NEWS AND COMMENT

Discovery of HIV Nets 2008 Nobel Prize for Two French Virologists

KENDRICK FRAZIER The discovery of the human immuno- deficiency virus (HIV) has been hon- ored with a share of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. French virologists Françoise Barre-Sinoussi of the Regulation of Retroviral Infections Unit at the Institut Pasteur in Paris and Luc Montagnier of the World Founda- tion for AIDS Research and Prevention, also in Paris, jointly received one-half of the year’s prize. (The other half went to German researcher Harald zur Hausen for his discovery that human papilloma viruses cause cervical cancer.) The two French researchers carried out their experiments in the 1980s, searching for a causative agent of a novel immuno- deficiency syndrome reported in 1981. They eventually identified the novel human retrovirus now called HIV and isolated it from sexually infected individu- als, hemophiliacs, mother-to-infant trans- missions, and transfused patients. Not cited was American scientist Robert Gallo, often credited as a co-dis- coverer of HIV and as the first to link HIV to AIDS. The Nobel Foundation received numerous inquiries about the Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier jointly received one half of the 2008 Nobel Prize for apparent omission of Gallo but gen- medicine. erally deflected the criticism, noting that the prize went for the discovery of the virus, not for detection of the link replication cycle and its interaction with uninfected people.” between the virus and the AIDS disease. hosts . . . and development of methods Whether the prize and subsequent What the foundation said about that to diagnose infected patients and screen new publicity accorded this work will in its official announcement was con- blood products. The “unprecedented ameliorate claims of AIDS deniers who tained in this initial sentence about development” of several classes of new still contend AIDS is caused by some- the importance of the HIV discovery: antiviral drugs was also the result of thing other than the HIV virus (see “Soon after the discovery of the virus, knowledge of the details of the viral rep- Nicoli Nattrass, “AIDS Denialism vs. several groups contributed to the defin- lication cycle, the Nobel foundation said. Science,” SI, September/October 2007) itive demonstration of HIV as the cause “Never before has science and medi- remains to be seen. But it should make of acquired human immunodeficiency cine been so quick to discover, identify advancing those claims in any scientifi- syndrome (AIDS).” the origin, and provide treatment for a cally informed arena more difficult. The Nobel Foundation said the virus new disease entity. Successful anti-ret- discovery made rapid cloning of the roviral therapy results in life expectan- HIV-1 genome possible, which allowed cies for persons with HIV infection Kendrick Frazier is editor of the identifying important details about its now reaching levels similar to those of SKEPTICAL INQUIRER.

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER January / February 2009 5 NEWS AND COMMENT

FTC Warns Against Sid the Science Kid: overview of that week’s topic. According to the show’s Web site: “By connect- Bogus Cancer Cures, Meet Bill Nye for the ing experiences conceptually and explor- Charges Five Companies Preschool Set ing topics over an extended period, Sid increases learners’ opportunities for dis- The Federal Trade Commission has Geared toward preschoolers, PBS Kids’s covering important ideas.” So how does charged five companies with making new animated show, Jim Henson’s Sid all of this keep a preschooler interested? false and misleading claims for cancer the Science Kid, debuted in September With eye-catching graphics, catchy songs, cures and said it had reached settlements of 2008. Science Kid takes advantage of and memorable characters. with six others. young children’s curiosity of the world Science Kid is animated using the “As long as products have been sold, around them to encourage a scien- brand-new Henson Digital Performance there has been somebody out there tific outlook, letting viewers “Observe! System (HDPS). It is a synthesis of selling snake oil to consumers,” Lydia Compare! Contrast! Describe!” just like traditional puppetry and CGI graphics. Parnes, director of the FTC’s bureau of real scientists. What’s unique about this new animation consumer products, was quoted as say- Sid, the self-described “kid who is that it can be performed in real time. ing in an Associated Press article. “There wants to know everything about every- As the actors perform, their body move- is no credible scientific evidence that thing,” is a five-year-old precocious pre- ments are captured with digital sensors any of the products marketed by these schooler. Each morning Sid asks a new and mirrored by the animated characters companies can prevent, cure, or treat question, such as “Why are my shoes onscreen. At the same time, puppe- cancer of any kind.” shrinking?” or “How can I measure a big teers use mechanical gloves to perform She said the FTC and the Food and whale with this little ruler?” With the the characters’ facial movements while Drug Administration were launching a help of his parents, school friends, and voicing the characters, much like a tra- consumer education campaign warning teacher, Sid spends the rest of the day ditional puppeteer would. “Essentially,” of bogus claims for cures. investigating the answer to his question said Lisa Henson, daughter of the late The products the companies mar- by observing the world around him, Jim Henson and co-CEO of The Jim keted include essiac teas and other conducting interviews and experiments, Henson Company, “our puppeteers herbal mixtures, laetrile, black salve (a and drawing conclusions from these (and performers) are our animators.” corrosive ointment), and mushroom activities. The songs on Science Kid are both extracts. Each week’s episodes collectively deal fun and endearing, with titles such as “I A representative of one of the com- with one broad topic, while individ- Magnify,” “It’s Not Scary, It’s Decayed,” panies, Native Essence Herb Company ual episodes handle a subtopic—not and “The Journey of a Germ.” They in El Prado, New Mexico, called the unlike the sections within chapters of are reminiscent of some of the song decision “censorship,” according to the an elementary-level science textbook. sequences on Sesame Street, which Associated Press. The other cases are The fifth show of every week acts as an Omega Supply in San Diego, California; Daniel Chapter One in Portsmouth, Rhode Island; Gemtronics Inc., in Franklin, North Carolina; and Herbs for Cancer in Surprise, Arizona. The five complaints will now go before adminis- trative law judges. Parnes said more than a hundred warning letters were sent out, and many advertisers dropped or changed their claims. Of the complaints resolved by settlements, she said companies paid restitution ranging from $9,000 to $250,000. The FDA said it has sent out twen- ty-eight warning letters and that the total number of fake cancer products is up to 187. For more information, see the FTC Bogus Drugs page, available online at www.ftc.gov/curious.

6 VOLUME 33, ISSUE 1 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER NEWS AND COMMENT is perhaps not surprising considering Science Kid. morning, about half an hour after the that the show is produced by The Jim last person left the building. It reap- Henson Company. This also explains peared about nine times over the next the familiarity of the characters despite Kansas Gym Ghost two hours, each time briefly moving the new technology bringing them into across the room. It baffled Peterson, children’s televisions. Sid and his family Video Mystery Solved her staff and members, and the security and friends are Muppets for the digital On September 12, 2008, a surveillance company. Lights have never activated age, complete with Technicolor skin video captured what many believed to the camera before, Peterson said. “I and hair. be a ghost. The video was taken at Any- called the security company, and they Also laudable is Science Kid’s inter- time Fitness, an all-night fitness club in said, ‘I don’t know why that light would active Web site. The site has two sec- Overland Park, Kansas. When owner make the camera kick on.’” It seemed a tions: one for kids and one for parents/ Kim Peterson came in one morning and real mystery. Furthermore, the company educators. The kids’ section keeps chil- reviewed the previous night’s security told her, 600 other clients have the same dren engaged and learning with virtual footage, she was surprised and mystified security system, but none had reported environments from the show, video by what she saw: a glowing, fuzzy light recording such an incident. clips (played on a specially designed kid- friendly player), interactive games, activ- ities, and lots of cameos by the show’s characters. The adults’ section provides background information on the show and its educational philosophy, episode guides, and viewing tips on how your child can get the most out of the program. In answer to criticism that pre-school is too early for a topic as “advanced” as science, the producers have this to say: “Preschoolers are curious about the world around them and are motivated to discover how it works. They ask ques- tions and persevere to find answers. They don’t think of science as scary, unknow- able, or for experts only, and our goal is to make sure they never do!” With infec- tiousness science-based shows like Sid the Science Kid around, hopefully today’s children will become tomorrow’s science A still of the “ghost” from a security camera at Anytime Fitness. enthusiasts. The Jim Henson Company and PBS Kids deserve accolades for their efforts to bring science appreciation to an apparently in a workout area, mean- ever younger audience. dering around the weight benches and Various people offered their theories, ranging from a hoax to a bug to head- References fitness machines. The story drew inquiries from the lights from a passing car. Peterson and The Jim Henson Company. 2008. PBS Kids: Sid her security company dismissed all of the Science Kid Web Site. Available online at press and the public around the world. I http://pbskids.org/sid/index.html. was asked by LiveScience.com to inves- these obvious explanations—by far the Owen, Rob. 2008. Tuned-in: The science kid. tigate the mysterious ghost video. While most popular was that a ghost visited Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 29. Available the gym for an early-morning work- online at www.post-gazette.com/pg/08242/ I prefer onsite field investigations, it’s 907983-67.stm. not always practical or economical to out. Peterson’s son suggested it was his deceased grandfather, looking after his —Julia Lavarnway visit the scene. As it turned out, the case could be solved from a careful exam- mother’s new business. Julia Lavarnway is an assistant edi- ination of news reports and the footage While the ghost idea was popular, tor of SKEPTICAL INQUIRER and Free (available on YouTube at www.youtube a closer look at the image reveals some Inquiry magazines. Her mini dachs- .com/watch?v=suFfI0R4vhQ). in teresting clues about the ghost’s iden- hund, Lennon, is a big fan of Sid the The image appeared at 2:21 in the tity:

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER January / February 2009 7 NEWS AND COMMENT

Clue Number 1: The object is whit- that the gym had at least eight different One might be a bit surprised to hear ish and out of focus. Security cameras cameras on and functioning that night, that these stories were recounted during (especially the round “fish-eye” lenses the “ghost” was seen on only one of a Café Inquiry in the lobby of the Center used in the club) are designed to be them. If the spirited image had actually for Inquiry’s Steve Allen Theater. Café mounted high above the ground and been in the room, other cameras should Inquiry is the CFI/Los Angeles’s monthly record activity twenty or more feet have recorded the same image from public discussion about science and other away. Things at that distance will be in other angles. They didn’t, therefore the issues. focus, while objects close to the lens will object and phenomenon, whatever it But would you believe that the narra- be out of focus. Therefore the object was, only happened to that one camera. tors relaying the true tales of terror were must have been very close to the camera. One explanation prematurely dis- virtually all dedicated skeptics? It’s true! Clue Number 2: The object appears missed by Peterson and others is almost Members of CFI/LA, the Inde- to be glowing, but there’s no indication certainly the correct one: the ghost pendent Investigations Group, and oth- that it is actually emitting light. It has is a bug. A spider or insect wandered ers gathered on the evening of October onto the camera; that’s why it was out 22, 2008, to share personal experiences that felt like paranormal experiences at Various people offered of focus, why it seemed to glow, why it didn’t interact with anything in the the time. The stories they told relate the their theories, ranging room, and why it only appeared on one same kinds of experiences that many people who believe in the paranormal from a hoax to a bug camera. It’s true that a moving light wouldn’t activate the camera, as they are have had but are unaware of the rational explanations for them. to headlights from sensitive to motion, not light. But it was And so we heard a room full of the bug’s movement that triggered the a passing car. skeptics talk about some very odd experi- sensor and started the recording. This ences. There was the disembodied voice Peterson and her also explains why none of the other 600 in the back seat of a car, the hand grab- clients with the same system reported security company bing the leg of someone asleep in an seeing a ghost. Why would they? dismissed all of these empty room, some wild coincidences, A bug on the camera fits all the facts and other strange stuff. After each story, obvious explanations—by and solves the mystery. And, as SKEPTICAL they opened the floor to possible explana- INQUIRER readers know, it’s not the first far the most popular was tions from the rest of those in attendance. time that a spider on a security camera What was really exceptional was that a ghost visited created a ghostly image; in June 2007, that the explanations that came forth the gym for an a courthouse in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from the crowd were rational and sci- captured a nearly identical “ghost” that ence-based, with none of the usual resis- early-morning workout. turned out to be a bug (see “Santa Fe tance from the witnesses themselves (“I ‘Courthouse Ghost’ Mystery Solved,” SI know what I saw!” “He couldn’t have September/October 2007). known that!” “There’s no other possible all the characteristics of something that explanation!”). Ah, but there usually are —Benjamin Radford is instead reflecting white light, perhaps other possible explanations—even for from one of the bright lights mounted Benjamin Radford is an investigator with bizarre events. around the camera (you can see them the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and clearly in video footage of the story). managing editor of SKEPTICAL INQUIRER. Clue Number 3: Though Peterson — James Underdown and news reporters claimed that the ghostly object “spent the night wander- Skeptics Create James Underdown is executive director, ing around the weights,” a closer look Creepy Café Center for Inquiry/Los Angeles, and at the video shows it instead wandered chair of the Independent Investigations over or across them. Its movements One shouldn’t be surprised to hear at a Group. E-mail: [email protected]. do not show any interaction with the pre-Halloween gathering in Hollywood, objects in the room at all, suggesting it California, several people testifying about was not in the room but instead above their personal encounters with the para- it. normal. Hollywood-types tend to flock Clue Number 4: Despite the fact to the mystical, whether it’s late October or not.

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