The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked to global warming. The scientist, James E. Hansen, longtime director of the agency’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in an interview that officials at NASA headquarters had ordered the public affairs staff to review his coming lectures, papers, postings on the Goddard Web site and requests for interviews from journalists. Dr. Hansen said he would ignore the restrictions. “They feel their job is to be this censor of information going out to the public,” he said. Dean Acosta, deputy assistant administrator for public affairs at the space agency, said there was no effort to silence Dr. Hansen. “That’s not the way we operate here at NASA,” Mr. Acosta said. “We promote openness and we speak with the facts.” He said the restrictions on Dr. Hansen applied to all National Aeronautics and Space Administration personnel. He added that government scientists were free to discuss scientific findings, but that policy statements should be left to policy makers and appointed spokesmen. Mr. […]
TORONTO — When it comes to romance, women prefer someone who tickles their funny bone while men opt for those who catch their eye, according to an international survey released on Wednesday. The survey, conducted in 16 countries by Canadian romance publisher Harlequin Enterprises, asked men and women on six continents about traits they liked or disliked and how they went about trying to meet Mr. or Ms. Right. The poll revealed differences between countries in the way people tried to impress the opposite sex. Australians and British men frequently admitted drinking too much, while about half of German and Italian men said they had lied about their finances. Spaniards were the most likely to use sex to catch someone’s attention. Eighty percent of Brazilian and Mexican men said they had lied about their marital or relationship status, as did 70 percent of German women, the survey said. When it came to meeting that special someone, a majority of respondents preferred to rely on friends for introductions. The Internet was not a popular hunting ground except in Portugal, where about half the surveyed men and women opted to find people online. Both Spain and […]
An inhaled form of insulin won federal approval yesterday, offering the first alternative to injections for millions of people with diabetes since the drug was introduced in the 1920’s. The new inhaler could offer more convenience and less pain for many of the roughly five million Americans already using insulin, diabetes experts say. Analysts predict that the therapy, called Exubera and sold by Pfizer, will be popular, with worldwide sales of as much as $2 billion a year by 2010. Pfizer said it planned to begin selling Exubera this summer. But some doctors say they are concerned that Exubera’s risks to the lungs have not been properly tested, especially because Exubera works no better than injected insulin at controlling blood sugar. In clinical trials, Exubera caused a slight reduction in patients’ ability to breathe. The Food and Drug Administration is recommending that patients have their lung function checked before starting Exubera and every 6 to 12 months afterward. Assuming Exubera proves safe for long-term use, the therapy could have a big impact on public health by overcoming the reluctance of some Type 2 diabetics to use insulin. Insulin is the most reliable method of controlling […]
Nearly five months after Hurricane Katrina swamped New Orleans, President Bush’s lofty promises to rebuild the Gulf Coast have been frustrated by bureaucratic failures and competing priorities, a review of events since the hurricane shows. While the administration can claim some clear progress, Bush’s ringing call from New Orleans’s Jackson Square on Sept. 15 to “do what it takes” to make the city rise from the waters has not been matched by action, critics at multiple levels of government say, resulting in a record that is largely incomplete as Bush heads into next week’s State of the Union address. The problems include the slow federal cleanup of debris in Mississippi and Louisiana; a lack of authority for Bush’s handpicked recovery coordinator, Donald E. Powell; the shortage and poor quality of housing for evacuees; and federal restrictions on reconstruction money and where coastal communities can rebuild. Burning questions remain With the onset of the hurricane season just four months away, there is no agreement on how to rebuild New Orleans, how to pay for that effort or even who is leading the cross-governmental partnership, according to elected leaders. While there is money to restore the city’s flood defenses […]
LONDON — Consuming a diet rich in fruits and vegetables may significantly reduce the risk of stroke, researchers here reported. A meta-analysis of eight studies with data from more than 250,000 adults, reported in the Jan. 28 issue of The Lancet, found that people who ate more than five servings of fruits and vegetables daily reduced their stroke risk by 26% (95% CI: 21-31%) compared with people who ate less than three servings of fruits and vegetables daily. This welcome news comes at the end of week in which two popular icons of healthy eating — soy protein and omega-3 fatty acids — failed to prove their preventive claims. A scientific statement from the American Heart Association said soy protein and isoflavones have no significant benefit for LDL, HDL, and triglycerides. Nor, the AHA said, does soy protein lower blood pressure. Omega-3 fatty acids, meanwhile, don’t reduce the risk of cancer in humans, according to a study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, although no one attacked their heart-healthy credentials. But the well-worn admonition to eat your vegetables once again proved to be solid advice, according to Feng He, Ph.D., and colleagues […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
