Gamma Rays

The startling assertion by two chemists that they had achieved nuclear fusion in a test tube was based on invented data whose publication involved a serious breach of ethics and a violation of scientific protocol, prominent scientists have concluded.One of the two researchers dismisses the charge, saying that their work on low-temperature, or cold, fusion was ethically sound and beyond reproach.The cold-fusion debate erupted two years ago when the chemists, Dr. B. Stanley Pons and Dr. Martin Fleischmann, announced at the University of Utah that they had captured the secret of the sun's energy in a test tube at room temperature.

Kensington -- By the early part of the next century, geneticists should have worked out a complete mapping of the human genetic code. Many doors will then be opened, not all of which will be biomedical. There exists the possibility, within the next century, of speed-of-light, deep-space travel based on the broadcasting of genetic information.A question that is often raised about life in other parts of the Milky Way is that if it is Out There, and if it is on the move, then why hasn't its presence become evident to us?

THE STAGE at Oklahoma Road Middle School was christened Friday evening by members of the drama clubs at Sykesville and Oklahoma Road middle schools.Under the direction and guidance of teachers from both schools, 24 actors performed scenes from the theater about teens and starring teens. The scenes were staged with very few props -- a cot here, a school desk or music stand there -- so the performers were the focus of attention.A few of the youngsters came to the stage with performing experience.

WASHINGTON -- A group of astronomers reported yesterday that bursts of energy that have been seen by an orbiting telescope may be, for the few seconds they last, the brightest objects in the universe.The bursts may also provide the first confirmation of a peculiar effect, predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity, called "time dilation."The short-lived events are known as gamma-ray bursts -- brief, unpredictable eruptions of the highest-energy form of electromagnetic radiation that last from fractions of a second to a few minutes.

WASHINGTON -- Scientists have found fresh clues but no convincing explanations to one of the most baffling mysteries in astronomy, the source of bursts of gamma rays that flash briefly in the sky and then disappear.Brenda Dingus of NASA said yesterday that on Super Bowl Sunday, Jan. 31, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory satellite spotted a 50-second burst 10 times more powerful than any studied in the 25 years since they were discovered.The unexpected strength of the "Super Bowl burst" and other recent satellite data, she said, suggest that these rays are created by matter moving at tremendous velocity, almost 99 percent of the speed of light.

HACKENSACK, N.J. - The team of inspectors peered into the door of a cargo container that had just arrived at Port Newark and scanned the darkened interior with suspicion. "This is a definite winner," said Kevin McCabe, a chief inspector who runs the U.S. Customs Service's contraband unit at the Newark and Elizabeth seaports. McCabe turned to the uniformed men beside him. "We're going to have to use a `buster,'" he said, referring to a device used to detect false compartments that could contain drugs - or worse.

Capturing data on the most powerful and mysterious explosions in the universe is a bit like swatting at flies. The blasts, called gamma ray bursts, are usually too quick.Astronomers need hours to swing their telescopes around to record the blasts, which typically last just seconds. And they're left with only a fading afterglow to examine.But a team led by Neil Gehrels of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt says an orbiting observatory it's proposed to NASA could provide a reliably fast response to gamma ray bursts and simultaneous observations in a variety of wavelengths.

WASHINGTON -- If you're looking for a place to document the decline of science among America's youth, don't come here."Here" is the final round of the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, where today someone will win the high school equivalent of the Nobel Prize. The top award carries a $40,000 college scholarship and all the prestige a youth bound for MIT or Cal Tech could ever want.Yesterday, in a large exhibit hall at the National Academy of Sciences, 30 boys and 10 girls stood by charts, graphs and diagrams that summed up months, sometimes years, of research.

Susan Reimer is a prescient, witty, and eloquent columnist who has informed and entertained me for years. But today's column, "Body image issues get a new meaning" (Jan. 11) would be better delivered by a late-night TV comedian than in an op-ed piece. Ms. Reimer's columns usually have a serious thread running through them, even when delivered in a completely whimsical style, but her discussion of whole body security screening is totally uninformed. Calling pat-downs "unpleasant" and suggesting that the images produced by the body scans render the subject "naked" indicates that she has been asleep during the entire debate on the increased security measures.

Books recommended by librarians for adolescent readers:*Vera Cleaver: "Where the Lilies Bloom"*Susan Cooper: "The Dark is Rising," "The Gray King "Greenwitch," "Silver on the Tree"*Robert Cormier: "The Chocolate War," "Fade"*Jean Craighead George: "Julie of the Wolves," "My Side of th Mountain," "On the Far Side of the Mountain"*Roald Dahl: "Matilda," "The Witches"*Paula Danzinger: "The Cat Ate My Gym Suit," "Make Like a Tre and Leave"*Lois Lowry: "Anastasia...