Thursday, March 31, 2005
Study highlights global decline
By Jonathan Amos
BBC News science reporter
The most comprehensive survey ever into the state of the planet concludes that human activities threaten the Earth's ability to sustain future generations.
The report says the way society obtains its resources has caused irreversible changes that are degrading the natural processes that support life on Earth....
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BBC News science reporter
The most comprehensive survey ever into the state of the planet concludes that human activities threaten the Earth's ability to sustain future generations.
The report says the way society obtains its resources has caused irreversible changes that are degrading the natural processes that support life on Earth....
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Tuesday, March 29, 2005
When Sentiment and Fear Trump Reason and Reality
NYTimes Commentary
By LAWRENCE M. KRAUSS
I have recently begun to wonder whether I am completely out of touch with the mainstream, and if so, what that implies.
When I was a young student it became clear to me that the remarkable success of the scientific method, which changed the world beyond belief in the four centuries since Galileo, made the power and efficacy of that method evident. Moreover, scientific ideas are not only powerful but so beautiful that they are on par with the most spectacular legacies of civilization in art, architecture, literature, music and philosophy.
This is what makes the current times so disconcerting. We like to think that spectacular intellectual developments bring progress, so that future generations may benefit from what has come before. But this is often an illusion......
.........
By LAWRENCE M. KRAUSS
I have recently begun to wonder whether I am completely out of touch with the mainstream, and if so, what that implies.
When I was a young student it became clear to me that the remarkable success of the scientific method, which changed the world beyond belief in the four centuries since Galileo, made the power and efficacy of that method evident. Moreover, scientific ideas are not only powerful but so beautiful that they are on par with the most spectacular legacies of civilization in art, architecture, literature, music and philosophy.
This is what makes the current times so disconcerting. We like to think that spectacular intellectual developments bring progress, so that future generations may benefit from what has come before. But this is often an illusion......
.........
Sunday, March 20, 2005
AAACCHOO!! did you say antibiotics??
NYTimes
By JANE E. BRODY
You've had a cold for five to seven days and thought you were getting better. Then it grew worse. More congestion, increasing fatigue and now headache or facial pain around your nose or eyes or upper teeth. You guessed it was a sinus infection.
Depending on the severity of the symptoms, the doctor's examination and inclinations about treatment, you may be prescribed an antibiotic.
But is this what you need to get better?
Chances are, it is not. Most cases of acute sinusitis are caused by viruses, not bacteria, and taking an antibiotic does nothing more than enrich the pharmaceutical companies and increase the chances of being infected with drug-resistant bacteria....
............
By JANE E. BRODY
You've had a cold for five to seven days and thought you were getting better. Then it grew worse. More congestion, increasing fatigue and now headache or facial pain around your nose or eyes or upper teeth. You guessed it was a sinus infection.
Depending on the severity of the symptoms, the doctor's examination and inclinations about treatment, you may be prescribed an antibiotic.
But is this what you need to get better?
Chances are, it is not. Most cases of acute sinusitis are caused by viruses, not bacteria, and taking an antibiotic does nothing more than enrich the pharmaceutical companies and increase the chances of being infected with drug-resistant bacteria....
............
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Obitury : Hans Bethe, Father of Nuclear Astrophysics
Hans Bethe, Father of Nuclear Astrophysics, Dies at 98:
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Hans Bethe, who discovered the violent force behind sunlight, helped devise the atom bomb and eventually cried out against the military excesses of the cold war, died late Sunday. He was 98, among the last of the giants who inaugurated the nuclear age.
His death was announced by Cornell University, where he worked and taught for 70 years. A spokesman said he died quietly at home.
Except for the war years at Los Alamos, N.M., Dr. Bethe lived in Ithaca, N.Y., an unpretentious man of uncommon gifts. His students called him Hans and admired his muddy shoes as much as his explaining how certain kinds of stars shine. For number crunching, in lieu of calculators, he relied on a slide rule, its case battered. 'For the things I do,' he remarked a few years ago, 'it's accurate enough.'......
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By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Hans Bethe, who discovered the violent force behind sunlight, helped devise the atom bomb and eventually cried out against the military excesses of the cold war, died late Sunday. He was 98, among the last of the giants who inaugurated the nuclear age.
His death was announced by Cornell University, where he worked and taught for 70 years. A spokesman said he died quietly at home.
Except for the war years at Los Alamos, N.M., Dr. Bethe lived in Ithaca, N.Y., an unpretentious man of uncommon gifts. His students called him Hans and admired his muddy shoes as much as his explaining how certain kinds of stars shine. For number crunching, in lieu of calculators, he relied on a slide rule, its case battered. 'For the things I do,' he remarked a few years ago, 'it's accurate enough.'......
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