A look at today’s science and health policy news:
Fermilab Cancels Layoffs
Science–Fermilab is canceling all impending involuntary layoffs, After President Bush signed a $186 billion bill to fund the war in Iraq that also provides money to Fermilab, the United States’s only dedicated particle physics lab.
McCain’s energy record is on/off
L.A. Times– Senator John McCain has swerved from one position to another over the years, taking often contradictory stances on the government’s role in energy policy.
Obama Voters Protest His Switch on Telecom Immunity
N.Y. Times–Senator Barack Obama’s decision to support legislation granting legal immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated with the Bush administration’s program of wiretapping without warrants has led to an intense backlash among some of his most ardent supporters.
Black Lawmakers Seek Restrictions on Menthol Cigarettes
N.Y. Times–The Congressional Black Caucus is calling for changes to a House tobacco-regulation bill, demanding that the legislation place restrictions on menthol cigarettes, the type heavily favored by African-American smokers.
Automakers say fuel-efficiency targets, timing are too tough
Reuters–The world’s biggest auto companies told the U.S. government Tuesday that its leading proposal to boost annual fuel-efficiency targets through the middle of the next decade is too aggressive.
For Hospice, A Higher Authority
Washington Post–Twenty-five years after Medicare began paying for hospice care, the federal health program has issued a new rule calling hospice providers to closer account on the quality of care they offer.
Nuclear Agency Weighs Attack Threat at Plants
N.Y. Times–The NRC has been dragged by a federal appeals court into a rare public discussion of the risks that terrorists could attack a nuclear plant.
Possible Flaws in State Plan to Rescue the Everglades
N.Y. Times–Florida’s proposed purchase of nearly 300 square miles of land for Everglades restoration moved forward this week when water managers who would oversee the property endorsed the state’s $1.75 billion offer.
Georgia Judge Cites Carbon Dioxide in Denying Coal Plant Permit
N.Y. Times–A judge in Georgia has thrown out an air pollution permit for a new coal-fired power plant because the permit did not set limits on carbon dioxide emissions.
Deal Is Struck in Montana to Preserve Forest Areas
N.Y. Times–A huge patchwork of privately owned forest in northwest Montana will be permanently protected from development by two private conservation groups, the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land.
Can the US get Beyond Einstein?
New Scientist–Unrealistic cost estimates could make an ambitious NASA space mission to study dark energy no better than ground-based projects, experts warn.
Science Education
N.Y. Times–Letter to the editor from Ellen Futter, the president of the American Museum of Natural History.
Not Winning the War on Drugs
N.Y. Times–Editorial on the war on drugs.
E-Vote: Generation Y Engages Politically With Web 2.0
Government Technology–Based on a survey of more than 2,200 Generation Y and baby boomer respondents in America’s top 10 cities, the report shows that 73 percent of Ys plan to vote in the November presidential election.
Message to U.S. Preceded Nuclear Declaration by North Korea
Washington Post–Just before delivering its long-awaited declaration on its plutonium-based nuclear programs, Pyongyang privately acknowledged the United States’ long-standing concerns about alleged uranium-enrichment activities and possible proliferation to Syria.
Groups Sue U.S. for Data On Tracking By Cellphone
Washington Post–Two civil liberties groups filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government yesterday, seeking records related to the government’s use of cellphones as tracking devices.
Energy experts puzzled over oil prices
A.P.–As crude soared to a new record, the head of the International Energy Agency declared that the world was in the grip of an “oil shock.”
Myriad Genetics Stops Work on Alzheimer’s Drug
N.Y. Times–A drug under development by Myriad Genetics to treat Alzheimer’s disease failed in a closely watched late-stage clinical trial.
Squid, Lobster Numbers Rise as Fish Fall Due to Warming
National Geographic News– Lobsters, crabs, squid, and other invertebrates are becoming more common while populations of bottom-feeding fish are plummeting, according to a long-term trawling study of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay.
and a bit of science…
Earth’s Core, Magnetic Field Changing Fast, Study Says
National Geographic News– Rapid changes in the churning movement of Earth’s liquid outer core are weakening the magnetic field in some regions of the planet’s surface, a new study says.
