Clearinghouse Update
From time to time we update our readers on situations which have been described in our Newsletter. In our last issue Irma Jarcho reviewed Richard Rhodes' Deadly Feasts: Tracking the Secrets of a Terrifying New Plague. The plagues in question are those caused by prions, for the discovery of which Dr. Stanley B. Prusiner was subsequently awarded the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
PCBs still a Problem on the Hudson
The "Clearinghouse Update" column in our Winter 1991 issue reported that the 15-year impasse over disposing of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) dumped by General Electric into the Hudson River would "continue at least another 18 months." Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt's criticism of General Electric that 200 miles of the Hudson River are still contaminated with PCBs, reported in the 26 September 1997 issue of The New York Times, tells us that those 18 months have extended to at least seven years. The following day, National Public Radio station WNYC in New York City reported that Brian Bush, a scientist with the New York State Health Department whose findings that PCBs have become airborne are not popular with the administration of New York Governor George Pataki, has been reassigned.
Thalidomide Closer to Approval for Leprosy
In her "Observations" column in our Winter 1996 issue, Irma Jarcho noted accumulating anecdotal evidence that birth defect-inducing thalidomide was effective in treating leprosy, tuberculosis, and the wasting syndrome of AIDS. The 23 September 1997 issue of The New York Times reported Food and Drug Administration intention to approve thalidomide to treat leprosy provided that the manufacturer could keep the drug away from potentially pregnant women.
A New Way to Detect Explosives at Airports
Infusion Tip #2 of our Fall 1989 issue concerned the tradeoff between detecting bombs in luggage and false alarms. Following the report of a biological method to detect explosives in our last issue of "Clearinghouse Update" comes yet another way to screen airline passengers for them. According to the November 1997 issue of Popular Science, this system blows air over a passenger's body for 12 seconds, then ionizes the debris thus captured and identifies it with ion trap mobility spectrometry. Concentrations of explosives as low as 4 ppt are detectable.
HDTV may not all be HD
The same issue (November 1997) of Popular Science also contains an updating article on HDTV (High Definition TeleVision), whose evolution was described on page 13 of our Sprint 1997 issue. The new television will be digital and will have a 16:9 aspect ratio rather than the present 4:3, but it will probably not all be high definition (1080 lines).
Finding Chlorine Substitutes
Citing the attention given to the role of chlorine, our Spring 1995 issue devoted an entire article to this element. The 29 September 1997 issue of Chemical & Engineering News reports that many papermaking companies have not taken one of two steps to reduce dioxin levels in their effluent: replacing chlorine bleach with either chlorine oxide (elemental chlorine free) or oxygen or hydrogen peroxide (totally chlorine free).
More on Nuclear Waste Cleanup
Following the second installment of "Whither America's Nuclear Waste?" in our Fall 1997 issue was a symposium held at the American Chemical Society meeting in Las Vegas, NV, at which many chemical processes to clean up the wastes accumulated at America's nuclear weapons plants were reported. According to the 29 September 1997 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, supercritical carbon dioxide is an excellent uranium extractor, silicotitanates selectively sop up cesium (Cs-137 is a significant fission product), and distillation can be used to separate sodium and potassium salts from oxides of actinides. Another new tack proving to be promising is extraction of nonradioactive wastes, leaving the radioactive wastes behind as residue.
Hurd clarifies definition of "scientific literacy"
The editorial in our Fall 1996 issue asked the question, "Are we all using the same definition of scientific literacy?" The occasion for this editorial was the apparent distinction in the definition of "scientific literacy" used by the elementary principals interviewed for the 1966 Bayer Study and that used by the human resource directors interviewed for the same study: the elementary principals appeared to interpret "scientific literacy" in terms of science content learned, while the human resource directors interpreted "scientific literacy" in terms of real-world problem solving and critical thinking.
Paul deHart Hurd's Commentary in the 12 November 1997 issue of Education Week clearly indicates that the original coiner of the term "scientific literacy" (Educational Leadership, 16(1), 13-16 (Oct 58)) sides with the human resource directors in the Bayer Study. Hurd states that the "new interpretation of what is meant by scientific literacy . . . is one of developing higher-level thinking skills, such as decisionmaking, forming judgments, and resolving problems." He also goes on to say that "Congress has made it clear (HR 4078, 1992; HR 2884, 1994) that it expects all school subjects to be connected to today's workplace . . . not in the sense of job training . . . by contrast, at the cognitive level of problem-solving, decisionmaking, and cooperative learning for whatever the job."
But Hurd is not the only science educator to share this vision. As reported in our Fall 1997 issue, the three top needs cited in a survey of physics graduates in their careers are interpersonal, communications, and real problem solving skills. And according to the Fall 1997 issue of enc UPDATE (newsletter of the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse), science teacher Nick Frankovits' involvement of his science students in solving real-world problems led in 1991 to the founding of the Partnership for America's Future, Inc. The Partnership currently has a list of 82 real-world problems waiting for solution. If you would like to involve your students in solving them, you can obtain information about joining the Partnership by contacting Partnership for America's Future, Inc., 80 W. Bowery St., Suite 305, Akron, OH 44308-1148, (330)-376-8300, FAX: (330)-376-0566, e-mail: PAFINC@akronet.com date: 23 October 1997
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