Academy Of Sciences

WASHINGTON -- Going one better than President Bush's "no net loss" of wetlands pledge, a committee of the National Academy of Sciences says America needs "an accelerated national effort" to repair lakes, marshes, streams and swamps that already are polluted or otherwise damaged.The committee urged the federal government to establish a long-term strategy for restoring the nation's aquatic ecosystems and suggested that Congress create a "national aquatic restoration trust fund" to finance it.However, in a report entitled, "Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems: Science, Technology and Public Policy," the panel avoided estimating how much a national restoration effort would cost.

City school officials said they will take extra security measures at a Southeast Baltimore charter school after five fires were set this week at the school, which also had an altercation that injured an administrator and a student arrest. Officials said they will increase the presence of school police officers and district staff at the Friendship Academy of Science and Technology Middle/High School, which they acknowledged has had "significant safety issues" this week. Among them were five trash-can fires - two Wednesday and three Thursday.

Bill Edwards in Trappe saw a TV program about the use of chemicals "to divert or stop rain. ... I have noticed on many weekends that rain is predicted [but] it does not rain in this area. Curious." Forecasters can be wrong, and summertime showers can be hit-or-miss. The National Academy of Sciences found that, except for dissipating rare "cold fog," cloud seeding for weather control is "an act of faith," not science.

A panel of independent scientists has found flaws in the Army's planning to shield workers and the public from harm from a proposed biodefense laboratory at Fort Detrick in Frederick. The seven-member committee assembled by the National Academy of Sciences concluded that the risk assessment being done by an Army contractor is "not sufficiently robust" to help design a facility that will reduce potential hazards. The $584 million, 492,000-square-foot Medical Countermeasures Test and Evaluation Facility would develop and test vaccines and drugs to prevent or treat infectious diseases.

A memorial service for J. Cookman Boyd Jr., a Baltimore lawyer and former chairman of the Maryland Academy of Sciences, will be at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Old St. Paul's Episcopal Church, at Charles and Saratoga streets.Mr. Boyd died yesterday at Johns Hopkins Hospital following a stroke. He was 84.Until his brief illness, Mr. Boyd maintained numerous civic interests and was active in his practice with the law firm of Boyd Benson & Hendrickson.Mr. Boyd graduated from the Johns Hopkins University in 1927 and the University of Maryland School of Law in 1930.

OFTEN, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences preaches to the world in awarding Nobel Prizes for Economics. It suggests what theories, policies or nostrums are good for nations that may regard them as bitter medicine. But in awarding the 1999 Nobel Prize to Robert Mundell, the Academy is sending a message to the Swedish people.Sweden belongs to the 15-nation European Union (EU) but not to its 11-nation European Monetary Union (EMU). Sweden qualifies to adopt the euro as currency in place of the krona, but declines.

Annapolis scientist honored for his workDr. Appajosula Srinivasa Rao of Annapolis has been honored by the Washington Academy of Sciences for his outstanding achievement in the field of physical sciences.He also received a one-year honorary membership in the academy. Dr. Rao is an employee of the Carderock Division ofthe Naval Surface Warfare Center in Annapolis.POLICE LOG* Annapolis: Someone threw a cinder block through the front door of Jennison Fashion, at 167 Jennifer Road, Tuesday morning and stole 40 summer suits worth about $4,000.

J. Cookman Boyd Jr., a Baltimore lawyer and former chairman of the Maryland Academy of Sciences, died yesterday at Johns Hopkins Hospital following a stroke. He was 84.A memorial service for Mr. Boyd will be at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Old St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Charles and Saratoga streets.Until his brief illness, Mr. Boyd maintained numerous civic interests and was active in his practice with the law firm of Boyd Benson & Hendrickson.He graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1927 and the University of Maryland School of Law in 1930.

Music Carl Thomas brings a grown-up, rich vocal sound to his sophomore album, Let's Talk About It. page 25 Eats More than 250 years after Reynolds Tavern opened in Annapolis, the building is home to Sly Fox Pub, as well as a tea room and an inn. page 20 Family Nickelodeon's animated hit Dora the Explorer turns live in "Dora the Explorer Live!: Search for the City of Lost Toys," opening Wednesday at the Hippodrome. page 33 Stage The classical-music lover has almost unlimited choices this weekend -- and next week, barrier-breaking cellist Matt Haimovitz (pictured)

The chancellor of the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences yesterday wrapped up a visit to Baltimore by praising doctors and scientists at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for their attention to the ethical dimensions of genetics research.Archbishop Giuseppe Pittau, who along with Cardinal William H. Keeler met Wednesday with Hopkins researchers, said he was impressed by the way they have maneuvered through the ethical minefield that is associated with genetics research.In addition to heading the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which advises the pope on scientific developments, Pittau leads the Vatican congregation that supervises Roman Catholic schools, seminaries and universities.

Bill Edwards in Trappe saw a TV program about the use of chemicals "to divert or stop rain. ... I have noticed on many weekends that rain is predicted [but] it does not rain in this area. Curious." Forecasters can be wrong, and summertime showers can be hit-or-miss. The National Academy of Sciences found that, except for dissipating rare "cold fog," cloud seeding for weather control is "an act of faith," not science.

LEONID HURWICZ, 90 Nobel laureate in economics Leonid Hurwicz, who shared the Nobel Prize in economics last year for developing a theory that helps explain how buyers and sellers can maximize their gains, has died, a spokesman said yesterday. Dr. Hurwicz died Tuesday, said Mark Cassutt, spokesman for the University of Minnesota, where Dr. Hurwicz was an emeritus economics professor.. Dr. Hurwicz was given his prize in Minneapolis last December because he couldn't make the trip to Stockholm, Sweden.

The controversy over Baltimore County Circuit Judge Susan M. Souder's decision to throw out the testimony of a fingerprint analyst in a death penalty trial hasn't stopped. Her opinion has reached universities, judicial chambers and evidence labs across the country. But it's the National Academy of Sciences review of the forensic science field now under way that could have real implications for analysis of fingerprints, hair and other physical evidence - and their use in criminal trials nationwide.

CHICAGO -- When the panic about silicone breast implants erupted back in 1991, it was big news. But when the last chapter of that saga was closed a couple of weeks ago, hardly anyone noticed. Government regulators and journalists often find it tempting to set off loud, clanging alarms. They don't find it nearly so enjoyable to publicize when the alarms turn out to be false. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration decided that the medical evidence was sufficiently positive to let these devices back on the market.

The signature family expression of joy or hangdog remorse might be more than a matter of monkey see, monkey do. It might be hard-wired into our brains. By comparing the videotaped facial responses of 21 people born blind with those of their family members, researchers at the University of Haifa in Israel found similarities in expressions of concentration, sadness, anger, disgust, joy and surprise. "There's plenty of evidence that facial expressions are inherited," says Gili Peleg, a doctoral candidate at the university's Institute of Evolution and lead investigator on the study.

Three decades ago, a group of amateur scientists came up with an idea for a new museum, one that would stand out from the harbor's industrial blight, a place where children could grab, prod and poke exhibits and occasionally be electrified by science. It was a quite a gamble for science buffs who were best known for their collection of antique telescopes. But it paid off: Today marks the 30th anniversary of their dream, the Maryland Science Center. In the past three decades, thousands of youngsters have visited the center to learn the names of the stars, to dig for fossils and to touch a charged silver ball that makes their hair stand on end. Once the lone tourist attraction on the harbor's shore, the Maryland Science Center has become a city landmark and a symbol of the transformation that turned a working port into Baltimore's Inner Harbor, a booming tourist area that pumps tens of millions of dollars into the city's coffers annually.

WASHINGTON -- A panel affiliated with the National Academy of Sciences said yesterday that the government's research on the health problems of Persian Gulf War veterans has been badly organized and has failed to determine whether the so-called Gulf War Syndrome really exists.The panel recommended that Vice President Al Gore's office coordinate a better-organized study of complaints by thousands of veterans that they contracted illnesses in the gulf.The report was released by a committee of the Institute of Medicine (IOM)

LEONID HURWICZ, 90 Nobel laureate in economics Leonid Hurwicz, who shared the Nobel Prize in economics last year for developing a theory that helps explain how buyers and sellers can maximize their gains, has died, a spokesman said yesterday. Dr. Hurwicz died Tuesday, said Mark Cassutt, spokesman for the University of Minnesota, where Dr. Hurwicz was an emeritus economics professor.. Dr. Hurwicz was given his prize in Minneapolis last December because he couldn't make the trip to Stockholm, Sweden.

With a tennis match under way nearby, state archaeologists used chisels and crowbars yesterday to dislodge Native American carvings at Baltimore's Druid Hill Park, where they had been all but forgotten for decades. More than two dozen of the mysterious prehistoric stone carvings - which could be thousands of years old - are being removed to be studied at a Calvert County laboratory and eventually put on display. Transported to Baltimore from the Susquehanna Valley in the 1920s, the carvings were rediscovered recently by officials at the Maryland Historical Trust.

No quiet in evolution fight I am surprised to see so much front-page space devoted to the bombast of a preacher with a diminished following ("God's not scorned, and all's quiet," Nov. 12). I thought the human animal was finished with superstition, magical thinking and "the-world-is-flat" theories. But the Rev. Pat Robertson keeps foot-stomping that if we don't do things his way, God will teach us a lesson. And he keeps getting press. Here's a thought: America has been through unprecedented hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, fires and a terrorist attack in the five years since President Bush came to power.