The U.S. government is using scientific atmospheric tests to determine whether or not North Korea exploded an underground nuclear device. Air samples taken by the Pentagon have been analyzed, however, with contradictory results. One test showed that there were radioactive atoms in the air samples; another did not. Japan and China tested the air near the area and did not find any evidence of nuclear material in the samples.

I find it interesting that the Bush administration is using science to support its claim that North Korea did indeed explode a nuclear device. I am hoping that it was not a nuclear bomb, or that it was a dud. But given the Bush administration’s dismisal of scientific evidence in other areas, such as global warming and climate change, we see how science is used to support political views. I could be totally wrong on this, but it is interesting to hear the administration leaders, Bush, Rice, Rumfeld using science to support their views. In many other instances, they questioned the “reliability” of scientific “data” to support important initiatives.

It will worth watching how the continued testing of atmospheric samples plays out over the next several weeks.