Doomsday and other double-takes
Posted: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 6:27 PM by Alan Boyle
What's the latest from the Robot Hall of Fame, Science Debate 2008 and, of course, the "doomsday lawsuit" filed against the folks getting ready to start up the Large Hadron Collider? Here are some quick double-takes on some stories we've covered in the past:
- Last month we talked about a federal lawsuit filed in Hawaii against the builders of what will be the world's most powerful particle collider, alleging that the experiments could create black-hole hazards or nasty bits of strange matter. In the wake of our initial report, The New York Times chimed in with its own take, as did myriad other commentators. Last week, the U.S. District Court issued a civil summons calling on the defendants - including the U.S. Department of Energy - to answer the complaint. Plaintiff Walter Wagner told me the summons has not yet been served, but he aims to have that done in the next few days and is hoping for an initial court hearing in May or June. Stay tuned...
- Last year we talked about new inductees for the Robot Hall of Fame at Carnegie Mellon University, including Lt. Commander Data from "Star Trek: The Next Generation." The good news is that the machines officially took their place in the virtual hall today during a ceremony at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Science Center. The better news is that a real hall is on the way, in the form of RoboWorld, a $3.4 million, 6,000-square-foot permanent exhibition at the science center. RoboWorld, due to open in a year, will feature dozens of hands-on interactive stations - plus a section set aside for the Robot Hall of Fame.
- Science Debate 2008 has pretty much shifted from Plan A (a proposed presidential campaign debate on April 18 in Pennsylvania) to Plan B (a proposed debate in Oregon next month). One of the arguments against Plan A was that the Democratic candidates were already signed up for a debate in Philadelphia on April 16 - but that didn't stop them from making a date to attend a "Compassion Forum" focusing on faith and values in Harrisburg on April 13. Science Debate 2008's organizers and some commentators insist that the forum should address such values as preserving the earth, furthering American innovation and restoring scientific integrity - in effect, incorporating some of the elements of a science debate. Sounds like Plan C is in the works.
- Last month we mentioned the Perimeter Institute's educational video on dark matter, the first in a series designed for classroom use. The Kavli Foundation has its own video series on cosmic subjects, ranging from astrophysics to nanoscience and neuroscience. You can watch the whole series online - and if you want to use them in a university or high-school classroom, you can have the videos sent to you at no charge.
