Notebook

Whistle While You Blastl Death Takes A Sabbatical Musical Chairs Army Offers NIH Alternative Toothsome Occasion Historical Fellowships pp. 4. Sandia National Laboratories and a Walt Disney Co. subsidiary, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Inc., have joined forces to more efficiently light up the night sky for millions of tourists at Disney theme parks around the world. The bridge, a silicon circuit first developed by Sandia for defense applications--such as weapons detonation--will be used to ignite elaborate displays of fireworks and other explosive-based delights at the Disney parks. The joint venture is part of a $300,000 CRADA between the lab and company. The semiconductor will replace the less-precise and environmentally unfriendly black powder time-delay fuses currently used. Other Sandia-Disney projects in the offing include adapting such technologies as intelligent vehicles, "smart" materials (which respond to environmental stimuli), and noise and vibration control. In an unexpected and perhaps unprecedented turn of events, the executive board of the World Health Organization (WHO) last month delayed the destruction of all smallpox viral stocks for at least another year. After years of debate, the deadly virus was slated to have been destroyed on June 30 by recommendation of WHO's executive committee (K.Y. Kreeger, The Scientist, Nov. 14, 1994). A New York Times report (L.K. Altman, Jan. 19, 1995, page A15) attributed the about-face to "a growing sentiment that further research on the virus could be beneficial in studying other infections and possibly even cancer." The board's decision was helped along, according to the Times, by the "behind-the-scenes" efforts of unnamed British scientists. In the article, Valery Abramov, a WHO spokesperson, said he could not recall another instance when the executive board did not support the recommendations of its executive committee. Board chairs must be comfortable for P. Roy Vagelos, the retired former president and chief executive officer of Merck and Co. Inc., Whitehouse Station, N.J. Vagelos was elected to chair the University of Pennsylvania's board of trustees last November (N. Sankaran, The Scientist, Jan. 9, 1995, page 23). Last month, he was also elected chairman of the board of governors of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biotechnology firm in Tarrytown, N.Y. Leonard S. Schleifer, chairman and CEO of Regeneron--whose focus is on drug discovery for various neurological disorders--says the company will rely on Vagelos's versatility: "Dr. Vagelos is one of the few scientists who has successfully done it all: He headed the research division of one of the largest companies in the world for several years, before going on to be the president and CEO." Schleifer adds that he expects Vagelos "will help us select the most promising areas for research, and convert our science into actual products." National Institutes of Health director Harold E. Varmus has selected a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army to run NIH's Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM). Wayne B. Jonas, currently director of the medical research fellowships program at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, D.C., will replace Joseph J. Jacobs, the first OAM director, who resigned last September. OAM, established in 1992 (F. Hoke, The Scientist, March 7, 1994, page 1, and March 21, 1994, page 1), continues to define itself. Jonas teaches research methodology and conducts investigations in immunology and toxicology. He has worked as a consultant to OAM on research education and methods, and is chairman of a conference on alternative medicine research methodology planned for April. In addition to a conventional M.D. from Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., Jonas has trained in homeopathy, bioenergy therapy, nutritional therapy, spiritual healing, and electro-acupuncture diagnostics. Late last month an important 50th anniversary was reached that may have gone unnoticed by millions of people, but certainly affects them daily. On Jan. 25, 1945, Grands Rapids, Mich., became the first city to fluoridate its drinking water. Today nearly 150 million Americans--for 51 cents per person annually, or about the price of one tooth-decaying candy bar--have their teeth protected by fluoridation programs in about 10,500 communities. Research on fluoride's protective qualities for tooth enamel began in the early 1930s by H. Trendley Dean, a dentist then at the National Institutes of Health. According to a National Institute of Dental Research statement, these studies formed the basis for the establishment of NIDR in 1948 (K.Y. Kreeger, The Scientist, May 16, 1994, page 14). Dean was its first director. The American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia is accepting applications for short-term residential fellowships to conduct research in its collections. The library is a leading center for research on the history of American science and technology, as well as early American history. It houses more than 6.5 million manuscripts and 190,000 books and periodicals. Open to U.S. citizens and foreign nationals who hold Ph.D.'s or the equivalent, the fellowships, sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, provide a stipend of $1,900 per month for up to three months, to be used between June 1, 1995, and May 31, 1996. Applications must be received by March 1, 1995. For information, contact Mellon Fellowships, American Philosophical Society Library, 105 S. Fifth St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106-3386; (215) 440-3400.

Notebook

The Scientist Staff

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of