.nmsr.org/meetings.htm#november

CSICOP Conference in 'Burque ...

John Fleck of the Albuquerque Journal reported on Oct. 22nd that "Extrasensory perception, UFOs, ineffective alternative medicine and the unsupportable claims of astrology have all landed in CSICOP's cross-hairs over the years. This year's CSICOP conference is titled 'Hoaxes, Myths and Manias,' and will feature talks on famous UFO hoaxes, how to fake a ghost video and amazing 'psychic' demonstrations. ... One of CSICOP's more prolific debunkers, Peralta mathematician Dave Thomas, has gained minor international renown for his critique of 'the Bible code'— the idea, made popular by best-selling author Michael Drosnin, that there are hidden prophecies encoded in the original Hebrew text of the Old Testament. ..."

Source: http://www.abqjournal.com/scitech/100353science10-22-03.htm (subscription required)

And Frank Zoretich of the Albuquerque Tribune wrote on Oct. 23rd "'Hoaxes, Myths and Manias' is the theme of this year's gathering of skeptics hosted by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, a nonprofit national organization. Before the conference ends Sunday - with a noon bus trip to Roswell, 'the town where the American UFO mythology began,' according to a news release from the group - two dozen speakers will attempt to debunk alleged phenomena ranging from unicorns, Bigfoot and creationism to perpetual motion machines, the doomsday threat from Planet X and psychic communication with the dead. ..."

Source: http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news03/102303_news_skeptic.shtml

More info: http://www.csicop.org/events/conference-2003/index.html

 

Conference Tackles Anthropic Universe...

Dennis Overbye of the New York Times wrote on Oct. 28th "Cosmologists held an unusual debate on the question [the role and meaning of life in the cosmos] during a recent conference, 'The Future of Cosmology,' at Case Western Reserve University here. According to a controversial notion known as the anthropic principle, certain otherwise baffling features of the universe can only be understood by including ourselves in the equation. The universe must be suitable for life, otherwise we would not be here to wonder about it. ... Dr. David Gross regards it as a virus. 'Once you get the bug you can't get rid of it,' he complained at the conference. Dr. Gross, director of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, Calif., had agreed to lead a panel discussion on the notorious principle. Often found puffing on a cigar, he is not known to be shy about expressing his opinion. 'I was chosen because I hate the anthropic principle,' he said. ... But playing a central role in defending the need for what he called 'anthropic reasoning' was Dr. Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate from the University of Texas. ... Dr. Weinberg is among the most prominent of theorists who have reluctantly accepted, at least provisionally, the anthropic principle as a kind of tragic necessity in order to explain the gnarliest knob of all. ... But when his own turn came, Dr. Gross questioned whether the rules of the anthropic game were precise enough. What were the parameters that could vary from universe to universe? How many could vary at once? What was the probability distribution of their values, and what was necessary for 'life'? Anthropic calculations are inherently vague and imprecise, he said. As a result, the principle could not be disproved. But he was only getting warmed up. His real objection, he said, was 'totally emotional.' Ascribing the parameters of physics to mere chance or vagaries of cosmic weather is defeatist, discouraging people from undertaking the difficult calculations that would actually explain why things are they way they are. Moreover, it is also dangerous, he declared to ringing applause. 'It smells of religion and intelligent design,' he said, referring to a variety of creationism that argues that the universe is too complex to have evolved by chance. ..."

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/28/science/space/28COSM.html (free registration required)

Local Scientist Envisions "Roach Spies"...

Sue Vorenberg of the Aluquerque Tribune wrote on Oct. 28th "Meet the future of biological and chemical espionage: yeast and cockroaches. Odd as the combination sounds, it could be the building block of a new, inexpensive spy device - one that could sneak into a building undetected and sense chemicals or biological agents, said Jeff Brinker, a Sandia National Laboratories scientist and professor at the University of New Mexico. 'Cockroaches are robust - they can go into environments that humans can't withstand,' Brinker said. 'You could attach a sensing device onto the back of a cockroach and send it into a place where you suspect they're making chemical weapons. If you can go in covertly, you can collect evidence without anyone getting spooked.' ..."

Source: http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news03/102703_news_bright.shtml

Happy Halloween! Ghosts hurt home appraisals, but Benefit Bed'n'Breakfasts ...

CNN_Money's Les Christie reported on Oct. 21st that "Any number of physical factors can complicate the sale of a home: shoddy upkeep, irreparable structural decay, proximity to a toxic waste site. But one kind of property that causes real nightmares is a house that carries a supernatural stigma. 'Psychologically impacted' houses -- in which a murder, suicide, or illness took place -- are a tough sale. The reason: fear of ghosts. ... Joe Nickell, a self-described ghostbuster, says he's investigated scores of hauntings over the past 30 years without ever coming face to sheet with a ghost. Nevertheless, he agrees that supernatural notoriety nearly always lowers a home's selling price. ..."

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/21/pf/yourhome/househaunting/

It's different for B&B's. The same Les Christie, also on Oct. 21st, writes that "Old inns often come complete with spirits, of the non-potable variety. It's the one real estate category that the experts agree benefits from eerie reputations. As a matter of fact, if an atmospheric looking B&B doesn't sport a real scary spook it soon will acquire one, according to self-described ghostbuster Joe Nickell, of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). It's simply good for business. Nickell says, 'I had one proprietor of a struggling bed and breakfast tell me, 'People want a ghost. I have to pay my bills. I'll give them a ghost'.' Here's a sample of small lodging places where you can enjoy a ghostly getaway. ..."

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/21/pf/hauntedhospitality/

Pennock: ID is "All Hat and No Cattle"...

Robert T. Pennock, Associate Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Michigan State University, stated in recent testimony at textbook hearings before the Texas State Board of Education "The Discovery Institute is not a scientific organization and has no scientific credibility. Its governing goal from an internal mission statement is "To replace materialistic explanations with the theistic understanding that nature and human beings are created by God.” Their main target is evolution, but their attempt to replace it with the alternative view that life was created by 'intelligent design' has been a total failure scientifically. They talk big but have produced no results. Texans know what to say about this. When it comes to science, the intelligent design movement is all hat and no cattle. ..."

Source: http://www.msu.edu/~pennock5/research/papers/TXBoE_Pennock.pdf

Wen Ho Lee takes on Reporters in Suit...

The Washington Popst reported on Oct. 15th that "A federal judge has set the stage for an unusual clash over assertions by reporters for four news organizations that they need not disclose the names of their sources, a traditional journalistic practice that underpins much of news reporting in Washington. U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson late last week ordered journalists at the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press and Cable News Network to reveal who in the government may have disclosed derogatory information to them about Wen Ho Lee, a former nuclear weapons scientist who was the chief suspect in an espionage case. ..."

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A26919-2003Oct14?language=printer

Mystery Flare turns out to be Jet Contrail...

Space.com reported on Oct. 13th that "A digital picture of a spectacular and apparently explosive event in the sky fooled a pair of seasoned NASA scientists, has other researchers around the globe mystified, and made a minor celebrity of a teenage photographer. Jonathan Burnett, 15, was photographing his friends skateboarding in Pencoed, Wales when one of them noticed a colorful fireball in the sky. Burnett snapped a picture, then sent it to NASA scientists and asked if they knew what it was. Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell, who run NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD), posted the photograph on Oct. 1 and wrote that 'a sofa-sized rock came hurtling into the nearby atmosphere of planet Earth and disintegrated.' They called the picture 'one of the more spectacular meteor images yet recorded.' Problem is, it turns out, there was no meteor. .... Semi-scientific discussions ensued as experts and amateurs debated the image in Internet and e-mail forums. Some initially labeled it a fraud. Others said it might be manmade space junk falling back to Earth, or maybe a military jet unloading fuel and igniting it with its afterburners. During the discussion, the APOD scientists changed their caption, saying the picture likely had something to do with a jet contrail, a consensus that most other scientists had reached. ..."

Source: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mystery_monday_031013.html

Mooney Skeptical about 'Brights'...

Chris Mooney, in his Oct. 15th "Doubt and About " column for CSICOP, writes "Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett are smart guys, but their campaign to rename religious unbelievers 'brights' could use some rethinking. ... What would be a better way to polish the atheist image? I have no studies to point to, but there may be a lesson in the 'brights' episode. I suspect that what atheists really need is for people to believe that they're likeable, and not so different from everybody else. So perhaps future atheist message crusaders should describe themselves and their brethren as humble, rather than angry or sneering or super smart. In addition, perhaps atheists should associate themselves more with universal human feelings of sympathy, joy, and even vulnerability, rather than cold rationality and relentless inquisitiveness. I'm not sure, but I do know one thing -- something that we all learned in high school. The 'bright' kids aren't always the ones with the most friends, and nobody -- nobody -- likes a smart ass. ..."

Source: http://www.csicop.org/doubtandabout/brights/

Asian genetic susceptibility linked to SARS outbreak ...

Maggie Fox reported in the Age (Australia) on Oct. 3rd that "A genetic susceptibility may explain why SARS raged earlier this year in South-East Asia and nowhere else outside of Toronto, according to Taiwanese researchers. They found that a variant in an immune system gene called human leukocyte antigen, or HLA, made patients in Taiwan much more likely to develop the life-threatening symptoms of severe acute respiratory syndrome. The gene variant is common in people of southern Chinese descent, the team at Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei reported. ..."

Source: http://www.theage.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=/articles/2003/10/02/1064988339761.html#

"Bright'" Rights...

John Allen Paulos, in his monthly ABC News commentary "Who's Counting" for October, discusses the Brights (see Massimo Pigliucci's essay on the same topic at http://www.nmsr.org/r_s_0903.htm ). Paulos notes that "The widely respected philosopher Daniel Dennett and a number of others this past summer pushed for the adoption of a new term to signify someone who holds a naturalistic (as opposed to a religious) worldview. ... In any case, the problematic new term that has been proposed for non-religious people is "Bright," and the coinage is due to Paul Geisert and Mynga Futrell of Sacramento, Calif. They have started an Internet group, The Brights, intended to further the influence of 'Brights.' .."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/WhosCounting/whoscounting.html

Relativity Wins AGAIN...

The Nature report of Sept. 25th, authored by Mssrs. Bertotti, Iess and Tortora, says "Here we report a measurement of the frequency shift of radio photons to and from the Cassini spacecraft as they passed near the Sun. Our result, Gamma = 1+(2.1 2.3)*10^(-5), agrees with the predictions of standard general relativity with a sensitivity that approaches the level at which, theoretically, deviations are expected in some cosmological models. ..."

Source: http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v425/n6956/abs/nature01997_fs.html

Chandra 'hears' a black hole...

NASA reports on Sept. 9th that "NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory detected sound waves, for the first time, from a super-massive black hole. The "note" is the deepest ever detected from an object in the universe. The tremendous amounts of energy carried by these sound waves may solve a longstanding problem in astrophysics. ... In musical terms, the pitch of the sound generated by the black hole translates into the note of B flat. But, a human would have no chance of hearing this cosmic performance, because the note is 57 octaves lower than middle-C (by comparison a typical piano contains only about seven octaves). ..."

There are some outstanding photographs at the NASA page!

Source: http://www1.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/news/releases/2003/03-152.html

Creationist Misses Out on Nobel...

Ted Olsen, in a Christianity Today Weblog (for the week of October 6), asks "Did Nobel Committee Ignore MRI Creator Because of Creationism?" The article concerns Raymond V. Damadian, who took out full page ads in the Washington Post and the New York Times to complain about being passed over for the Nobel prize in medicine, which was awarded to Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield for their work on magnetic resonance imaging. Olsen quotes Damadian as saying "I know that had I never been born, there would be no MRI today," to the The Washington Post. Olsen also says "Many scientists agree, but some suggest that Damadian's self-promotion may have hurt him. He's 'sometimes flamboyant,' NPR science correspondent Richard Knox told All Things Considered yesterday. But Knox, along with Reason magazine's Ronald Bailey, suggested another reason Damadian may have been disregarded: He's a devout Christian (see this 1997 profile in Christianity Today sister publication Christian Reader) who believes in creationism. In fact, he's on the Technical Advisory Board for the Institute for Creation Research, and on the reference board for Answers in Genesis's upcoming Creation Museum. 'He's identified by many web sites as a prominent creation scientist,' Knox said. ..."

Source: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/140/51.0.html

See Also: Bob Park's "What's New" column for Oct. 10th, at http://www.aps.org/WN/ .

And Another Creationist Possibly Perjures Himself...

The News Observer (North Carolina) reported on Oct. 3rd that "Physicist Saami Shaibani was supposed to provide the prosecution's crowning testimony in the Mike Peterson murder trial, explaining to the jury how his experiments proved that Kathleen Peterson could not have died from an accidental fall. ... Shaibani, who claims advanced degrees from Oxford University, tripped up when he testified that he has a research affiliation with Temple University in Pennsylvania. Peterson's defense team produced letters from Temple saying that he isn't affiliated with the university, that any claim to the contrary was fraudulent and that the head of the physics department had written similar letters over the years. Shaibani had a 'courtesy appointment' from 1995 to 1998 that gave him little more than parking privileges, the university says. But Shaibani has described himself for years as a Temple professor in his work as an independent consultant who speaks at seminars and testifies in criminal cases and lawsuits. Hardin told Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson if the judge thought Shaibani had perjured himself he should strike his testimony, which the judge did. ... Hardin said he would consider launching a criminal investigation of Shaibani after the trial. ..."

Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/2904237p-2673169c.html

What is the creationist connection?  Shaibani is a favorite of creationist groups like Answers in Genesis. Here's what Carl Wieland and Don Batten of AiG have said about Shaibani: "When Dr Shaibani talks about ‘God’, and ‘design’, it’s not some throwaway line covering a belief in evolution. He believes the Bible from the very first verse. He was converted to a saving faith in Jesus Christ while at Oxford ..."

Source: http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/magazines/docs/v23n1_shaibani.asp

Will the creationists lose their admiration for Shaibani?  Will he be prosecuted for perjury?  Time will tell. As regards Mike Peterson, he was found guilty by the jury earlier today (Friday, Oct. 10th).

Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/peterson/story/2937734p-2688957c.html

It's Nobel Time ... and that means Ig Nobel time too!

The Annals of Improbable Research have done it once again. They announced that "The 2003 Ig Nobel Prize winners were announced on Thursday evening, October 2, at the 13th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, at Harvard's Sanders Theatre. ... " One award, in Engineering, went to the "late John Paul Stapp, the late Edward A. Murphy, Jr., and George Nichols, for jointly giving birth in 1949 to Murphy's Law, the basic engineering principle that 'If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, someone will do it' (or, in other words: 'If anything can go wrong, it will'). ..."

Source: http://www.improbable.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html#ig2003

Orangutans Could Be Extinct in 20 Years...

The AP reported on Sept. 29th that "Habitat destruction by illegal loggers could mean the extinction of orangutans within 10 to 20 years, a Harvard researcher studying the apes said Monday. Logging has been increasing in recent years, moving away from the river edges into the interior of the forests where the orangutans live, Cheryl Knott said in a telephone interview. ..."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20030929_1042.html

Science Journal Expanding Ethics Policies...

The AP also reported on Sept. 29th that "A leading group of British scientific journals, responding to mounting criticism, will require researchers writing in their pages to disclose financial ties to industry. The new policy at the London-based Nature publishing group means authors of reviews and commentaries must reveal any financial connections to companies that might benefit from their articles. Previously, Nature required such disclosures only from scientists submitting primary results from experiments. ..."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20030929_1041.html

Gen Clark on FTL Travel: "Mankind can do it ..."

Wired News reported on Sept. 30th that "During a whirlwind campaign swing Saturday through New Hampshire, Clark, the newest Democratic presidential candidate, gave supporters one of the first glimpses into his views on technology. ... the 58-year-old Arkansas native, who retired from the military three years ago, dropped something of a bombshell on the gathering. 'I still believe in e=mc², but I can't believe that in all of human history, we'll never ever be able to go beyond the speed of light to reach where we want to go,' said Clark. 'I happen to believe that mankind can do it. I've argued with physicists about it, I've argued with best friends about it. I just have to believe it. It's my only faith-based initiative.' Clark's comment prompted laughter and applause from the gathering. ..."

Source: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,60629,00.html

Evolution talk kicks off Speaker Series at UNM...

The UNM Daily Lobo reprted on Oct. 3rd that "Research of human origins and evolution during the past decade has helped scientists better understand the forces behind evolution in early humans, a visiting lecturer said Thursday. But, the past ten years has also produced the same product paleontologists' work for the past 100 years has: more questions. Carol Ward, an associate professor of anthropology and anatomy at the University of Missouri-Columbia, was the first speaker in UNM's Sigma Xi Science and Society series meant to bring scientific researchers to campus to discuss their work. ... 'Biologically speaking, we have put hominids into a much more realistic evolutionary context,' Ward said. 'There's much more diversity in the past than we ever knew of.' ... 'I foresee that, in the next few years, we will know a heck of a lot more than we do now,' Ward said. ..."

Source: http://www.dailylobo.com/news/512555.html?mkey=1038106

Magnetic Therapy DOESN'T WORK...

The first headline of the Sept. 26th "What's New" column by Bob Park reads "MAGNETIC THERAPY: HAVE WE GOT NEWS FOR YOU! IT DOESN'T WORK."

Source: http://www.aps.org/WN/

There are more details at the Med-Psych Network: "JAMA. 2003;290:1474-1478. Effect of Magnetic vs Sham-Magnetic Insoles on Plantar Heel Pain; A Randomized Controlled Trial. Mark H. Winemiller, MD; Robert G. Billow, DO; Edward R. Laskowski, MD; W. Scott Harmsen, MS ...Despite anecdotal reports, rigorous scientific evidence of the effectiveness of magnetic insoles for the pain of plantar fasciitis is lacking. ..."

SOurce: http://www.med-psych.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=547

Mass Extinction Linked to Ancient Gamma-ray Burst...

Nature reports on Sept. 24th that "Some 440 million years ago, a nearby gamma-ray burst may have extinguished much of life on Earth, say US astronomers. Adrian Melott, of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, and colleagues reckon that the fossil record of the end of the Ordovician period fits with how such a cosmic explosion a few thousand light years away could have altered the environment. At that time, more than 100 families of marine invertebrates died out; it was the second most devastating mass extinction in our planet's history. ..."

Source: http://www.nature.com/nsu/030922/030922-7.html

At Last... Poodle Genome Deciphered!

ABCNews.com and Reuters reported on Sept. 25th that "The gene map of man's best friend shows dogs are closely related to people and will add insights into our own genetics, U.S. scientists said on Thursday. The method used to map out the canine genes is much quicker than that used to sequence humans, mice and fruit flies, and offers a fast way to look at other mammals, the scientists said. ... The study confirms that, while dogs and wolves diverged from the common ancestor of all mammals long before early humans and mice did, dogs are much more closely related to humans than mice are. 'The wolf line diverged a little earlier, but the mouse is evolving faster,' [Craig ] Venter [of the Center for the Advancement of Genomics in Rockville, Maryland] said. ..."

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/SciTech/reuters20030925_273.html

"IT" is RECALLED...

Remember all the hullaballoo about "IT"? Well, the Washington Post and AP reported on Sept. 26th that "The maker of the Segway Human Transporter has agreed to recall the motorized scooters because riders have been injured falling off when its batteries are low. The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall Friday, saying that three people had been injured. One suffered a head wound and needed stitches. The recall involves about 6,000 of the single-rider, two-wheeled scooters that can travel up to 12 mph. The scooter uses gyroscopes to keep it upright, making it less likely to fall or be knocked over. ..."

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A5175-2003Sep26?language=printer

Baptist Pastor takes Creationists to task...

In a Sept. 3rd column titled "Students Lose in Creationism/Scientism Debate," Pastor Brett Younger of the Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas writes "Creationists, who believe that evolution is incompatible with a literal reading of the Book of Genesis, have besieged textbook hearings since the 1980s, but the religious right has recently changed tactics. Nouveau creationist groups with innocuous names like The Discovery Institute are now armed with big bank accounts, doctoral degrees and pseudoscientific information. While thinking Christians tend to dismiss such efforts, this debate (and the board’s vote in November) could change the way science is taught in Texas. Whenever fundamentalists start re-writing textbooks it’s bad news for students, who need to learn the best science possible. (No one debates whether evolution should be included in college textbooks.) ... There is no religious reason for supposing that God didn’t plan and lead creation over the course of billions of years as modern science suggests. Why is it any less miraculous to recognize evolution as one of the many ways God works in the world? Science, at its best, describes how God did and does. We cannot comprehend the depth of what God has created, but we can give thanks that the earth belongs to God, that in the beginning God called the world into being and called it good. .."

Source: http://www.baptists4ethics.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=3045

Monkeys have sense of "Fair Play"...

National Geographic reported on Sept. 17th that "If you expect equal pay for equal work, you're not the only species to have a sense of fair play. Blame evolution. Researchers studying brown capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) have found that the highly social, cooperative species native to South America show a sense of fairness, the first time such behavior has been documented in a species other than humans. ..."

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/09/0917_030917_monkeyfairness.html

More Info: http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994179

DI's Nancy Pearcey to appear in New Mexico...

The New Mexico Family Council (NMFC) reports that "Nancy Pearcey, collaborating writer with Chuck Colson, will be in Los Alamos Sept. 23 and Alb. on Sept 24 & 25. She wrote, 'The Soul of Science.' Will be good for pastors and Christians who do science. She will get beyond the creation/evolution debate to the real meaty stuff."

Source: http://nmfamilycouncil.org/cal.htm
Pearcey is a Senior Fellow of the Discovery Institute, the nation's premier ID thinktank :
http://www.discovery.org/crsc/fellows/NancyPearcey/index.html

Pearcey will be speaking at Foothills Fellowship, 12504 Candeleria at Tramway, NE, on Wednesday, September 24, 2003 at 7:00 PM. The event includes a $7.00 buffet at 5:30 PM.

http://www.rges.cc/pearcey.doc

More on Texas Bio-Textbook Hearings...

Michael King of the Austin Chronicle, in a column titled "In Search of Intelligent Life at the SBOE," writes on Sept. 19th about the recent hearings before the Texas State Board of Education on how evolution is presented in biology texts. King talks about the hearings, and concludes with this statement from Nobel-winning physicist Steven Weinberg at the Sept. 10th board hearing: "To Weinberg, the real agenda of the anti-Darwinians is apparent. 'Even though their arguments did not invoke religion, I think we all know what's behind these arguments. They're trying to protect religious beliefs from contradiction by science. They used to do it by prohibiting teachers from teaching evolution at all; then they wanted to teach intelligent design as an alternative theory; now they want the supposed 'weaknesses' in evolution pointed out. But it's all the same program -- it's all an attempt to let religious ideas determine what is taught in science courses.'..."

Source: http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2003-09-19/pols_feature4.html

Jumpin' Jehosophat - Buffalo-Sized Rodents!...

Yahoo and the AP's Paul Recer reported on Sept. 18th that "A rodent the size of a buffalo? Researchers say they have found fossils for a 1,545-pound giant that thrived millions of years ago in a swampy South American forest. 'Imagine a weird guinea pig, but huge, with a long tail for balancing on its hind legs and continuously growing teeth,' said Marcelo R. Sanchez-Villagra of the University of Tubingen in Germany, the first author of a study appearing this week in Science. The formal name of the rodent is Phoberomys pattersoni. The last term is in honor of Brian Patterson, a Harvard professor who led a fossil-collection expedition to Venezuela in the 1970s. Informally, the skeleton is called Goya. ..."

Source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=8&u=/ap/20030918/ap_on_sc/giant_rodent

Stolen 'Moon Rocks' were Earthly, NASA says...

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported on Sept. 17th that " Last weekend, [Susan] Torres reported that two moon rocks supposedly gathered during the Apollo 11 mission were stolen from her Seton Village house. Then came another hit: She learned the rocks likely were replicas, Earthling rocks that only looked similar to those on the moon's surface. ... But it's unlikely the rocks were the real thing, Torres learned. Such rocks are closely guarded, catalogued and inventoried by NASA, and most are kept at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, NASA spokesman William Jeffs said. 'It often happens that what people get are replicas, and as they get passed down from generation to generation, people eventually believe they have the real thing when they do not,' he said. NASA frequently gets calls from people wanting to confirm whether they have moon rocks. The call can present a Catch-22: NASA will gladly examine them, but if they turn out to be the real thing, NASA keeps them because they're considered government property. 'So people often don't send in their stuff,' Jeffs said. ..."

Source: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=6&ArticleID=32793

Creationists and Zogby move on to Texas...

Having failed to weaken treatment of evolution in New Mexico's new Science Standards (see http://www.nmsr.org/nm-stds.htm for details), the "Intelligent Design" creationists, with the Zogby Polling firm in tow, have moved east, to our neighbor Texas. Chris Mooney wrote about ongoing Zogby polling controversies for CSICOP, in a Sept. 11th piece titled "The latest pro-Intelligent Design Zogby poll is just one in a series of questionable surveys."  Mooney writes "Clearly, figuring out what Americans 'think' about evolution depends on what questions you ask. ... understanding the malleability of public opinion--and the way that malleability can be used to serve various political agendas--provides a helpful framework for considering the latest evolution polling controversy, which arose in New Mexico. It also sheds light on problems with a recently released survey of beliefs about evolution and Intelligent Design theory (ID) in Texas, which ID advocates have injected into ongoing biology textbook adoption discussions in the state. ... In July, the [New Mexico] state chapter of the Intelligent Design Network released results from a Zogby online poll that purportedly showed support for the teaching of Intelligent Design theory among scientists at Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico. But it quickly became clear that the Zogby poll didn't play by standard scientific rules: Numerous problems infected the poll design. For instance, of 16,000 people at Sandia, Los Alamos, and various New Mexico universities supposedly invited to respond to the survey, only 248 did so, a ridiculously small response rate. In a statement, Sandia National Laboratory president C. Paul Robinson even termed the poll a 'bogus mini-survey.' The Intelligent Design Network has now taken a curious stance: The group stands by the poll but says it won't cite it any more, according to a letter obtained by New Mexicans for Science and Reason. ... In fact, ID proponents have used Zogby to gather data favorable to their viewpoint on several other occasions, most recently in Texas. Such polls have now become a recurrent factor in state level battles over evolution and Intelligent Design, from Ohio to New Mexico to the Longhorn State. And though none of the polls have suffered from such severe problems as the latest New Mexico poll, troublesome leading questions have recurred across all of these surveys with little variation in wording. ...Not only do Americans need to understand the difference between evolution and its pseudoscientific rivals, they also need to grasp that polling is prone to its own form of pseudoscience. ..."

Source: http://www.csicop.org/doubtandabout/polling/

Texas Board of Education mulls Bio-Books...

The Star Telegram reported on Sept. 11th that "Although not exactly the Scopes 'monkey trial,' scores of sometimes-unruly critics and proponents of modern evolutionary theory squared off Wednesday before the Texas State Board of Education. ... a coalition of scientists and biology educators warned against watering down textbooks with Christian-based ideas. Others said publishers should make changes that reflect flaws in evolutionary theory. At stake is about $30 million in biology textbooks set to hit Texas classrooms in the 2004-05 school year. The 15-member State Board of Education will vote on the books Nov. 7. ... William Dembski, identified as a leading proponent of intelligent design in a New York Times report, told state board members that 'Darwinian lobbyists' were striving to maintain an illusion of scientific consensus related to evolutionary theory. ... An evangelical Christian, Dembski also conceded that his interest in alternatives in Darwinism was partly spurred by his faith. ... The list of more than 160 speakers Wednesday included scientists, educators and advocates from special interest groups from across Texas. About a half-dozen out-of-state witnesses were barred from speaking but allowed to submit written testimony. ... 'The weakness of evolution alleged here today are founded on ideology, not science,' [Samantha] Smoot [of the Texas Freedom Network, http://www.tfn.org/] said. 'There's really no debate about any of this in the scientific community.' But Mark Ramsey, who represents the rival Texans for Better Science Education [http://www.strengthsandweaknesses.org/] , insisted that Texas students should consider alternatives to evolutionary theory. ..."

Source: http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/6745176.htm

"Texans for Better Science Education" OUTED by Texas Citizens for Science!

In addition to the Texas Freedom Network, a group called Texas Citizens for Science (http://www.txscience.org) has been lobbying board of education members to resist anti-evolution idealogues. TCS president Steven Schafersman has investigated the anti-evolution group "Texans for Better Science Education" (TBSE, http://www.strengthsandweaknesses.org/), which on its website presents itself as a non-religious organization, quite similar to New Mexico's IDnet chapter (http://www.nmidnet.org/). Even the logo of TBSE closely resmbles that of IDnet-NM's parent organization, the Intelligent Design network, inc. [http://www.intelligentdesignnetwork.org/]. Unlike New Mexico's IDnet, however, the Texas group slipped up, and failed to completely obscure its direct link to religious creationism. In an article titled "TEXANS FOR BETTER SCIENCE EDUCATION: THE TRUE STORY!" Schafersman writes "...The new Texans for Better Science Education is a misnamed and thinly-veiled creationist organization that is attempting to damage science education in Texas by promoting the inclusion of invalid and unwarranted 'weaknesses' and 'criticisms' of evolution in biology textbooks. It engages in duplicity, hypocrisy, name-calling, and promotion of political interference in what should be a non-political scientific and educational process. TBSE is a front organization of the Greater Houston Creation Association, which reveals TBSE's true goals. It's true desire is to damage science education in Texas by preventing the inclusion of accurate scientific content about evolution and evolutionary theory in biology textbooks, thus allowing students to be confused and teachers to be intimidated so they will not teach the topic accurately. These aims are reprehensible by any objective moral standard, and TBSE and its supporters should be repudiated and their goals rejected by every individual who truly cares about preserving accurate and responsible science education in Texas public schools."

These are not idle charges. Schafersman thoroughly documents the connection between the so-called "Texans for Better Science Education (TBSE) " [http://www.strengthsandweaknesses.org/] and the young-earth creationist group "the Greater Houston Creation Association (GHCA)" [http://www.ghcaonline.com/]. The latter used to proudly proclaim "1. The Bible is the divinely inspired written Word of God. Because it is inspired throughout, it is completely free from error--scientifically, historically, theologically, and morally. Thus it is the absolute authority in all matters of truth, faith, and conduct. The final guide to the interpretation of the Bible is the Bible itself. 2. God's world must always agree with God's Word, because the Creator of the one is the Author of the other. Thus, where physical evidences from the creation may be used to confirm the Bible, these evidences must never be used to correct or interpret the Bible. The written Word must take priority in the event of any apparent conflict. 3. ..." The entire statement is very similar to oaths required for membership by other strict creationist groups, such as the Creation Science Fellowship of New Mexico (see http://www.swcp.com/creation/ for their "Statement of Belief").

After Schafersman documented that the websites of both TBSE and GHCA were operated by one and the same individual - Mark Ramsey - Ramsey quickly removed all content from the GHCA site. This site now shows no obvious creationist material, and instead says the following: "URGENT: Several Websites have come under hacker attack immediately following a hate posting on a site that has a history of defending Darwin. The authorities have been asked to investigate. As a result, we are temporarily taking this site down. Please check back later or go to www.strengthsandweaknesses.org to see if you can help out in this battle. ..."

The true nature of the GHCA site is confirmed at www.creationism.org, which states that "GHCA takes Genesis, and the rest of the Bible, literally. So that there is no ambiguity, this means that our Savior and Creator was responsible for creating our world in six 'literal' days, around 6000-10000 years ago. ..." Source: http://www.creationism.org/topbar/linksUS_L2Z.htm#CreationUS_TX

Congratulations to Schafersman and colleagues for showing us, once again, that the creationist emperors have no clothes. NMSR wishes them the best in the ongoing political battle.

Source: http://www.txscience.org/files/tbse.htm

Mystery of Paleomagnetism was Solved in the Valles Grandes...

John Fleck of the Albuquerque Journal reported on Sept. 7th that "John Geissman bounded up the steep side of the volcanic knoll, leaving a trail of geologists panting behind him. A tough half-mile climb above the valley floor, in a clump of oak, Geissman found what he was looking for— a piece of scientific history. On this 1,000-foot high mound of volcanic rock in the summer of 1964, geologists found the final piece of a puzzle that changed the way we view our planet. ..."

Source: http://www.abqjournal.com/news/82551news09-07-03.htm (subscription required)

Sensations of "Ghosts" may be caused by inaudible low-frequency vibrations...

CNN and Reuters reported on Sept. 8th that "Mysteriously snuffed out candles, weird sensations and shivers down the spine may not be due to the presence of ghosts in haunted houses but to very low frequency sound that is inaudible to humans. British scientists have shown in a controlled experiment that the extreme bass sound known as infrasound produces a range of bizarre effects in people including anxiety, extreme sorrow and chills -- supporting popular suggestions of a link between infrasound and strange sensations. ..."

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/09/08/ghosts.sounds.reut/index.html

OBE's to be Put to the TEST...

Jonathan Amos of BBC News reports on Sept. 10th that "Scientists have devised an experiment to test whether out-of-body experiences close to death are a real phenomenon or just a trick being played by the brain. ... Dr Peter Fenwick, from the Institute of Psychiatry in London, plans to test this view at 25 hospitals across the UK. He wants to place suspended pictures from the ceilings of accident and emergency units that only someone high up in the room will be able to see. ..."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/science/nature/3098230.stm

Science Standards Aftermath...

For a follow-up on last week's report about the adoption of new Science Standards for New Mexico schools, click here (http://www.nmsr.org/nm-stds.htm) for a detailed examination.

Wyoming School board gives nod to creationism, abstinence-only...

While Science Ruled and ID withered in New Mexico, Wyoming was not so fortunate. The Caspar Star Tribune reported on Sept. 3rd that "School board members want theories other than evolution -- such as creationism -- taught in Worland science classes and only sexual abstinence -- not how to use contraceptives -- taught in health classes. ... Also endorsed was a recommendation for teaching biology: 'It shall be the policy ... when teaching Darwin's theory of evolution that it is only a theory and not a fact. Teachers shall be allowed in a neutral and objective manner to introduce all scientific theories of origin and the students may be allowed to discuss all aspects of controversy surrounding the lack of scientific evidence in support of the theory of evolution.' Board member Tom Ball, who opened the discussion on the proposed changes, said he thought the evolution recommendation should use the word 'required,' rather than 'allowed.' "

Source: http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2003/09/03/news/wyoming/a0208af73dc2befaac4c8d432a0905bc.txt

DOE Cuts Lie Detector Testing...but still, 4500 to be Tested...

John Fleck of the Albuquerque Journal reported on Sept. 4th that "The Department of Energy wants to 'substantially lower' the number of nuclear weapons workers required to take polygraphs in the department's ongoing hunt for spies. ... Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., the committee's chairman, praised the policy change. 'This is a smart decision by DOE,' Domenici said ... Under the new policy, the number of people subject to polygraphs would be reduced from 'well in excess of 20,000' to approximately 4,500, according to McSlarrow. ..."

Source: http://www.abqjournal.com/news/80988news09-04-03.htm (subscription required)

Study: Just a few genes cause great variations...

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on August 24th that "From stars in the sky to cells under a microscope, the sources of scientific inspiration are many. But for a couple of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers, the stimulus came from a compost heap and a bunch of fruit flies, specifically from the colorful rear ends of those annoying bugs.Writing last week in the journal Nature, the two scientists say they have figured out how different animals can end up with vastly different colors and patterns of ornamentation on various body parts. It's research that may tell us as much about how evolution works as it does about how scientists work. ... Gompel brought his quarry into the lab and, along with Carroll, began studying colors and patterns on the abdomens of the flies. They studied the color and pattern differences under the microscope and did a genetic analysis. Using other fruit flies from a center in Arizona that maintains samples of various species, they found genetic similarities across 13 of them, even though those species were separated by up to 40 million to 70 million years of evolution. They found that only a couple of genes were needed to cause a great deal of variety. One gene, for instance, can be influenced by a protein to produce a variety of colors and patterns. ..."

Source: http://www.jsonline.com/Alive/news/aug03/164506.asp

Evolution Science Staying in Schools...

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported on Aug. 29th that "On Wednesday, the board's Instructional Services Committee wavered on the standards -- with a 4-2 vote in favor. But Thursday, the full Board of Education approved the science-content standards unanimously. Joe Renick, a mechanical engineer who heads New Mexico's branch of Intelligent Design Network Inc., posed a couple of questions to the board. Yet, he encouraged members to approve the standards, despite reservations his group raised during the review. Renick wanted to know: What will children be taught about where they come from? Will macroevolution be presented as an undisputed fact? Sharon Dogruel, the state Education Department's manager for this project, answered his questions, saying teachers should present evolution as the best scientific explanation we have at this time, not as an absolute. The aim is "not to present a particular belief system or indoctrinate students," who should be encouraged to use their critical thinking and inquiry skills, she said. ... Half the room was packed with scientists Thursday. And board member Eleanor Ortiz of Santa Fe gave them special note: 'I just want to commend the scientists in the audience. They have evolved into very nice people.' ..."

Source: http://sfnewmexican.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=7&ArticleID=31915

Sandia Labs did it ... now it's Los Alamos's Turn!

Los Alamos Lab director Peter Nanos said this in an August 25th, 2003 letter to IDnet-NM, and SDE/SBE leaders: "The claims made in that [IDnet-NM] news release is misleading. There is no evidence that all of our technical and scientific staff members receiveed the so-called 'poll,' nor is there assurance that those who responded were actually scientific or technical staff members. .... I would appreciate it if you would refrain from associating the name of Los Alamos National Laboratory with your effort in any and all materials. ..."

Source: http://www.nmsr.org/id-poll.htm (the entire letter is shown here.)

Creationists Tainting Real Science...

An op-ed column appeared August 28 in the Albuquerque Journal. New Mexico Academy of Science president Kim Johnson wrote "Your story, 'Anti-Evolution Poll Called Bogus,' reported that Joe Renick, director of a local creationist organization, promised to stop citing a deceptive poll. But the Web site of the New Mexico Intelligent Design Network still prominently features the poll. ... The N.M. Academy of Science is concerned with this issue on two counts. First, IDNet inappropriately purported to speak for a large number of scientists in our scientific community (they do not) and also made misleading statements. Second, the Academy and numerous national scientific organizations as well as religious organizations have repeatedly insisted that the concept of Intelligent Design is part of a hidden religious agenda and should not be taught as science in our schools. (For example, it has no testable hypotheses which is an absolute requirement to pass the test of science.) ... The version of our state science standards now up for adoption has been hailed by national experts. Larry Lerner of the Fordham Foundation, who reviews state standards, gave these an A, up from a grade of F in 1998. Religious beliefs should be taught and celebrated openly in our places of worship and homes, but not introduced surreptitiously in our public school science classrooms. ... "

Source: http://www.abqjournal.com/opinion/guest_columns/guestb08-28-03.htm

Committee Backs Evolution in Schools...

David Miles of the Albuquerque David Miles Journal Capitol Bureau reported on Aug. 28th that "A state Board of Education committee on Wednesday endorsed science education standards that retain a prominent place in public school instruction for evolution. The board's Instructional Services Committee endorsed the standards on a 4-2 vote. The full board is expected to act on the standards today or Friday. The standards are guidelines for the development of science instruction in New Mexico public schools. At Wednesday's meeting, supporters of the standards outnumbered those who preferred alternative language regarding evolution by more than 30 to three. Supporters included representatives of the New Mexico Academy of Science and the New Mexico Conference of Churches. 'There should be no fear of conflict between religion and science,' said the Rev. Barbara Dua, executive director of the conference. 'God has given us the intelligent capacity for critical thinking.' Those favoring the inclusion of alternative language in the standards were proponents of 'intelligent design,' the idea that evolution cannot explain the diversity of living things and that an "intelligent designer" must be responsible. ... Marshall Berman, a former board member and a retired Sandia National Laboratories scientist, praised the standards, which he said embrace principles that are commonly accepted in the scientific community. 'This is the fairest set of science standards that I've seen anywhere in the country,' Berman said. ..."

Source: http://www.abqjournal.com/news/78010news08-28-03.htm (subscription required)

Mars UPDATE ...

Mars is making its closest approach to Earth in 600 centuries on August 27th! The exact time of Mars' closest approach is 3:51 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time on Wednesday the 27th. So, if someone were to observe it on Tuesday night at 11:51 PM MST, that would only be 4 hours short of its maximum proximity, whereas if someone watches on Wednesday night at 11:51 PM MST, that would be 20 hours beyond its maximum proximity. Most sites, such as Sky and Telescope, are listing August 26th as the night to w