Brain Candy #33 - What Chemists Like, Pt. 2

To begin, I highly recommend that you visit www.sciencenews.org, Science News Online. I've been fascinated lately by what I've read in Science News, a weekly news magazine written for the intelligent layman that I've subscribed to intermittently for years. There are many fundamental discoveries being made in science and medicine in the last year of the twentieth century that will greatly affect our future. Here are a few examples:

- The news about chocolate gets better and better; it will probably be marketed as a health food in the future, with the government's blessing, because it seems to actually be very good for you, at least when the good substances haven't been processed out.

- A major discovery has been made in the understanding of how many antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria protect themselves. There are already studies underway on how to best exploit weaknesses in the process that look very promising.

- Recently, a huge iceberg broke away from Antarctica's Ross Ice Sheet. It is 295 kilometers long by 37 kilometers wide, and is perhaps the largest iceberg ever observed.

- NASA scientists have a pretty clear idea of what probably happened to the Mars Polar Lander, but since the scenario is a bit detailed, you probably haven't heard all the facts about it.

Science News reported on all of these stories in the last few weeks, although your local newspaper may not have. The site doesn't present everything that is in the magazine, but some of the articles are presented in their entirety, while synopses of the others are available. References and sources are presented for all the articles. There are also online features that aren't in the paper magazine, like Math Trek, and Food for Thought. You can also buy the last five years of back issues on CD-ROM, subscribe to the spoken-word version of the magazine or visit the historical photographic archive. If you like science, you'll want to take a look at this site.

There is a group of mostly professional skeptics called the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal or CSICOP for short. This is the group that publishes the Skeptical Inquirer magazine, to which I've subscribed in the past. They have an interesting web site at www.csicop.org. What you think of CSICOP depends on your point of view. Some people think of them as a group of wet blankets, unwilling to open themselves to anything that isn't obvious to science. Others like them because CSICOP is very critical of the many unorthodox ideas that are circulating in society today. My personal opinion is that while CSICOP serves as a much needed counterbalance to a wide variety of strange ideas which pass for truth, they would probably also have debunked meteorites and gorillas before the amount of proof for both became too massive for science to ignore. Some of their members have a tendency to imply that a lack of proof is equivalent to disproof. There are also some areas where the reality of an overall phenomenon is considered to be negated by the method of discrediting individual cases. Also common is the view by some members that anything that can't be measured does not exist; a rather narrow view for scientific types. Still, most of their work is valuable; most Americans need to be more skeptical about what they read and watch, and should occasionally think critically about what they believe. The web site is interesting, especially the section on the Top Ten skeptics of the 20th century, from the January/February 2000 issue of Skeptical Inquirer, which includes references to biographies of each. There are also a number of fascinating links to other sites, including the Skeptical Links Project. In any case, I believe it is an intellectually stimulating site, but I can't prove it.

Most people have at least a passing interest in the powers of Nature. Factoring in most Mensans' enhanced curiosity about such things, I think you might like Volcano World, at volcano.und.edu. The site is rich, being over five years old - ancient in web terms - it is polished and has a lot of content. There are photos, videos, lists of currently active volcanos, historical information, a Volcano of the Week, a place to ask questions of a volcanologist, interviews and contests. Volcanoes aren't exactly my cup of lava, but I still plan to visit it occasionally. Perhaps I'll become a convert to volcano worship.

Now for a non-science site: for good or bad, we live in a culture that is heavily influenced by money. Most of us feel that we need more and indeed, for most of us, this is a reasonable goal. Investment clubs are one way some people try to make money. If you might be interested in starting your own club or just want to know more about them, take a peek at www.iclubcentral.com. There are a lot of resources there for you to examine: articles, books, research, software, tutorials and chat. For my part, I think the stock bubble is going to burst soon, but I thought that when the Dow was at 6000, so what do I know? Even if you aren't interested in starting in a club, you might find it interesting. May you become the next Bill Gates, if that's what you really want.

Don't forget that I accept suggestions for the column (at catbar@compuserve.com) and that we're interested in guest columns, too. I don't own Brain Candy; I just feel responsible for it.