Acronym Requiredtag:acronymrequired.com,2008-04-12://22008-07-21T07:52:23ZAcronym Required observes and analyzes science and technology.Movable Type 4.2rc3-enAIDS Trial Narrowed, Research Progresstag:acronymrequired.com,2008://2.3542008-07-19T05:36:11Z2008-07-21T07:52:23Z The NIH narrowed an AIDS vaccine trial planned for U.S. testing. The trial, called Partnership for AIDS Vaccine Evaluation (PAVE 100) will be pared down to focus on the question of whether the vaccine lowers amount of HIV virus in the blood of those who are subsequently infected after...a.r.e.http://www.acronymrequired.com/Whales in Courttag:acronymrequired.com,2008://2.3532008-07-17T23:59:52Z2008-07-19T06:25:28Z Mitigation, then Warrior Safety In Whales In a Time of War, we reported that Judge Andrew Kleinfeld of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals noted in a 2-1 ruling allowing the Navy to continue sonar training in whale breeding grounds: "the safety of the whales must be weighed,...a.r.e.http://www.acronymrequired.com/Clean Clear Air, Nothing To See Here, Drive Through Pleasetag:acronymrequired.com,2008://2.3512008-07-15T03:16:59Z2008-07-20T20:09:36Z Court Declares Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) Not Patchwork Enough Back in December, 2007, the EPA denied California the waiver the state requested under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The state wanted to set its own tougher emissions standards, which at least 18 other states would have adopted. However...a.r.e.http://www.acronymrequired.com/Curvilinear Thinking on Climate Changetag:acronymrequired.com,2008://2.3502008-07-11T05:30:11Z2008-07-11T04:11:39Z The MPG Illusion -- Needing Math? Now that gas is almost $5.00 per gallon many people seem to be more than a little worried, if not about global warming than simply about the price of gas. Of course some lobbyists and commentators continue their efforts to preserve status quo,...a.r.e.http://www.acronymrequired.com/Congress on CAFE: Detroit misled ustag:acronymrequired.com,2008://2.3492008-07-09T21:08:11Z2008-07-10T23:15:16Z Nature Loves Our Cars, Really In April of 2007, Acronym Required wrote satirically in "Cars: Buying Cognitive Dissonance" about US drivers in denial. While headlines blared warnings on climate change and the reality of driving was smog filled lanes of traffic jams, automobile ads featured cars climbing to the...a.r.e.http://www.acronymrequired.com/Prions at Largetag:acronymrequired.com,2008://2.3482008-07-08T04:47:21Z2008-07-09T04:45:32Z Making Grad Work Easier In "The Companions of Mad Cows" a couple of years ago we mentioned that veterinarians in Alabama had diagnosed mad-cow disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a downer cow. According to the Wall Street Journal article, officials had buried the cow on a farm in...a.r.e.http://www.acronymrequired.com/Democracy is Like A.....tag:acronymrequired.com,2008://2.3472008-07-04T08:28:54Z2008-07-19T05:54:05Z Democracy is Like an Orchid, a Tree A month ago in an interview with Charlie Rose, George Will said he opposed McCain-Feingold, the bipartisan campaign finance bill, because the bill essentially "empowers the government" to "limit [aspects of] political speech", making it he said, "probably the most dangerous [legislation]...a.r.e.http://www.acronymrequired.com/Finding Green Spirittag:acronymrequired.com,2008://2.3462008-07-03T01:02:26Z2008-07-03T21:56:24Z Last year we wrote in "Green Spirit", about the wave of environmental sentiment sweeping the US. The New Yorker had captured the mood in a cartoon depicting one plant executive asking another whether they could dye the smoke from the stacks green. The most unlikely corporations were hopping all...a.r.e.http://www.acronymrequired.com/Teletubbies vs. Robotstag:acronymrequired.com,2008://2.3452008-07-01T19:31:04Z2008-07-09T04:42:46Z WALLL-EEE You'll be hearing squeals about Wall-E, the robot, all summer because it's charming. But while the robots can be engaging, cynical people made the movie Wall-E, I thought, as I watched the human-like characters. The flubbery-blubbery adult animations loll about their space station, moving about by pushing buttons...a.r.e.http://www.acronymrequired.com/Mars Once, On the Waterfronttag:acronymrequired.com,2008://2.3442008-06-30T23:23:31Z2008-07-02T15:26:55Z A Face that Sticks in Your Mind Why is the crust of Mars up to 30 kilometers thinner on one half of the planet than the other, one side of the planet rugged terrain, the other plains? Twenty-five years ago a couple US scientists theorized that a collision had...a.r.e.http://www.acronymrequired.com/Presidential Privy Powertag:acronymrequired.com,2008://2.3432008-06-27T13:40:58Z2008-06-27T01:23:37Z For years it seems, people have heard reports like the recent one by the Justice Department inspector general and the Office of Professional Responsibility, which found the Department of Justice hiring practices had discriminated against lawyers who were "leftist", identified by those who were members of Greenpeace, the Poverty...a.r.e.http://www.acronymrequired.com/What's Your Sign Code?tag:acronymrequired.com,2008://2.3422008-06-26T00:04:27Z2008-06-27T05:44:05Z It's better than astrology and all the rage. Genetic testing offered as a gamut of services, under marketing rubrics along the lines of "Discover Your True Self!" Some of this discovery is whimsical, for instance, the company 23andMe offers visitors to their website graphics and insight on the percentage...a.r.e.http://www.acronymrequired.com/Nanotechnology: Everything that Glitterstag:acronymrequired.com,2008://2.3402008-05-28T00:29:39Z2008-05-29T16:03:41Z The World of Silver Spoons and Golden Specks and All that Disinfects Did you know that a Hong Kong company makes "Antibacterial Table Ware" that can "prevent people from the following diseases: duodenitis caused by spirillums, virosis hepatitis, dysentery caused by salmonella and food poisoning caused by golden staphylococcus"?...a.r.e.http://www.acronymrequired.com/The Obama Change Challengetag:acronymrequired.com,2008://2.3392008-05-19T23:13:31Z2008-07-11T18:22:07Z Barack Obama has wide appeal. Democrats, Republicans, commentators, opponents, they find themselves tagging along, like he's the new cool kid on the block. Sometimes the support is overt. John Edwards endorses him, as does Senator Byrd, Congressman Henry Waxman, and the United Steelworkers. But sometimes an endorsement is more...a.r.e.http://www.acronymrequired.com/Ursidae Diplomacytag:acronymrequired.com,2008://2.3382008-05-18T01:21:27Z2008-05-18T06:14:38Z Erstwhile Panda Diplomacy? In an article on China's panda diplomacy last week, the Financial Times included a photo of Japan's famed Ling Ling surrounded by flowers and bamboo shoots. Japan's beloved panda, a 16 year resident of Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, had died of kidney and heart failure and the...a.r.e.http://www.acronymrequired.com/