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ArcaMax
Science and Technology for You
Tuesday January 13, 2004
Today's Science and Technology Stories:
Bush Eyes Moon Base, Manned Mars Mission
Evolution Theory Challenged in Missouri
Study Says Ice Age Ancestry Boon to Many
Internet Con Artists Settle FTC Charges
Bush Eyes Moon Base, Manned Mars Mission
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- President Bush is expected to announce plans next week for a permanent human settlement on the moon and eventually a manned mission to Mars. Administration sources said Bush will announce a new "human exploration" agenda in Washington Wednesday, the Washington Post reported. Unwilling to provide cost figures or details, officials would say only that the president will direct the government to immediately begin research and development to establish a human presence or base on the moon.
That would in turn lead to a manned flight to Mars, though it could be a decade away, they said. Scientists say any new moon or Mars mission would take years to develop. The last humans on the moon, the crew of Apollo 17, landed in 1972. The new plans grew out of a White House group that examined NASA after the future of the space program was thrown into doubt with the Feb. 1 disintegration of the space shuttle Columbia.
Evolution Theory Challenged in Missouri
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (UPI) -- Some Missouri state lawmakers want teachers to introduce an alternative to the theory of evolution in classrooms. The bill, which Republican Rep. Wayne Cooper sponsored, would require school science curriculums to define evolution as a theory resting on a historical hypothesis that has not, and cannot, be proved. It would also require teaching of the intelligent design theory, the Kansas City Star said Friday.
The seven-page bill defines scientific terms and how they should be applied to the teaching of evolution and intelligent design. It would require equal treatment of both theories, in the amount of textbook space and the time spent in classroom instruction. Opponent Eugenie Scott of the California-based National Center for Science Education said evolution proponents haven't yelled loud enough -- they simply have science on their side. Intelligent design theory, which she called a cloak for creationism, hasn't made it into high school classrooms because it hasn't established merit with the scientific community, she said. If the measure becomes law, teachers who do not follow its requirements could lose their jobs.
Study Says Ice Age Ancestry Boon to Many
IRVINE, Calif. (UPI) -- Many of the world's peoples are genetically adapted to the cold because ancestors lived in northern climates during the Ice Age, researchers say. Not only that, says a team of University of California at Irvine geneticists, ancestry may lead to a healthier life. The team's finding shows that the genetic change affects basic body metabolism and may influence susceptibility to disease and to the risks of the calorie-laden modern diet.
The finding also breaks ground in showing that the human population has continued to adapt since the dispersal from its ancestral homeland in Africa some 50,000 years ago, the New York Times said. The genetic adaptation to cold is still carried by many Northern Europeans, East Asians and American Indians, most of whose ancestors once lived in Siberia. But it is absent from peoples native to Africa, a difference researchers suggest could contribute to a greater burden of certain diseases in the African-American population.
Internet Con Artists Settle FTC Charges
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- A U.S. federal district court shut down the Internet activities of two con artists who used stolen identities to sell nonexistent goods in online auctions. James Thompson and Susan Germek also used the stolen IDs to make it appear innocent third parties were guilty of fraud, the Federal Trade Commission said Thursday in a press release. The two have been permanently barred from participating in Internet auctions and face charges of making false claims about having and being able to deliver merchandise to consumers and misusing consumers' personal information.
Since the FTC sued them in April 2003, Thompson and Germek have been indicted for mail fraud by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Illinois stemming from their Internet auction operation. Germek pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and is awaiting sentencing; no trial date has been set for Thompson. According to the FTC, since early 1999 the defendants opened numerous accounts on Internet auction Web sites offering various items of merchandise for sale, including computer software and electronics. They allegedly accepted payment from consumers, then failed to deliver the promised merchandise, the FTC said.
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Copyright 2003 by United Press International. All rights reserved.
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