Dave Barry ¶ 12/21/2004 07:25:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
The FDA stopped short of urging patients to seek alternatives to the large class of drugs. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs include ibuprofen (such as Motrin and Advil), naproxen (such as Naprosyn and Aleve) and the COX-2 inhibitors Celebrex (chemical name celecoxib) and Vioxx (rofecoxib).
“It may be a problem for all nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, because we've never had an opportunity to examine this question,” said John Breitner of the University of Washington and the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle, the leader of the Alzheimer's study.
Then again, Breitner and others said, some of the warning signals emerging may be false alarms.
In the Alzheimer's study, for example, in which 70 persons experienced a stroke or heart attack out of 2,500 participants, the 50 percent increase in risk seen with naproxen may or may not prove to be “statistically significant” — a scientific term that would suggest the association is not simply due to chance. More analysis needs to be done before that question is settled, Breitner said, but he characterized the level of evidence as “enough to cause some concerns.”
¶ 12/21/2004 06:42:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Be very afraid!
Along with all the big fears have been dozens of lesser ones: saccharin, swine flu, cyclamates, endocrine disrupters, deodorants, electric razors, fluorescent lights, computer terminals, road rage, killer bees—the list goes on and on.
In this tradition, the association of cell phones and brain cancer has emerged as a contemporary concern, flourishing despite a lack of conclusive evidence of any direct link. I was drawn to one British study which suggested that cellular radiation actually improved brain function, but it got little publicity. And, of course, the best-documented hazard from cell phones—their use while driving—is largely ignored. (Handheld cell phones are only marginally more dangerous than speaker phones. The real danger comes from using a phone at all while driving.)
Fittingly, the century ended with one final, magnificent false fear: Y2K. For years, computer experts predicted a smorgasbord of horrors, ranging from the collapse of the stock market to the crash of airplanes. Some people withdrew their savings, sold their houses and moved to higher ground. In the end, nobody seemed to notice much of anything at all.
“I’ve seen a heap of trouble in my life, and most of it never came to pass,” Mark Twain is supposed to have said. At this point in my life, I can only agree. So many fears have turned out to be untrue or wildly exaggerated that I no longer get so excited about the latest one. Keeping fears in perspective leads me to ignore most of the frightening things I read and hear—or at least to take them with a pillar of salt.
For a time I wondered how it would feel to be without these fears and the frantic nagging concerns at the back of my mind. Actually, it feels just fine.
I recommend it.
Source: Let's Stop Scaring Ourselves
By Michael Crichton
Published: December 5, 2004
We’re all going to freeze! Or is it sizzle?
It may be mostly forgotten now, but back then many climate scientists shared his concern: Temperatures around the world had fallen steadily for 30 years, dropping half a degree in the Northern Hemisphere between 1945 and 1968. Pack ice was increasing. Glaciers were advancing. Growing seasons had shortened by two weeks in only a few years.
In 1975, Newsweek noted “ominous signs that weather patterns have begun to change…with serious political implications for just about every nation.” Scientists were predicting that “the resulting famines could be catastrophic.”
"Human beings never tire of discussing the
latest report that tells us the end is near."
But it is now clear that even as Newsweek was printing its fears, temperatures already had begun to rise. Within a decade, scientists would be decrying a global warming trend that threatened to raise temperatures as much as 30 degrees in the 21st century. Such predictions implied palm trees in Montana, and they have since been revised downward. By 1995, the UN midrange estimates were about 4 degrees over the next 100 years. Although concern about warming remains, the prospect of catastrophic change seems increasingly unlikely.
Source:
Let's Stop Scaring Ourselves
By Michael Crichton
Published: December 5, 2004
By Michael Crichton
Published: December 5, 2004
This year I turned 62, and I find I have acquired—along with aches and pains—a perspective on the world that I lacked as a younger person. I now recognize that for most of my life I have felt burdened by highly publicized fears that decades later did not turn out to be true.
I was reminded of this when I came across this 1972 statement about climate: “We simply cannot afford to gamble…We cannot risk inaction. Those scientists who [disagree] are acting irresponsibly. The indications that our climate can soon change for the worse are too strong to be reasonably ignored.” This author wasn’t concerned about global warming. He was worried about global cooling and the coming ice age.
We’re all going to freeze! Or is it si ¶ 12/21/2004 06:32:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
5 Golden Rules for Simplifying the Holidays
From Michelle Singletary in her syndicated column "The Color of Money":
1. The best present is your presence.
2. It really is the thought that counts.
3. It's the quality, not the quantity, of the gifts that matters.
4. Presents are forgotten but debt isn't.
5. Nobody sees a therapist as an adult because they didn't get a life-size Barbie or Xbox as a child.
¶ 12/21/2004 06:21:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Many manufacturing facilities that are major sources of federal Hazardous Air Pollutants and are not subject to other Maximum Achievable Control Technology Standards (MACT) will be subject to the Miscellaneous Metal Parts Coating MACT.
The Miscellaneous Metal Parts Coating MACT requires subject facilities to submit an Initial Notification by January 2, 2005, which is one year after the MACT was finalized.
The information required to be included in the notification includes:
- The name and address of the owner or operator;
- The address (i.e., physical location) of the affected source;
- An identification of the relevant standard (for the Miscellaneous Metal Parts Coating MACT the relevant standard is 40 CFR 63 Subpart MMMM) , or other requirement, that is the basis of the notification and the source's compliance date (The Compliance date for the Miscellaneous Metal Parts Coating MACT is January 2, 2007);
- A brief description of the nature, size, design, and method of operation of the source and an identification of the types of emission points within the affected source subject to the relevant standard and types of hazardous air pollutants emitted; and
- A statement of whether the affected source is a major source or an area source.
The notification should be sent to your Department of Natural Resources air compliance engineer with a copy sent to the US Environmental Protection Agency at the address below:
US Environmental Protection Agency
Region 5
77 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604
More information on the Miscellaneous Metal Parts Coating MACT can be found at these websites:
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/aw/air/mact/
www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/misc/miscpg.html
Submitted by
Tom Henning
Short Elliott Hendrickson
Labels: EnviroProtection
¶ 12/21/2004 04:15:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
save the scars upon the Earth
that could have been prevented
had they stood their ground."
–David Brower
David Ross Brower was born in Berkeley, California on July 1, 1912. He founded Earth Island Institute and was president of Earth Island Action Group. Brower was a life-long wilderness enthusiast and engaged in conservation battles starting in 1938 and ending in 2000 with his death at the age of 88.
Mr. Brower joined the Sierra Club in 1933, became a member of its board of directors in 1941, and was its first executive director from 1952 to 1969. He saw the club's membership grow from 2,000 to 77,000, and successfully urged the formation of the Sierra Club Foundation (in 1960) before leaving the club staff on request in 1969. He was re-elected to the Sierra Club board again in 1983, 1986, 1995, and 1998. In 1969 he founded Friends of the Earth, along with the League of Conservation Voters, and initiated the founding of independent FOE organizations in other countries. FOE is now multi-national and operating in sixty-eight countries.
Through the years, David Brower had a profound impact on the state of America's wild lands by helping to create national parks and seashores in Kings Canyon, the North Cascades, the Redwoods, Great Basin, Alaska, Cape Cod, Fire Island, the Golden Gate, and Point Reyes; and in protecting primeval forests in the Olympic National Park, and wilderness on San Gorgonio. He played a major role in keeping dams out of Dinosaur National Monument, the Yukon, and the Grand Canyon, in establishing the National Wilderness Preservation System, the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (which resulted in the Land and Water Conservation Fund), and in raising the twin questions:
"What kinds of growth must we have?"
"What kinds can we no longer afford?"
Earth Island Institute, Brower Fund, and biennial Fate and Hope of the Earth Conferences, all of which Mr. Brower founded in 1982, will continue to work to bring peace, environmental, social justice, and other groups together to achieve peace on and with the Earth. Mr. Brower recently founded the Global Conservation, Preservation, and Restoration (CPR) Service to help catalyze the restoration of natural and human systems. In 1988 and 1990-92, he led delegations to Lake Baikal in Siberia at Soviet request to aid its protection and restoration. In the fall of 1994, he co-founded the Ecological Council of Americas as a network of organizations in the Americas focused on problems of environment and economic integration. Mr. Brower developed plans for the creation of a National Biosphere Reserve System, as well as for a National Land Service to replace the current Bureau of Land Management and to have a new mission of protecting and restoring both public and private lands in the United States.
In civilian climbing and ski mountaineering, Mr. Brower made 70 first ascents, summer and winter, in Yosemite and the Western United States, participated in a historic attempt on Mount Waddington (Canada), led the first ascent of New Mexico's Shiprock (1939), and trekked to 18,000 feet in the Himalaya below Mount Everest (1976) and to Thyangboche (1984). He received the First Class Skier award in 1942, and, from 1939 to 1956, in the Sierra Club Wilderness Outings Program, he initiated the knapsack, river, and wilderness threshold trips and led some 4,000 people into remote wilderness.
David Brower was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times (in 1978, 1979, and 1998 -- jointly with professor Paul Ehrlich).
In October 1998, Brower received the Blue Planet Prize for his environmental accomplishments. The Blue Planet Prize is awarded annually by the Asahi Glass Foundation of Japan and is the richest environmental prize in the world.
Comments about Brower's efforts have ranged widely. John McPhee's Encounters With the Archdruid is about Mr. Brower and three of his natural enemies -- and is in its twenty-seventh printing. Mr. Brower especially liked what Russell Train said when he was chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality in the Nixon administration: "Thank God for Dave Brower; he makes it so easy for the rest of us to be reasonable."
Labels: WaterProtection
¶ 12/21/2004 02:34:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
The Environment Agency has reportedly held a series of meetings with the pharmaceutical industry to determine whether there are any risks from Prozac to the environment or to human health.
A spokesman for Britain's Drinking Water Inspectorate tried to calm fears, reporting that the traces found were unlikely to be a danger to health. Several sources report this spokesman as saying that "It is extremely unlikely that there is a risk, as such drugs are excreted in very low concentrations. Advanced treatment processes installed for pesticide removal are effective in removing drug residues." Britain's Liberal Democrats have already criticized the Inspectorate's statement. Environment spokesman Norman Baker is quotes as saying that it looked "like a case of hidden mass medication upon the unsuspecting public".
Source:
http://mentalhealth.about.com/od/psychopharmacology/a/prozacuk804.htm
¶ 12/20/2004 01:25:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Has a 200 mpg carburetor been suppressed by the oil industry?
Source: Times Online
Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2003
Oil Industry Suppressed Plans for 200-MPG Car
The original blueprints for a device that could have revolutionized the motor car have been discovered in the secret compartment of a tool box. A carburetor that would allow a car to travel 200 miles on a gallon of fuel caused oil stocks to crash when it was announced by its Canadian inventor Charles Nelson Pogue in the 1930s.
But the carburetor was never produced and, mysteriously, Pogue went overnight from impoverished inventor to the manager of a successful factory making oil filters for the motor industry. Ever since, suspicion has lingered that oil companies and car manufacturers colluded to bury Pogue’s invention.
Now a retired Cornish mechanic has enlisted the help of the University of Plymouth to rebuild Pogue’s revolutionary carburetor, known as the Winnipeg, from blueprints he found hidden beneath a sheet of plywood in the box. The controversial plans once caused panic among oil companies and rocked the Toronto Stock Exchange when tests carried out on the carburetor in the 1930s proved that it worked.
Patrick Davies, 72, from St Austell, had owned the tool box for 40 years but only recently decided to clean it out. As well as drawings of the carburetor, the envelope contained two pages of plans, three test reports and six pages of notes written by Pogue. They included a report of a test that Pogue had done on his lawnmower, which showed that he had managed to make the engine run for seven days on a quart (just under a litre) of petrol. The documents also described how the machine worked by turning petrol into a vapor before it entered the cylinder chamber, reducing the amount of fuel needed for combustion.
Mr Davies has had the patent number on the plans authenticated, proving that they are genuine documents.
He said: “I couldn’t believe what I saw. I used to be a motor mechanic and I knew this was something else altogether. I was given the tool box by a friend after I helped to paint her house in 1964. Her husband had spent a lot of time in Canada.”
The announcement of Pogue’s invention caused enormous excitement in the American motor industry in 1933, when he drove 200 miles on one gallon of fuel in a Ford V8. However, the Winnipeg was never manufactured commercially and after 1936 it disappeared altogether amid allegations of a political cover-up.
Dr Murray Bell, of the University of Plymouth’s department of mechanical and marine engineering, said he would consider trying to build a model of the Pogue carburetor.
Engineers who have tried in the past to build a carburetor using Pogue’s theories have found the results less than satisfactory. Charles Friend, of Canada’s National Research Council, told Marketplace, a consumer affairs program: “You can get fantastic mileage if you’re prepared to de-rate the vehicle to a point where, for example, it might take you ten minutes to accelerate from 0 to 30 miles an hour.”
Labels: HybridHype
¶ 12/20/2004 09:26:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Trade deficit made in China
December 11, 2004
CHINA has overtaken the US as Australia's biggest source of imports, as our appetite for its cut-price clothes, furniture, electrical goods and machinery continues to fuel the growing trade deficit.
Imports from China totaled $1.8billion in October, moving ahead of the US for the first time. Our imports from the US totaled $1.6 billion.
In October, we sold goods worth more than $1billion to China, compared with $846million to the US and $2 billion to Japan. Our biggest exports to China are iron ore, wool and crude oil.
Australia has been running monthly trade deficits of about $2 billion since April last year.
http://finance.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11656823%255E462,00.html
¶ 12/20/2004 09:25:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes: October 2004
The U.S. Import Price Index rose 1.5 percent in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. An 11.7 percent increase in import petroleum prices last month more than offset a 0.2 percent decline in the price index for nonpetroleum imports. Export prices were up 0.7 percent in October, following a 0.4 percent rise in September.
Import Goods
Import prices were up 1.5 percent in October, the fourth consecutive monthly advance and largest increase for the index since May. The rise was attributable to an 11.7 percent jump in petroleum prices. The price index for petroleum has trended upward since June 2003, when the index rose 24.8 percent. For the year ended in October, petroleum prices were up 67.6 percent. In contrast, nonpetroleum import prices fell 0.2 percent last month, the first decline for the index since October 2003. Prices for nonpetroleum imports rose 2.7 percent over the October 2003-2004 period. Led by the sharp increase in petroleum prices, overall import prices were up 9.7 percent over the same timeframe.
The October decrease in nonpetroleum prices was led by a 1.1 percent decline in the price index for nonpetroleum industrial supplies and materials, a drop attributable to falling prices for lumber and other finished building materials. Despite the decline, nonpetroleum industrial supplies and materials prices increased 12.8 percent over the past 12 months. Import capital goods prices fell 0.2 percent in October, led by falling computer prices. The price index for capital goods has not increased since January and was down 1.3 percent over the past year. A 0.6 percent drop in prices for foods, feeds, and beverages also contributed to the October decline in nonpetroleum prices and resulted from lower vegetable prices. Foods, feeds, and beverages prices were up 6.0 percent for the year ended in October.
Import automotive vehicle prices rose 0.4 percent in October, partially offsetting the declines in other nonpetroleum prices. The increase was the largest since October 2003 and was attributable to year-end model changeovers. Prices for automotive vehicles were up 1.8 percent over the past 12 months. The price index for consumer goods was unchanged last month and was up a modest 0.5 percent for the year ended in October.
Export Goods
Export prices rose 0.7 percent in October, led by a 1.0 percent increase in nonagricultural export prices, which more than offset a 1.3 percent drop in agricultural prices. The advance in nonagricultural prices was the largest monthly increase since October 1990. Prices for nonagricultural exports increased in 11 of the past 12 months and were up 5.2 percent over that period. Overall export prices also were up for the year ended in October, increasing 4.5 percent.
Nonagricultural industrial supplies and materials prices, up 2.5 percent in October, led the increase in nonagricultural export prices. Rising prices for chemicals, fuel, and metals all contributed to the increase. Prices for nonagricultural industrial supplies and materials were up 16.6 percent over the past year.
Higher prices for capital goods and for automotive vehicles were also factors in the increase in nonagricultural prices. The price index for capital goods rose 0.4 percent, the largest monthly gain since April 1995. Capital goods prices had been relatively stable over the past six months prior to October and rose 1.0 percent for the year ended in October. Prices for automotive vehicles increased 0.2 percent in October, attributable to both higher parts prices and year-end model changeovers. The index was up 0.9 percent over the past 12 months. Consumer goods prices fell 0.1 percent in October but were up 1.1 percent over the past year.
The 1.3 percent decrease in agricultural exports in October resumed the recent downward trend for the index, following a 1.7 percent increase in September. In October, declining prices for soybeans and corn more than offset higher vegetable and fruit prices. Agricultural prices fell 1.3 percent over the past 12 months.
Imports by Locality of Origin
Led by higher petroleum prices, the price indexes for imports from Latin America, from the European Union, and from Canada all rose in October. Prices of imports from Latin America were up 2.6 percent, the largest increase since February 2003. The index was up 16.3 percent for the year ended in October. Import prices from the European Union and from Canada each were up 0.6 percent in October. Over the past year, the indexes were up 7.1 percent and 11.2 percent, respectively.
Prices for imports from Japan increased 0.2 percent last month after a modest 0.1 percent decline in September. Import prices from Japan were up 1.7 percent over the past 12 months.
Import prices from the Asian Newly Industrialized Countries were unchanged last month and for the year ended in October.
Import and Export Services
Both import and export air passenger fares were down in October due to seasonal price declines. Import air passenger fares fell 4.6 percent in October, following a similar 4.1 percent decrease the previous month. The index was up 0.8 percent for the year ended in October. Export air passenger fares also declined last month, falling a more modest 1.9 percent after decreasing 6.8 percent in September. Notwithstanding the recent declines, export air passenger fares were up 6.2 percent over the past year.
From Bureau of Labor Statistics
This release has been edited for length. You can find the original at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJ&sdn=economics&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bls.gov%2Fnews.release%2Fximpim.n
¶ 12/20/2004 09:24:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
U.S. Trade Commodities Deficit Swells to Record $55.5B
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041214/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy&e=1
Are you sure of the population of Arizona?
http://www.de.state.az.us/links/economic/webpage/page2.html
¶ 12/20/2004 09:23:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
English translation of the French Penal Code
http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/codes_traduits/liste.htm
¶ 12/20/2004 09:22:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
What you need to know about the Europe Penal Codes
http://www.law.cornell.edu/world/europe.html
¶ 12/20/2004 09:21:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
So Marten was delighted when she learned about Waste Reduction Partners (WRP), an extraordinary group of retired scientists and engineers in Asheville. “I signed right up,” she says with a laugh. “And now they have me working harder than I did when I was getting paid for it!”
Waste Reduction Partners was founded in 1992 on a simple but powerful concept: Americans are living longer and healthier lives (35 million of us are now over 65, a number projected to rise to 80 million by 2050). And retirees are often eager to continue using the work skills they spent a lifetime developing. At the same time, many environmental challenges cry out for just the expertise these retirees possess.
“What WRP does is bring the people to where they’re needed,” says Terry Albrecht, 39, the group’s energetic director—and the only staff member under 60. One thing that’s needed in Asheville are new ways to deal with water shortages and overflowing landfills—the environmental fallout from the area’s decade of economic growth.
The good news is that by reducing waste, businesses and governments usually can cut pollution and save money. However, they’re often leery of the up-front costs incurred in figuring out a plan of action. And consultants with the necessary know-how can charge as much as $500 a day.
“I became a chemist because I love chemistry,”
says Elaine Marten. “I didn’t stop loving it
just because I’d retired.”
That’s where WRP comes in. Funded mostly by the state of North Carolina, the group’s skilled retirees can provide any institution with a confidential evaluation of how it can improve its environmental performance. In return, they receive a small per diem, travel costs and, as Marten puts it, “the sense that you’re making a difference.”
This lure has been strong enough to attract to WRP more than 40 engineers, architects and scientists with former careers in textiles, electric utilities, aerospace and the chemical and paper industries. Among them, they have more than 1000 years of professional experience and hold more than 100 patents. “It’s a fantastic collection of talent,” says Albrecht.
If Asheville schools and businesses want to install energy-efficient lighting, they can call upon Art Lins, 80, a Westinghouse electrical engineer for four decades. The area’s large textile industry can consult with Tom McCullough, 74, a former fabric specialist for Levi Strauss. Other business inquiries might be referred to Bob Schornstheimer, 87, who spent 36 years at B.F. Goodrich; Don Hollister, 78, a former Northrop aeronautical engineer; or Wayne Rumble, 69, a retired general manager who, in his spare time, invented a new kind of golf club that’s now manufactured worldwide.
The payoff has been enormous. Since Jan. 1, 2000, WRP’s clients have produced 109.1 million fewer pounds of solid waste while using 105.8 million fewer gallons of water and 14.8 million fewer kilowatt hours than they would have without the retirees’ help. Total saved: $5.75 million. In comparison, WRP’s entire budget during this period was less than $500,000.
But the organization is now setting its sights even higher: If it’s good to reduce the amount of trash that Asheville sends to the landfill, it would be even better to sell it. As Tom McCullough puts it, “Just like in nature, somebody’s waste is someone else’s wealth.”
One of the retirees found a way to turn wood pallets destined for the dump into beautiful flooring.
For instance, traditionally, one of the greatest uses for hardwoods in America has been for pallets—the platforms used to transport just about everything. Annually, 305,000 tons of pallets are sent to dumps in North Carolina alone. Inspired by this waste, David Lowles, 65, a retired Silicon Valley entrepreneur, created a process to recycle the pallets’ high-quality wood into flooring. The beautiful samples created from sequences of oak, maple, walnut and cherry are already on sale at a high-end Asheville store.
Meanwhile, Elaine Marten’s current chemistry project is finding a use for the 130,000 tons of fly ash the area’s coal-burning utility produces annually. In collaboration with North Carolina State University, Marten is exploring a method to combine it with hog waste (also plentiful) to create a material suitable for cinder blocks and driveways. The final product is as hard as comparable materials but significantly lighter —not to mention “completely odor-free,” notes Marten. WRP estimates that it could be sold to the construction industry at $38 per ton. That means the utilities could help produce a $4 million-a-year product with what they used to pay to throw away!
Not surprisingly, one WRP scientist sums it up as “a win-win-win situation: It’s good for business, good for the environment and good for us volunteers.” Moreover, as America’s population ages, Terry Albrecht emphasizes that there’s no reason WRP’s success can’t be duplicated across the country. “Conserving water, energy and everything else is vital,” he says. “But people are the most important natural resource of all.
By Jonathan Schwarz
Source: http://archive.parade.com/2004/1031/1031_scientists1.html
Posted by: Christopher Haase
Email: haase@neutralsolution.com
Voice (262) 238-5576 Fax (262) 238-5586
ESS, Winner of the "Excellence in Environmental Performance Award"
Environmentally Sensitive Solutions, Inc. 6320 Eastwood Court Mequon, WI 53092
Visit ESS at: www.neutralsolution.com www.neudishcare.com www.neutralcleaning.com
Labels: Renewable Energy
¶ 12/20/2004 07:34:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Finding gold in oil stocks
Share prices of energy companies have soared together with oil prices this year, so it can be tempting to think that now is hardly a great time to buy petroleum stocks. But there are good deals to be found among energy stocks, writes Fortune magazine columnist Abrahm Lustgarten, as he outlines strategies. Fortune
The machines are taking over!
Any catalog of false fears and counterfeit crises must include examples of the ever-present threat posed by technology. Nobody of my generation will ever forget the looming crisis of too much leisure time, an issue much discussed in the 1960s. Since machines would soon be doing all our work, we needed to learn watercolor painting and macramé to pass the time. Yet, by the end of the century, Americans were regarded as overworked, overstressed and sleepless. The crisis of leisure time had gone the way of the paperless office.
More sinister were the health threats posed by technology, such as the fears about cancer from power lines. The great power-line scare lasted more than a decade and, according to one expert, cost the nation $25 billion before many studies determined it to be false.
"Sinister health threats posed by technology—such
as fears about cancer from power lines—eventually
were shown to be false."
Ironically, 10 years later, the same magnetic fields that were formerly feared as carcinogenic now were welcomed as healthful. People attached magnets (the best ones were imported from Japan) to their legs and backs, or put magnetic pads on their mattresses, in order to experience the benefits of the same magnetic fields they previously had avoided. Magnet therapy even became a new treatment for depression.
Source:
Let's Stop Scaring Ourselves
By Michael Crichton
Published: December 5, 2004
Theoretical physics
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Theoretical physics attempts to understand the world by making a model of reality, used for rationalizing, explaining, predicting physical phenomena through a "physical theory". There are three types of theories in physics; mainstream theories, proposed theories and fringe theories.
Some physical theories are backed by observation, whereas others are not. A physical theory is a model of physical events and cannot be proved from basic axioms. A physical theory is different from a mathematical theorem. Physical theories model reality and are a statement of what has been observed, and provide predictions of new observations.
Physical theories can become accepted if they are able to make correct predictions and avoid incorrect ones. Physical theories which are simpler tend to be accepted over theories which are complex. Physical theories are more likely to be accepted if they connect a wide range of phenomena. The process of testing a physical theory is part of the scientific method.
Theoretical physics is just one important part of physics; the other part is experimental physics. The difference between theoretical physics and mathematical physics is that mathematical physics finds the mathematical rigor required in mathematics to be more important than the contact with experiments and observations.
| Contents [hide] |
Mainstream theories
Mainstream theories (sometimes referred to as central theories) are the body of knowledge of both factual and scientific views and possess a usual scientific quality of the tests of repeatability, consistency with existing well-established science and experimentation.
Some examples of mainstream physical theories are:
- Classical mechanics
- Condensed matter physics
- Dynamics
- Electromagnetism
- Field theory
- Fluid dynamics
- General relativity
- Particle physics
- Quantum mechanics
- Quantum field theory
- Quantum electrochemistry
- Solid state physics and the electronic structure of materials
- Special relativity
- Standard Model
- Statistical mechanics
- Thermodynamics
Proposed theories
The proposed theories of physics are relatively new theories which deal with the study of physics which include scientific approaches, means for determining the validity of models and new types of reasoning used to arrive at the theory. Proposed theories can include fringe theories in the process of becoming established (and, sometimes, gaining wider acceptance). Proposed theories usually have not been tested.
Some examples of proposed physical theories are:
- Dynamic theory of gravity*
- Emergence
- Grand unification theory*
- Loop quantum gravity*
- M-theory
- Plasma Universe
- String theory
- Theory of everything*
Fringe theories
Fringe theories include any new area of scientific endeavor in the process of becoming established and some proposed theories. It can include speculative sciences. This includes physics fields and physical theories presented in accordance with known evidence, and a body of associated predictions have been made according to that theory.
Some fringe theories go on to become an widely accepted part of physics. Other fringe theories end up being disproven. Some fringe theories are a form of protoscience and others are a form of pseudoscience. The falsification of the original theory sometimes leads to reformulation of the theory.
Some examples of fringe physical theories are:
- Cold fusion
- Dynamic theory of gravity*
- Grand unification theory*
- Loop quantum gravity*
- Luminiferous aether
- Orgone energy
- Steady state theory
- Theory of everything*
* These theories are both proposed and fringe theories.
¶ 12/20/2004 06:28:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Theory of everything
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
A theory of everything (TOE) is a theory of theoretical physics and mathematics that fully explains and links together all known physical phenomena (i.e. "everything"). Initially the term was used with an ironical connotation, to refer to various overgeneralized theories. For example, an uncle of Ijon Tichy— a famous hero of Stanislaw Lem's science fiction stories of early 1970s — was known to work on "General Theory of Everything" (Polish: "Ogólna Teoria Wszystkiego"). Over time, the term stuck in popularizations of quantum physics to describe a theory that would unify the theories of the four fundamental interactions of nature, possibly due to the influence of The Theory of Everything, a book with material written by Stephen Hawking but disowned by him.
| Contents [hide] |
Mainstream physics
Albert Einstein was the first serious scientist who spent most of his life trying to find a TOE; he believed that the only task was to unify general relativity and electromagnetism.
Current mainstream physics concepts require that a TOE unify the four fundamental interactions of nature: gravity, the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, and the electromagnetic force; it should also explain the spectrum of elementary particles. There has been progress toward a TOE in unifying electromagnetism and the weak nuclear force in an electroweak unified field theory and in unifying all of the forces except for gravity (which in the present theory of gravity general relativity is not a force) in grand unified theory. One missing piece in a theory of everything involves combining quantum mechanics and general relativity into a theory of quantum gravity.
The only serious candidate for a theory of everything at the moment is superstring theory / M-theory; current research on loop quantum gravity may eventually play a fundamental role in a TOE, but that is not its primary aim. These theories attempt to deal with the renormalization problem by setting up some lower bound on the length scales possible. Also, early 21st century theories of everything tend to suppose that the universe actually has more dimensions than the easily observed three of space and one of time. The motivation behind this approach began with the Kaluza-Klein theory in which it was noted that adding one dimension to general relativity would produce the electromagnetic Maxwell's equations. This has led to efforts to work with theories with large number of dimensions in the hopes that this would produce equations which are similar to known laws of physics. The notion of extra dimensions also helps to resolve the hierarchy problem which is the question of why gravity is so much weaker than any other force. The common answer involves gravity leaking into the extra dimensions in ways that the other forces do not.
In the late 1990s, it was noted that one problem with several of the candidates for theories of everything was that they did not constrain the characteristics of the predicted universe. For example, many theories of quantum gravity can create universes with arbitrary numbers of dimensions or with arbitrary cosmological constants. One bit of speculation is that there may indeed be a huge number of universes, but that only a small number of them are habitable, and hence the fundamental constants of the universe are ultimately the result of the anthropic principle rather than a consequence of the theory of everything.
There is also a philosophical debate within the physics community as to whether or not a "theory of everything" should be seen as the fundamental law of the universe. One view is the hard reductionist view that the TOE is the fundamental law of the universe and that all other theories of the universe are a consequence of the TOE. Another view is that there are laws which Steven Weinberg calls free floating laws which govern the behavior of complex systems, and while these laws are related to the theory of everything, they cannot be seen as less fundamental than the TOE. Some argue that this explanation would violate Occam's Razor if a completely valid TOE were formulated.
Other possibilities which may frustrate the explanatory capacity of a TOE may include sensitivity to the boundary conditions of the universe, or the existence of mathematical chaos in its solutions, making its predictions precise, but useless.
¶ 12/20/2004 06:26:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
List of theoretical physicists
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The following is a list of theoretical physicists:
- John Bardeen (1908-1991)
- Niels Bohr (1885-1962)
- Max Born (1882-1970)
- Paul Dirac (1902-1984)
- Revaz Dogonadze (1931-1985)
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
- Enrico Fermi (1901-1954)
- Richard Feynman (1918-1988)
- Sheldon Lee Glashow (1932-)
- Stephen Hawking (1942-)
- Werner Karl Heisenberg (1901-1976)
- Michio Kaku
- Yoichiro Nambu
- Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
- Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958)
- Roger Penrose (1931-]])
- Max Planck (1858-1947)
- Abdus Salam (1926-1996)
- Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961)
- Ashoke Sen
- Gerardus 't Hooft (1946-)
- Kip Thorne (1940-)
- Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937)
- Martinus J.G. Veltman (1937-)
- John Archibald Wheeler (1911-)
- Steven Weinberg (1933-)
- Edward Witten (1951-)
- Pieter Zeeman (1865-1943)
- Harold E. Puthoff
See also
¶ 12/19/2004 06:30:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
A study of 142 hotels in the U.S. found showers and faucets at most of the properties were capable of delivering scalding temperatures. Managers of several hotels, however, said water temperature was not an issue at their properties and most shower-related complaints involved the amount of water pressure. San Francisco Chronicle ¶ 12/17/2004 09:31:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
What does 2005 hold for the economy?
Expert predictions are gravitating toward a good, but not great, economy next year. GDP is expected grow between 3.5% to 4%, but the falling dollar or a drop in home prices could ripple negative effects throughout the economy.
Read on here:
href="http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1108.cfm
¶ 12/17/2004 09:30:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Watertown police removed barricades blocking Hart and 9th Streets about 7 p.m. Wednesday night, though the spill was not fully cleaned up.
"The main thing that needs to be done is get the product off the ground," said Mayor John David.
The mayor says this morning, a trucker was unloading the liquid, which is used to harden plastics, when a valve wouldn't close and about 1,000 gallons of the toxic chemical spilled onto the parking lot, into the storm sewer, and into a nearby ditch.
"There was concerns regarding our drinking water. There is not a problem with our drinking water. It was never in danger," said Fire Chief Henry Butts.
But people who breathe the chemical's vapors could be in danger, so police shut outside vents to two nearby plants, closed roads, and evacuated 21 homes -- until special testing devices flown in from Michigan confirmed the air was safe for all but one house next to the spill.
Residents, who had to wait hours to return home, were frustrated that local firefighters had to call Milwaukee's Hazmat team to shut the stuck valve.
The mayor says if it had been a warm day, more people may have been hurt and thousands may have been evacuated. He said he's thankful the chemical froze right away and did little harm, but he's worried about who's going to pay for the clean up. He says the cost could easily run into the "tens of thousands" of dollars.
The five employees exposed to the chemical were all released from the hospital.
A private contractor remained on the scene Wednesday night moving the frozen chemical into barrels. The mayor says the entire clean up probably won't be done until Thursday evening.
----- Original Message
Labels: Toxic2U, WI - Evniro
¶ 12/16/2004 08:57:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Particularly harmful chemicals on the TRI list under the category of “Persistent, Bio-accumulative Toxic pollutants” (PBT’s) are highly toxic, long-lasting substances that can build up in the food chain to levels that are harmful to human health and the environment. These contaminants can be transported long distances and move readily from land to air and water. The EPA’s Waste Minimization Program has drafted a strategy to reduce 53 PBT’s in RCRA-regulated waste through voluntary Pollution Prevention (P2) efforts [2]. The goal was a 10% cut in PBT’s found in the RCRA-regulated waste by 2001, and a 50% cut by 2005, as measured by TRI reports. The 2001 goal has been achieved, but meeting the 2005 goal will be more difficult. The focus of this initiative is to reduce the environmental impact of industrial pollutants, rather than merely the volume.
Labels: Toxic2U
¶ 12/16/2004 08:56:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
 | Santa Claus! |
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 | Miracle on 234th Street |
 | Ahnuld for Governor |
 | Founding Fathers |
 | The Musical |
 | Who's Your Papua |
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 | Bush Versus Gore |
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| ICAGO (Oct. 28, 2004) -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 intends to delegate authority to Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for certain federal drinking water rules. The rules govern the definition of a public water system, Consumer Confidence reports, interim enhanced surface water treatment, disinfection/disinfectant byproducts and the authority to assess administrative penalties when water systems violate regulations. To be delegated authority, Wisconsin's rules must be at least as stringent as federal rules. Notice of the proposal was published in the Federal Register on Monday, Oct. 18. Anyone who objects to the delegation of authority may request a public hearing by writing to Joseph Janczy, U.S. EPA (WG-15J), 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, or e-mailing him at janczy.joseph@epa.gov by Nov. 17. # # # |
Labels: EnviroProtection, WaterProtection, WI - Evniro