No. 246 July 2003

2003 NTIA INTERNET FILTERS TECHNOLOGY REPORT The Internet was developed by the Federal Government, specifically the Defense Department, with the goal of fast and effective communication of military information. The internet and its content have developed to me more that was ever anticipated. It has made most every kind of information easily available including legitimate sources of medical, social, and psychological information about human sexuality. However, it also has some sites which are indecent, hate, and violence related sites, and commercialized sexually related sites which are pornographic. Some sites were not intended for children, and even those intended for children, should not be accessible to children (i.e. anyone under legal age). Per the American legal system, in schools and libraries, if your computer is “federally funded” and to be used by children, it must have an Internet filter on it. “In October, 2000, Congress passed the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which requires schools and libraries that receive federal funds for discounted communications, Internet access or internal connections services to adopt an Internet Safety Policy and employ technological protections that block or filter certain visual depictions deemed obscene, pornographic, or harmful to minors.” Section 1703 of CIPA mandated research by and a report from the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration about the current status of the Internet filtering technologies. Congress questioned the effectiveness of the current filters and the abilities of the educators and librarians to use them. The NTIA’s Press Release of August 18, 2003, Today’s Internet Blocking and Filtering Technology Capable of Meeting Needs of Most Educational Institutions, NTIA Report Says at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/2003/cipa_08182003.htm provides the background to Congress’s questions and legislative actions. The introductory Children’s Internet Protection Act Study of Technology Protection Measures page at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/ntiageneral/cipa2003/index.html provides additional information.  There are and links to pdf and html versions of the 49 paged  Report to Congress, Children’s Internet Protection Act, Pub. L. 106-554, Study of Technology Protection Measures in Section 1703, which is dated August 2003. 

RADAR PICTURES OF UNDERGROUND PIPES, WIRES, TEMPLES In 2000, Witten Technologies used some (satellite) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) equipment mounted on the back of a truck to locate and take pictures of the underground pipe and cable utilities in the World Trade Center area. Using a new technique called “underground tomography” This subsurface imaging technology took a 3-D picture of what was underground to depths of about six feet. Witten Technologies had continuous but somewhat fuzzy images of underground utilities in about 8 acres of Manhattan streets. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory experts in advanced radar image analysis have helped Witten refine its radar images as explained in NASA to Provide Sharper Underground View of World Trade Center Area, August 22, 2002 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2002/release_2002_167.html. NASA’s SAR radar which was first used as an airborne imaging radar instrument as early as 1995 by some British archeologists produced radar images of the dense forest canopies of the ancient ANGKOR site in Cambodia. A three year study and analysis of those images resulted in the detection of circular “prehistoric” mounds and temples and major archeological finds documenting the ancient history of Angkor Cambodia. NASA radar reveals hidden remains at Ancient Angkor is the February 12, 1998 press release which has all the details and is found at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/98/angkor98.html . NASA’s SAR has been an archeological tool for a long time, but that is another “story.” 

2000 POPULATION: LEGAL AND ILLEGAL In April, 2000, the Census Bureau conducted the 2000 Census of Population and Housing of all the people who are supposed to be in the United States. The Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov) is where to find the data through the American Factfinder Search Engine. What has not been equally known is that the Immigration and Naturalization Service issues a report of the illegal alien population residing in the United States. Estimates coming from the INS and the Census Bureau. In February 1977 the INS released 1996 data in the INS Releases Updated Estimates of U. S. Illegal Population http://uscis.gov/graphics/publicaffairs/newsrels/illegal.htm and in January 2003, the INS released the latest Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: 1990-2000 as a pdf file at http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/aboutus/statistics/Ill_Report_1211.pdf.  These 19 pages of data lists for the “top 15 states,” aggregate for all states, and the “top 15 countries of origin” and aggregate for all countries. There are also annual estimates of alien population from 1990-2000 by state of residence and by country of origin etc.  For the statistician, there is a public announcement discusses the revised methodology of these new statistics, INS Releases Updated Estimates of U.S. Undocumented Resident Population  http://uscis.gov/graphics/publicaffairs/summaries/undocres.htm .    

THE RICH AND FAMOUS, AND NOT SO FAMOUS There are many people who are rich and famous, such as many movie stars. There are also many individuals such as Andrew Carnegie, J. Paul Getty, Bill Gates, John D. Rockefeller, and Hugh Heffner who are self-made millionaires or possibly billionaire business men who are very well known. Yet, did you know that as of 1998, there were more than 2.7 million millionaires and more that 6.5 million individuals in the United States with gross assets of $625,000 who are rich but not famous? The wealthy did not willingly disclose their economic status, but statistical information about the wealth of individuals can be collected after they die. Economists at the IRS use the estate multiplier technique to estimate the wealth of (previously) living individuals from Federal estate tax return data. Barry W. Johnson and Lisa M. Schreiber’s “Personal Wealth, 1998” (Statistics of Income (SOI) Bulletin, V. 22, No. 3, Winter 2002-2003, pages 87-102, (T 22.35/4:22/3 /paper or pdf file/ http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/98pwart.pdf ) provides a very detailed analysis and picture of the ‘Top WealthHolders, 1998’ as to age, sex, marital status, financial characteristics, and geography, and how each compares to the others. The ‘Portfolio Composition’ of the Top WealthHolders is detailed analysis and discussion which includes stock ownership, real estate investments, net worth, assets, and debts of males and females. The age levels of both male and female wealthholders are discussed as are the social characteristics of highest number or concentration of millionaires in 11 states and District of Columbia. For those interested, the Appendix includes a discussion of the “Estate Multiplier Technique” and the “Estate Tax Return Sample Design.” The final discussion, “Mortality Differentials,” discusses the issue of whether the wealthy, young men, old men, and women, live longer than those not wealthy. The Notes and References include a site to an earlier article about the 1995 estimates of personal wealth article for those who like historical comparisons. 

HOLIDAY RELATED SOCIAL, POPULATION, ECONOMIC FACTS? What would be some relevant yet unusual economic, social, business, and population facts about special American days, weeks, months, or times? Facts for Features, to quote the Census Bureau, “consists of a collection of statistics pertinent to a particular holiday or special observance. Each statistical publication provides background information for a reporter to write or broadcast a feature story. These data sheets are gleaned from many of current demographic or economic Census Data. Labor Day, Valentine’s Day, Mothers Day, Secretaries’ Day, Fathers Day, and Grandparents’ Day typify the “Days.” Tax Time, Back to School, and the Holiday Season exemplify “Times.” The Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial, 100 Years and Counting -- The Census Bureau Celebrates Centennial, and The Anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act present data sheets for “Birthday celebrations.” Then there are Women’s History Month, African American History Month, and Hispanic Heritage Month which cover the “Monthly” festivities. Point an internet browser to http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/factsheets.html , and find a four-page list of all the Facts for Features publications for 1995 though the latest. 

ANIMALS IN LABORATORY TEST/TESTING Early in the 19th century Pavlov used a dog to test and demonstrate his psychological behavioral stimulus response theory. Later psychologists and other laboratory scientists have also used animals in psychological research, and biomedical and commercial testing of products intended for human use and/or consumption. New foods, medicines, cosmetics, and even biochemical weapons are first tested on animals. Guinea pigs, rats, mice, dogs, cats, sheep, birds, and rabbits are some of most common animals species used by experimental laboratory scientists. These animals have backbones and are called vertebrates. There is another group of animals which live in the ocean called Molluscs/Mollusks which lack a backbone and are usually soft, but may have a shell. Clams, mussels, squids, oysters, sea slugs, snails, octopus, and scallops exemplify Molluscs, which have many cellular and physiological similarities to man and are now used in biomedical research. Molluscs are “relatively easy to maintain, less expensive, and less labor intensive than more traditional laboratory animals.” Information Resources on the Care and Use of Molluscs, issued in May 2003 by the National Agriculture Library’s Animal Welfare Information Center, is 165 pages “snap shot of how Molluscs are being used in research, and more important, how they are cultured, reared, and housed in the laboratory and elsewhere.” In paper (A 17.27/3:22) or in the online version at http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/molluscs/molluscs2.htm . This bibliographic guide identifies and provides access to the 1973 to 2002 literature found in the National Agriculture Library (NAL). NAL Document Delivery Service policies can be found at http://www.nal.usda.gov/ddsb/ .  Molluscs includes websites and organizations cited in each chapter. 

NEW HOTTEST MICROBE FROM OCEAN FLOOR Strain 121 is a micron-wide speck currently so-named because it survives at 121 degrees Celsius, or about 250 degrees Fahrenheit. This single-celled microbe which was “collected about 200 miles offshore from Puget Sound and nearly a mile and a half deep in the Pacific Ocean.” It was found in the molten magma which spouts up through the holes in the Earth’s floor, which means Strain 121 can live amid extreme heat, cold, pressure, salinity, alkalinity, and/or acidity. As a living cell, it uses iron to burn its food to live the way aerobic animals use oxygen. Most microorganisms and heat-resistant spores do not survive the temperature and pressure of sterilization; however, when subjected to sterilization conditions, Strain 121 not only survived, but its population doubled in 24 hours. Dr. Derek Lovely, the microbiologist who found Strain 121 will give it a scientific species name after his laboratory is done examining this one-celled creature. While Strain 121 grew at temperatures from 85-121 Celsius (185-250 F), Pyrolobus fumarii, the former top-temperature microbe record holder, wilted. After one hour, Pyrolobus fumarii had only 1 percent of its cells intact and not appeared to be alive. These facts and more can be found in the National Science Foundation Press Release (NSF PR 03-84, August 14, 2003), Microbe from Depths Takes Life to Hottest Known Limit 
http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/03/pr0384.htm . This 5 (printed) page Press Release provides a full explanation and details about Strain 121, other heat-liking microbes, the NSF Life in Extreme Environments Program (which covers both extreme hot and cold environments), and many links to relevant web sites and sources of information. 

PHARMACOLOGY: THE STUDY OF DRUGS Usually it takes a person four years of college and three years of pharmacy school to learn how medicines affect the human body and how the human body reacts to medicines. If you don’t have the time to go to pharmacy school and don’t want to become a pharmacist, but would like to learn some of the basics of pharmacy, finish reading this paragraph. Next, go to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences website and look for Medicines by Design. Medicines by Design http://www.nigms.nih.gov/medbydesign/ presents a definition of pharmacology, a complete history, how the body responds to drugs, and a drug delivery information, and a picture of the future for pharmacy. This version of the history of pharmacy and drugs is comprehensive, interesting, and very informative and was recently revised. However, the history is segmented in different pages and would be hard to “take home.” If you want a copy of this publication, at the top of the main page is a link to an order form for a paper copy. One can also download (as a pdf file http://www.nigms.nih.gov/medbydesign/booklet.pdf ) a copy of the Revised June 2003 edition of Medicines by Design. The 54 pages long and full of colored illustrations is the pharmacist’s new concept of dispensing medicine. Called Pharmacogenomics, this new concept will be covered in the next issue of this newsletter. 

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