Skeptical Inquirer Electronic Digest 7-30-99
SkeptInq@aol.com
Fri, 30 Jul 1999 13:24:37 EDT
Skeptical Inquirer Electronic Digest 7-30-99
Visit the CSICOP and Skeptical Inquirer Magazine website at
http://www.csicop.org. Receiving over 200,000 hits per year, the CSICOP site
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In this week's SIDIGEST:
--Send your Comments Regarding "Signs from God" to Fox
--Second Bio on Sagan Due in October
--ABC News Nightline Primetime Delights with "Brave New World" Series
--Satire on Kennedy Coincidences and Conspiracy
--FTC Cracks Down on Internet Pharmacies
SEND YOUR COMMENTS REGARDING "SIGNS FROM GOD" TO FOX
Calling all skeptics, rationalists, and defenders of science and education.
Let's let Fox Television know that we are fed up with exploitative and
uncritical presentations of the paranormal and the pseudoscientific. Urge
Fox for improved depictions of science instead of ratings-grabbing
sensationalism.
Send comments regarding the Wednesday, July 28 "Signs from God" two-hour
special to askfox@foxinc.com. For the CSICOP response to the show go to:
http://www.csicop.org/articles/19990729-signs-from-god/
Here's what Jere Lipps, Professor of Integrative Biology at UC-Berkeley had
to say to Fox about their programming choice. As Lipps points out, so much
can be accomplished through smart, science-based television examinations of
the paranormal. Lipps cites the recent ABC John Stossel special. Other
examples include Candle-in-the-Dark Award winner PBS' Scientific American
Frontiers: Beyond Science, and the excellent BBC/Discovery Science Mystery
series now running monthly on the Discovery Channel :
Dear Fox:
God, that was awful!! It was a pretty low presentation, so I hope your
ratings were worth it. A sort of National Inquirer of the airwaves. All
that pure balony cannot be good for the public. You should at least run a
little title at the bottom next to your logo that this is "fiction, not based
on reality or any evidence."
Why not try a good program where these kinds of things are dealt with in a
rational, even scientific, fashion. I can tell you, as ABC's John Stossel
can too, that this approach is well received by viewers. It does require
that a producer have some smarts and concern for his/her audience, however.
But some of us would be most willing to help out, for the sake of America's
literacy.
I point out that surveys (1996, 1997) by the National Research Council
showed that 70% of adult Americans were fascinated and interested in science
and scientific discoveries. Now that is an un-tapped market that
some smart TV guy is going to capitalize on one of these days! Could be
you!!
Sincerely,
Jere H. Lipps, Professor & Curator
Department of Integrative Biology
SECOND BIO ON SAGAN DUE IN OCTOBER
A few weeks ago we told you about an upcoming bio on Carl Sagan by Keay
Davidson titled _Sagan: A Life_. Now we hear that another bio will also be
available in October.
Carl Sagan : A Life in the Cosmos
by William Poundstone (Illustrator)
Hardcover - 560 pages (October 1999)
Henry Holt & Company, Inc.; ISBN: 0805057668
This item will be published in October 1999.
Book Description
The first biography of the best-known scientist of his generation and
the author of the best-seller Cosmos.
In this, the first full-scale examination of the life of Carl Sagan,
award-winning science writer William Poundstone details the transformation of
a bookish young astronomer obsessed with life on other worlds into science's
first authentic media superstar. As a fixture on television and a bestselling
author, Sagan became instantly recognizable. To people around the world, he
offered entre into the
mysteries of the cosmos and of science in general. To much of the scientific
community, though, he was something of a pariah, a brazen publicity seeker
who cared more about his image and his fortune than the advancement of
science. Poundstone reveals the seldom-discussed aspects of Sagan's life, the
legitimate and important work of his early scientific career, the almost
obsessive capacity to take on endless projects, the multiple marriages and
fractured tumultuous personal
life-all essential elements of this complicated and extraordinary man, truly
the first and most famous scientist of the media age.
About the Author
William Poundstone has been twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Among
his seven books are The Recursive Universe, Labyrinths of Reason, and Big
Secrets. He has also written extensively for network television and major
magazines. He lives in Los Angeles.
ABC NIGHTLINE PRIMETIME DELIGHTS WITH "BRAVE NEW WORLD" SERIES
I saw parts of the first episode last night and this series promises to be
outstanding. A real gem of science-based, thought provoking network
television. It would be difficult to imagine anything else from Ted Koppel
and Nightline.
--MN
O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in’t!
— Miranda, Act V of
Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”
ABCNEWS’ Nightline returns to the prime-time lineup this summer with an
eight-part series, Brave New World, anchored by Ted Koppel and reported
by Robert Krulwich.
Nightline in Primetime: Brave New World explores how the fabric of our
world is changing in the most fundamental ways. The series will air on eight
consecutive Thursdays, from 10-11 p.m. ET, on ABC beginning July 29.
What’s it all about? Eight stories that describe fundamental changes going
on right under our noses — if we’d only pause to notice — stories that are
already transforming the nature of families, our relationship with machines,
human reproduction.
In the process, Krulwich experiments with traditional ways of telling news
on television, bringing together a variety of artists, scholars and
performers (including the series’ own “house band,” They Might Be Giants) to
explore complex issues of the human spirit.
Krulwich joins with Professor Stephen Jay Gould of Harvard University,
choreographer Bill T. Jones, a variety of robots, animators, Jane Curtin,
Buck Henry and Buster Keaton and many others to examine eight extraordinary
stories.
Nightline in Primetime: Brave New World tells the following eight stories
over eight weeks:
The Brave New World Broadcasts
THURSDAY, JULY 29 (10-11 p.m. ET)
“Wired for Speed” — What is it about speed that is so attractive? This
broadcast looks at how machines are speeding up the pace of life. Can we,
will we, could we ever slow down? In this program, Robert Krulwich explores
the tempo of human life with Michael Malone, editor of Forbes ASAP magazine.
The program also features:
Silicon Valley pioneer Regis McKenna; Performance artist David Pleasant;
They Might Be Giants, performing “You’re Older Than You Were Before And Now
You’re Even Older”; Silent screen actor/director Buster Keaton having a
multi-task lunch; The cartoons of New Yorker magazine cartoonist Bill Steig;
Philosopher Jacob Needleman; Mary, the short-order cook; Video artists Josh
and Adam, in the role of brain cells in Mary’s brain.
THURSDAY, AUG. 5 (10-11 p.m. ET)
“Man and Machine” — We are putting more and more machines in our bodies,
artificial knees, kidneys, retinas ... what happens when machines enter the
brain? What happens when people and their machines become one? Robert
Krulwich and computer guru (and Disney fellow) Danny Hillis discuss these
questions. The program also features:
Choreographer Bill T. Jones teams up with digital artists to create
“Ghostcatching,” a dance that lives entirely in a computer; They Might Be
Giants in a man vs. machine duel with a drum-playing robot from MIT; The
eerie and beautiful robotic sculptures of Alan Rath; A squad of
rocket-bearing penguins from filmmaker Tim Burton; Computer pioneer and
inventor Ray Kurzweil, author of The Age of Spiritual Machines.
THURSDAY, AUG. 12 (10-11 p.m. ET)
“What is Family?” — There are so many ways now to create a family ... what
makes a family a family? Robert Krulwich visits the home of Doug and Jan
VanDrie in Grand Rapids, Mich. Doug is an obstetrician and Jan is a trained
nurse working for an adoption agency. Over the years, Jan has developed a
habit: When she sees children available for adoption lingering in the files
month after month and no one taking them, she wonders how they might do in
her home. The VanDries now have 14 children from all over the world,
including Brazil, Korea, the Philippines,
Bangladesh, an African-American boy from Texas and three biological
children. This broadcast tells the story of one couple transforming a group
of children from different places, different biological parents, arriving at
different ages with different languages, into a family.
THURSDAY, AUG. 19 (10-11 p.m. ET)
“Why Not Clone a Human?” — Robert Krulwich talks with Princeton University’s
Lee Silver about cloning in a broadcast that features:
Stephen Jay Gould of Harvard University discussing Siamese twins;
Jane Curtin and Buck Henry in the role of evil parents;
Video artists Josh and Adam explaining how to clone sheep DNA;
Plus, the Jody Oberfelder Dance Project performing a dancing baby ballet,
“Rock Me Mama”; And, the photographs of American artist Roni Horn.
THURSDAY, AUG. 26 (10-11 p.m. ET)
“The Sixth Extinction?” — Creatures, big and small, are disappearing at an
alarming rate. Yes, that has happened five times before, when the Earth was
hit by an incoming rock or a sudden climate change. But this time, since
humans are doing the damage, and humans — unlike meteors — can think, maybe
this time humans can live through a mass extinction, maybe even prosper?
Robert Krulwich talks with paleontologist David Jablonski of the University
of Chicago and The Field Museum. The program also features:
The story of a bird long believed to be extinct: The Cahow, which
disappeared 350 years ago, and a little boy who had a hunch the bird was
still out there, somewhere … Jazz musician and roach exterminator Jason
“Jewell” Noon; David Quammen, author, adventurer and extinction buff; They
Might Be Giants celebrate the greatest weed on Earth: Us; Video artists Josh
and Adam show what happens when there are too many of us: An essay on
population growth.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 2 (10-11 p.m. ET)
“Looking for Life” — Suppose we do find life in our solar system? Most
probably it won’t be a big, green, scary movie alien, but a little microbe in
a rock. What’s the big deal? What kind of conversation can you have with a
microbe? A very interesting one, we think. Robert Krulwich talks with Neil
Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium at New York’s American Museum of
Natural History. The program also features: Photographs of imaginary tourists
on the moon by Yoshio Itagaki; The puppets of Theodora Skipitaris bring
Fermi’s Paradox to life;
A Voltaire short story turned into a comic book adventure: “Micromegas: a
122,000-foot-tall space adventurer”; They Might Be Giants performing the
ballad of a true-life story: The human cold germ that went to the moon and
lived to tell the tale.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 9 (10-11 p.m. ET)
“Hope: A Case Study” — What happens when very smart, cutting-edge
scientists face an ordinary, garden-variety family tragedy… What’s more
important: A big brain or a big heart? Robert Krulwich reports on:
Two brain surgeons — husband and wife — in New York City who deal daily with
dramatic, high-risk patients; both try to be top-flight surgeons,
cutting-edge researchers, teachers, with time left for their two little girls
and rigorous exercise. And while they hope to have it all … if anything goes
wrong, they can’t;
Two accomplished scientists, both experts on the brain, who happen
to have brain-damaged children. Yes, they know more than most parents in
their situation; but does knowing more help?
THURSDAY, SEPT. 16 (10-11 p.m. ET)
“Beyond Atoms” — Atoms are small, but quarks are smaller. And now, even
smaller than quarks, a new notion of what everything in the universe is made
of: Dancing, vibrating, pulsating “strings.” A musical tribute to the New
Physics, featuring Robert Krulwich’s conversation with Professor Brian
Greene, author of The Elegant Universe. Also featured:
The Emerson String Quartet perform Beethoven and Bach to bring the musical
metaphors of String Theory alive; They Might Be Giants explore particle
physics;
Video artists Josh and Adam on everything you ever wanted to know about
general relativity and quantum mechanics.
Tom Bettag is the executive producer of the Nightline in Primetime:
Brave New World series. Ted Koppel is the anchor.
SATIRE ON KENNEDY CONSEQUENCES AND CONSPIRACY
San Jose Mercury news editor Charles Lindsey, who attended and reported on
the 1998 World Skeptics Congress in Heidelberg, Germany, recently wrote the
following satire on Kennedy conspiracy and coincidence notions. Check it out
at:
http://www.sjmercury.com/opinion/perspective/docs/conspiracy25.htm
FTC CRACKS DOWN ON WEB PHARMACIES
A couple news articles of note on the issue of health claims and the
Internet. This time its prescription drugs. The postings are from the
Benton Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides educational
materials and information on technology and communication policy. Fantastic
daily udpates on tech and comm news. Sign-up for their e-mail list at
www.benton.org
FTC Wants Online Pharmacies Watched
Issue: Health/Internet Regulation
The Federal Trade Commission has urged Congress to pass laws that would
force Internet prescription sites to disclose more information about their
business and their doctors. The FTC hopes that greater disclosure will help
state governments in monitoring the activities of Internet sites that sell
prescription drugs. "The real challenge lies in dealing with the logistical
difficulties of identifying responsible parties and enforcing laws across
states boundaries," said Jodie Bernstein, director of the FTC's Bureau of
Consumer Protection. The FTC recommends that sites should contain the name,
address and phone number of the pharmacy that will dispense the drugs and
where that pharmacy is licensed to do business.
[SOURCE: New York Times (Online), AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/review/crg212.htm)
FTC ENFORCER AGGRESSIVELY TARGETS FRAUD IN THE POINT-AND-CLICK WORLD
Issue: Internet Regulation
Jodie Bernstein, director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of
Consumer Protection is expected to tell Congress today that legislation is
needed to require online pharmacies to post their credentials. FTC officials
believe that would help curb the growth of unauthorized drug sales. Over the
past five years, Bernstein's team of lawyers has pursued more than 90
Internet-related enforcement actions. Bernstein says that most are
get-rich-quick pyramid schemes or miracle weight-loss drugs. So far this
year, the FTC has taken on the big guys like Wal-Mart and Burlington Coat
Factory for allegedly mislabeling clothing in their online catalogs. The FTC
charged Liberty Financial's "Young Investor" Web site with falsely promising
confidentiality to children who filled out a survey. Dell Computer and
Micron Electronics were charged with placing misleading leasing
advertisements on Web sites, including "inconspicuous or unreadable fine
print." All of these companies have reached consent agreements with the FTC,
agreeing to stop the alleged activity.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: John Simons]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB933288100406749076.htm)
___________________________
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