APS - What's New by Bob Park - Friday, October 31, 2003

1. MICROGRAVITY: LEAKED "WHITE PAPER" FINDS "VOODOO SCIENCE."
In an internal critique of human life sciences research on the
International Space Station, Lawrence Kuznetz, a professor at the
Baylor College of Medicine and a senior research manager for a NASA
academic consortium, describes human health experiments as "pitiful"
and "voodoo science not worth the cost." He finds that "few if any
of the experiments have valid controls...The line between real and
wishful science is continually being blurred." He saw no progress in
finding "countermeasures" against health problems. The paper was
posted on the web just days before Congressional hearings began on
the ISS. With Shuttle transport grounded, malfunctioning air, water
and radiation monitors on the ISS can't be replaced. Those in
Congress who pushed for the ISS talk in terms of "protecting our
investment," while others just want to know how we're going to bring
it down.

2. MICRO-IMPORTANCE: PROTEIN-CRYSTAL-GROWTH IN MICROGRAVITY.
In a review conducted at NASA's request, the National Research
Council concluded on Mar 1, 2000 that,"The enormous investment in
protein crystal growth on the shuttle and Mir has not led to a
single unique result." On Wednesday, in a Senate Commerce and
Science Committee hearing, an obscure physicist testified that a
crystal, allegedly grown in space, was found to have been grown in
Australia (WN 21 Feb 03). In spite of the NRC finding and this fraud,
a former astronaut continued to fly protein crystal growth
experiments on the shuttle, including the final Columbia mission, and
is listed on research planned for the ISS. "And they still haven't
grown one crystal that hasn't been grown on Earth?" Sen. Bill Nelson (
D-FL) asked. "Not one," the physicist replied. http://commerce.
senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=979

APS - What's New by Bob Park - Friday, October 31, 2003

1. MICROGRAVITY: LEAKED "WHITE PAPER" FINDS "VOODOO SCIENCE."
In an internal critique of human life sciences research on the International
Space Station, Lawrence Kuznetz, a professor at the Baylor College of
Medicine and a senior research manager for a NASA academic consortium,
describes human health experiments as "pitiful" and "voodoo science not
worth the cost." He finds that "few if any of the experiments have valid
controls...The line between real and wishful science is continually being
blurred." He saw no progress in finding "countermeasures" against health
problems. The paper was posted on the web just days before Congressional
hearings began on the ISS. With Shuttle transport grounded, malfunctioning
air, water and radiation monitors on the ISS can't be replaced. Those in
Congress who pushed for the ISS talk in terms of "protecting our
investment," while others just want to know how we're going to bring it
down.

The June 1996 "Scientific American" contains an article about the
International Space Station (what was Space Station Freedom).
It will be a FUBAR of governmental proportions and expense. And it WILL
be coming down. Oh yes, have no doubt about that, at meteoric
velocities.
Uncle Al, rec.org.mensa, 27 May 1996.