Recommended Resources Fall 1999
RECOMMENDED SCIENCE AND SOCIETY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
1. David Voss, "'New Physics' Finds a Haven At the Patent Office," Science, 284, 1252-1254 (21 May 1999).
Pseudoscientists may call it "new" physics, but it fails to pass the tests of "old" physics. Yet under its guise patents are being issued, and one patent examiner is in open sympathy with it. Though "Patents are nothing more than 'a legal right to exclude others from using or profiting from an invention,'" they are also enabling pseudoscientists to raise huge sums of venture capital. (For more information, see Clearinghouse Update, this issue.)
2. International Institute for Sustainable Development, "Sustainable Development Timeline," available from The Ecological Society of America, 2010 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036-1023, (202)-833-8773; FAX: (202)-833-8775, e-mail: esaq@esa.org, web: http://esa.sdsc.edu/
This is a poster listing important events in the study of sustainable development from the 1960s to 1997. Included are listings of "Reports and Publications," "International Meetings and Agreements," "Public Awareness," and "Institution Building." The first item listed is the 1962 publication of Silent Spring; the last is a mention of the Fourth World Conference on Women at Beijing and the Signing of the Kyoto Protocol.
The Ecological Society of America offers a large variety of other articles, pamphlets, and posters of value to K-12 teachers, among them the following: "Education Resources at the Ecological Society of America," "Global Climate Change," "Coral Reefs," "Ecological Research Benefits Case Study No. 1: The Hantavirus," "Ecological Research Benefits Case Study No. 2: Lyme Disease," "Invasion!" (brochure on invasive species), "Human Alteration of the Global Nitrogen Cycle: Causes and Consequences," "Issues in Ecology: Non Point Source Pollution of Surface Waters," and "What Does Ecology Have to Do With Me?" Contact Susan Musante, Education and Outreach Program Manager of the Society for whichever publications are of interest to you.
3. Michael J. Passow, "Helping Students Become Earth Science-Wise," STANYS Science Teachers Bulletin (Spring 1999).
This is an excellent guide by our Earth Sciences Correspondent for teachers who want to guide their students to greater competency in the earth sciences. Starting with a few examples of the general level of ignorance -- Bella Abzug saying "I don't know anything about nuclear energy but I'm against it!" and an unnamed Congressman who, during a discussion of water quality insisted water quality should not be restored to a pH of 7 ("Why not 0?") -- Passow emphasizes that until recently biology, chemistry, and physics were considered the only valid sciences for high school, with earth science relegated to geography. But in the last decades knowledge about our Earth has proliferated -- the oceans, the mountains, plate tectonics, and meteorology.
4. David Malakoff, "DOE to Review Nuclear Grant," Science, 285, 505-506 (23 Jul 99).
The U.S. Department of Energy almost awarded a grant for a research project held to be equivalent to cold fusion. The applicant, a nuclear engineer from the University of Illinois, claimed that exothermic nuclear reactions resulted from exposing films of nickel, palladium, and titanium "highly loaded with protons" to electric fields. He alleges that the basis for these reactions is "'a swimming electron theory,' which suggests that high electron densities on the film can aid nuclear reactions."
5. Discovering Archeology, 1205 N. Oregon St., El Paso, TX 79902, (915)-533-8503, FAX: (915)-544-9276.
Although archeology does not really fall within the purview of this Newsletter, this is an exciting new journal that began publishing bimonthly in January 1999. Articles range worldwide, are profusely and beautifully illustrated, and cover everything from prehistory to modern archeological digs. The following selection of titles illustrates this variety: "Cleopatra's Sunken Palace," "The Archeology of Childhood," "Human Sacrifice in Iron Age Europe," "Violence in the Prehistoric Southwest," "Witchcraft," and "The Artistic Soul of Greece."
6. The Science Teacher, 66(1) (Jan 99).
This entire issue is devoted to analysis and opinion of the results of the Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS).
7. Paul R. Epstein, "Climate and Health," Science, 285, 347-348 (16 Jul 99).
This article points up public health consequences of extreme weather events that have befallen planet Earth and urges us to use what we have learned about the relationship between extreme weather and outbreaks of disease to be more foresighted.
8. Ed Ayres, "Why Are We Not Astonished?" World.Watch (May/Jun 99).
The Editor of World.Watch likens our inaction in the face of crises of climate, biodiversity, resources, and population to the inaction of Australian Aborigines when Captain Cook landed -- "where there are no familiar conditions, there may be no galvanizing shocks." In this essay adapted from Ayres' new book, God's Last Offer: Negotiating for a Sustainable Future, he points up our obsession with entertainment and our technological disconnection from our environment and writes, "Today's average upper-middle class college grad, when you strip away what he knows about entertainment and technology, has a medieval understanding of the world. That understanding won't get us through the next century."
9. David Saphire, Getting an "A' at LUNCH: Smart Strategies to Reduce Waste in Campus Dining (Inform, 120 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005-4001, (212)-361-4200, FAX: (212)-361-2412, http://www.informinc.org, 1998). 26 pp.
This short booklet details ways that food service directors, auxiliary services, trade associations and food service contractors, and students can reduce waste in the course of the preparation and consumption of food. The "guts" are found in the third and fourth chapters: "Preventing Food Waste" and "Preventing Food-Related Waste." Many of the ideas, such as using reusable rather than disposable materials to transport and eat food, and composting wastes, are familiar to those familiar with ways to reduce the solid waste stream in general. But other suggestions are aimed at reducing waste in the preparation of food, waste from food cooked but not served, and waste from diners' plates. And did you know that the University of Michigan reduced the average number of napkins used from 3.3 to 1.4 by moving the napkin dispensers to dining tables? A special box highlights the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (1996), and a full set of references is included.
10. Fred C. Smith and Brant Abrahamson, Calendars and Thinking Logically (The Teachers Press, 3731 Madison Ave., Brookfield, IL 60513, (708)-485-5983, FAX: (708)-387-7057, http://www.angelfire.com/biz/tchpr, 1999). $2 to cover printing and shipping for any interested teacher.
This booklet details the keeping of time through the ages, the origin of the various calendars at various points in history, and why modifications became necessary. It contains a six-page student text and a 14-page annotated teacher's guide.
11. Ralph W. F. Hardy and Jane Baker Segelken (eds.), Agricultural Biotechnology and Environmental Quality: Gene Escape and Pest Resistance (National Agricultural Biotechnology Council/Boyce Thompson Institute, 419 Boyce Thompson Institute Tower Road, Ithaca, NY 14853, 1998). ISBN 0-9730907-6-3. 168 pp. first copy free, additional copies $5.
The National Agricultural Biotechnology Council was established in 1988 "to promote dialog on the emerging issues of agricultural biotechnology." This report is the tenth in an annual series reporting on various aspects of what is today a hotly-contested issue -- the genetic modification of food crops to increase their yield, as discussed in the article, "The Plant Revolution," in this issue. This report contains the proceedings of a conference on gene escape and pest resistance. Are genes introduced into crop plants escaping to wild relatives of the crops or to weeds? Are pests becoming resistant to the pesticidal transgenes in the crops which allow them to produce their own pesticides? Some of the included papers favor genetic modification, while others oppose it. Among the recommendations of the conference were 1) enhancing basic research to prevent gene escape, 2) developing better monitoring techniques, 3) including sociological and value considerations in biotechnology development, as is done in The Genome Project, and 4) imposing penalties for growers who do not comply with regulations. Given the enormous expansion of genetically modified crops -- nearly 70 million acres planted primarily in the United States, Canada, and Japan -- it would appear to be too late to turn back the clock.
12. Ralph W. F. Hardy and Jane Baker Segelken (eds.), Agricultural Biotechnology: Novel Products and New Partnerships (National Agricultural Biotechnology Council/Boyce Thompson Institute, 419 Boyce Thompson Institute Tower Road, Ithaca, NY 14853, 1996). ISBN 0-9630907-6-3. 164 pp. first copy free, additional copies $5.
Like other NABC reports, this eighth in their series presents the findings of a conference on the topics in the title. Topics presented at the plenary lectures included plant cell culture, crop biotechnology in the service of medical and veterinary science, and protein production in transgenic animals. The workshop reports included analyses of the food industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and the links between the environment and the energy industry. Keynote addresses on "Biotechnology: Catalyst for Change in Agriculture" and "Novel Crops and Other Transgenics: How Green Are They?" round out the volume.
13. Kendrick Taylor, "Rapid Climate Change," Am. Sci., 87(4), 320-327 (Jul-Aug 99).
Taylor explains how the temperature records in both air and ocean can be inferred from isotopic abundance ratios and relays his experience in analyzing these records to show abrupt changes in temperature (as much as five degrees Celsius in 20 years). He explains this rapidity in climate change not from greenhouse gas emissions per se but rather in the ability of greenhouse gases to trigger a change of mode of ocean circulation. Shifting to one of the other two modes in the North Atlantic would take away the warming effect of the Gulf Stream.
14. Bette Hileman, "Case Grows for Climate Change," C&E N, 77(32), 16-23 (9 Aug 99).
James Hansen and Jerry Mahlman continue to attribute much of the 0.7oC world temperature increase in the twentieth century to greenhouse gas emissions. This article cites evidence in 1) above average temperature increases in Alaska, which have warmed peat to the point of decay and becoming a carbon source rather than a sink; 2) breaking up of ice shelves (which don't increase sea level, because they float on the sea), reducing restraints on ice sheets (which would raise sea level when melted, because they exist over land); 3) coral bleaching and reduced calcification (also a danger to Caribbean countries which derive half their gross national product from reefs); 4) increased precipitation and humidity, coupled with an increase in low temperatures at twice the rate of increase in high temperatures; and 5) an increase in El Ni–o and other severe weather events. Although there is no "smoking gun" linking these climate changes with greenhouse gas emissions, the article also points out that adding the cooling effects of sulfate aerosols and fluctuations in solar irradiance to climate models in 1995 brought the twentieth century predictions of these models in line with actual observations. Although 1998 set a record in world temperature, it also saw reduction in fossil fuel use (1.4% U.S., 0.5% worldwide) while economies continued to grow (3.9% in U.S. gross domestic product, 2.5% worldwide).
15. Richard Monastersky, "Acclimating to a Warmer World," Sci. News, 156, 136-138 (28 Aug 99).
According to this article, meeting the goals of the Kyoto Protocol would reduce the world temperature increase of 2.5oF by 2050 by only 0.1oF. The next edition of "Impacts, Adaptations, and Mitigation of Climate Change," due next year from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, will focus a lot more on adaptations, though "mitigation, although hard to accomplish, actually poses a much simpler scientific problem than trying to assess how various regions and sectors of society might adapt to global warming." Although focusing on adaptation can be seen as a failure of mitigation, Monastersky looks upon it as a "broadening of paths."
16. Shirley J. Wright, "Human Embryonic Stem-Cell Research: Science and Ethics," Am. Sci., 87(4), 352-361 (Jul-Aug 99).
After describing what embryonic stem cells are, Wright distinguishes them from embryonic germ cells and explains why the latter may not be used in federally-funded research. Both the science and ethical considerations underlying this "hot" research topic are clearly delineated for nonexperts. Of special note is a photograph of human blastocysts, from which stem cells are extracted.
17. enc focus, 6(2), Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education, 1929 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1079, (800)-621-5785,
. free. This issue, focusing on "Inquiry and Problem Solving," describes many STS approaches to teaching science -- see especially pp. 18-31.
18. Bette Hileman, "EU, U.S. Clash Over Environmental Policies," C&E N, 77(24), 21-26 (14 Jun 99).
Although the United States and the European Community have broad agreement in several areas relating to the environment -- test requirements for pesticides, acid rain control (though the Europeans have controlled sulfur by switching from coal to natural gas, while the U.S. has switched from high-sulfur to low-sulfur coal), chemical testing, and the reduction of persistent bioaccumulative chemicals -- there are also areas of difference: enforcement, meeting the terms of the Kyoto Protocol, hormones to promote cattle growth, and genetically modified crops. The last is discussed more fully by Irma Jarcho in her story, "The Plant Revolution," in this issue.
19. Lois R. Ember, "Bioterrorism: combating the threat," C&E N, 77(27), 8-17 (5 Jul 99).
Although concern about bioterrorism has been heightened by President Clinton's reading The Cobra Event and "Catastrophic Terrorism" in the November-December 1998 issue of Foreign Affairs, this concern has been ongoing and regarded as dual to tracking emerging infectious diseases for the sake of public health. In fact, unless announced, an act of bioterrorism would be difficult to distinguish from an outbreak of infectious disease Ñ a Ògift that keeps on giving,Ó in contrast to the finiteness in space and time of the 1995 chemical attack by Aum Shinrikyo in the Tokyo subway. It is expected that groups are willing to be more reckless in acts of terrorism for ideological or religious purposes than for political gain. But Aum Shinrikyo's attempts (at least four) at bioterrorism before resorting to chemical attack all failed. This article describes measures the Clinton administration has taken to combat the threat of bioterrorism and presents criticisms of these measures.
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