Archive for March, 2008
The Bush administration appeals court ruling on mercury pollution; the EPA faces congressional subpoena in wrangle over emissions regulations; Greenwire profiles CDC whistleblower; Tech companies call for increased H-1B visa cap; Al Gore launches new climate awareness campaign.
The Senate Subcommittee on Energy Oversight held a field hearing in Bismarck, North Dakota on Wednesday on carbon capture and sequestration technology. Two panels presented the current and projected future development of CCS technology, the outlook ranging from very cautious optimism to an almost cynical pessimism. But the lack of an objective scientific voice among those testifying was conspicuous.
Colleges and universities received close to $2.25 billion from Congressional earmarks this year according to a new study released this week by
The Chronicle of Higher Education. A large chunk, $1.6 billion, will go towards scientific research at some 500 institutions.
A roundup of some of the science and technology policy events happening around Washington D.C. from Mar. 31 to Apr. 6.
Education Week released a report today on the state of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in U.S. schools.
Virginia rolls out high-speed Internet programs to boost jobs, health care, education, and commerce. It’s a model that works.
The United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development Agency today announced a $267 million loan to Open Range Communications to bring portable, wireless broadband connectivity to rural areas in 17 states.
British politician Gordon Brown has always been keen on creating innovation in his nation’s economy, convinced that U.K. universities and businesses together can create new technologies and services that will boost economic growth. Now that he’s prime minister of the United Kingdom, he’s moving swiftly to act on those inclinations—with possible lessons for the United States.
Worldwide biofuel production is increasing so rapidly, according to a new analysis from Merrill Lynch, while other fuel sources cannot keep up with demand, that without the rising production, oil prices would be higher than they already are.
The Wall Street Journal reported on the analysis yesterday, which adds yet another variable to the already complex debate over biofuel policy.
Faculty and staff in colleges and universities have a growing number of technologies at their disposal, but they have to understand how to use them to enrich education, and institutions must be willing to invest in useful solutions.
A quick look at some of the policy-related posts in the science and technology blogosphere: suggestions for best practices in science blogging; the need for more hurricane research; vaccines and public fears; and new research centers to study parallel computing.
A roundup of some of the science and technology policy events happening around Washington D.C. from Mar. 24 to Mar. 28.
In a briefing yesterday for Capitol Hill staffers, neuroscientist Martha Farah explained that new technologies that enhance the power of the brain also raise questions about safety, economic fairness, privacy, and personal freedom.
The FCC 700 mhz auction ended yesterday, raking in record $19.6 billion for Federal coffers. While the successful sale of the C-block triggers an “open” network provision, questions linger about the unsold D-block license and the future of a national emergency response network.
A recent National Research Council report recognizes that the 9/11 attacks provoked counter-productive security measures that stifle access to fruitful scientific research. Security expert Bruce Schneier talks with
Science Progress about the science that makes us smarter and the security that makes us safer.
By constantly criticizing and responding to anti-science forces, are we only strengthening and propping them up?
Two new studies on the potential economic effects of the Lieberman Warner bill appeared late last week. Both are only based on the potential of current technologies, and both of them will prove to be totally wrong.
A quick look at some of the policy-related posts in the science and technology blogosphere: synthetic biology, the lack of science coverage on cable news networks, drug-resistant antibiotics, and rethinking the drug development process.
Last week’s stories about the future of grants for the younger generation of NIH investigators is just one piece of the larger puzzle over the state of funding biotech research. The Scientist offers a useful summary of the major stumbling blocks in pharmaceutical development and how they relate to financing questions in the drug industry, in university labs, at the NIH, and at start-up companies.
A roundup of some of the science and technology policy events happening around Washington D.C. from Mar. 17 to Mar. 21.
A quick look at some of the policy-related stories making the rounds on the science and technology blogs.
Last summer, the United Kingdom Government created the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. The new Department has an ambitious goal, outlined in a new report: to turn the United Kingdom into an “Innovation Nation” that is the world’s most attractive country for innovative businesses.
Scientists at the University of California-Berkeley have developed a “visual decoder” which employes a computational algorithm to identify what someone saw just by examining their brain activity. The success of the study represents an advance in the scientific understanding of how the brain processes images, but could also have potential ramifications for mind-reading technology.
Microsoft Corporation Chairman Bill Gates advised Congress to reform both the United States education system and immigration policies during a hearing yesterday honoring the 50th anniversary of the House Committee on Science and Technology.
Recent investigations into performance-enhancing drug use in professional sports has driven debate over the substances in the public square. But when making decisions about steroids, one size does not fit all, and there’s more to consider than just “did he or didn’t he?”
After steady increases from 1998 to 2003 that doubled the budget for the National Institutes of Health, five years of stagnant funding have reduced purchasing power at the NIH by 13 percent, according to a report released yesterday by a consortium of research universities.
The President’s plan to slash two highly successful National Institute of Standards and Technology programs drew the ire of Subcommittee members during a hearing on NIST’s FY 2009 budget request yesterday.
Applying the tools of 21st century technology and innovation to the science of governing offers a wealth of opportunities to promote the common good.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will appear before the House Science and Technology Committee tomorrow in what will be the first of a series of hearing on challenges to our nation’s innovation agenda. A look at recent findings, including the National Science Foundation’s biennial report on the state of science and engineering research and education, shows that there is cause for concern.
Tomorrow’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on net neutrality and free speech on the Internet brings the controversial issue back into congressional crosshairs. To help make sense of the issue, Science Progress and the Center for American Progress have put together this net neutrality 101, a beginner’s guide to understanding the debate that could alter the very future of the Internet.
The Washington Post reports that unions at the Environmental Protection Agency have broken with management over Administrator Stephen Johnson’s disregard for scientific integrity. The news comes only a two weeks after Johnson published the official explanation for the agency’s refusal to allow California’s emissions reduction standards, despite the fact that the ruling ignored the “unanimous recommendation of the EPA’s legal and technical staffs.”
Amid the premature hype about induced pluripotent stem cells (hyped by everyone but the scientists who did the work themselves), the unique characteristics of embryonic stem cells as platforms for learning about human disease can too easily be lost. An important new study should help correct this oversight.
In his most recent column, Chris Mooney traced the complexities of the the current debate over biofuels. One major concern is that increased demand for biofuels leads farmers to plant more feedstocks for ethanol and devote less land to growing food.
The New York Times tackled the issue of food crops yesterday, offering a substantial cover story on the growing gap between global grain production and soaring grain demand.
The Heartland Institute gathered a group of skeptics of global warming in New York City during Mar. 2 through Mar. 4. The conference speakers criticized the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Al Gore, the two winners of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
A roundup of some of the science and technology policy events happening around Washington D.C. from Mar. 10 to Mar. 14.
Collaborations between computer scientists and life science researchers facilitate new ways of doing science that could inform sound policy decisions. But current numbers indicate that the far fewer U.S. students are enrolling in computer science programs than they were at the beginning of the decade.
In Congress there is astonishingly shortsighted opposition to the obvious need for the Food and Drug Administration to police the tobacco industry.
Controversy marred a Wednesday hearing on the Department of Energy’s FY2009 budget request for research and development when two DOE undersecretaries invited to testify decided at the last minute to skip the event.
As
The New York Times reviews the rising popularity of solar thermal power plants, Congress hears from an Arizona Public Service Company spokesperson about Solana, the world’s largest solar thermal plant to be built in Arizona. The output of ten planned solar thermal plants in Arizona, California, and Nevada could equal the output of three nuclear reactors, but they could be built in two years instead of ten or more.
The latest scientific research suggests that current biofuel production might not reduce carbon emissions significantly, or at all. It’s clear now that the issue is “wickedly complicated.” Are we wise enough to handle it?
Scientists and security experts gathered yesterday on Capitol Hill to present a National Research Council report, “Science and Security in a Post 9/11 World.” The report, which was mandated by Congress, suggests ways of balancing the goals of security and economic vitality in the context of science policy. At the top of the list is a recommendation to create a new, high-level Science and Security Commission.
The House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Energy and Environment will hold a hearing tomorrow to discuss President Bush’s Department of Energy research and development budget proposal for fiscal year 2009. The Center for American Progress has taken a closer look at the numbers and has offered a set of recommendations for the DOE and future Federal spending on alternative and renewable energy research.
Provisions in the Lieberman-Warner bill would allow companies to meet some of their emissions targets by purchasing “offset” credits from reductions in emissions not covered under cap-and-trade. But current offsets markets are unregulated and unreliable. Hayes explains how to regulate offsets that will enable verifiable emissions cuts.
Members of the
Science Progress advisory board and editorial staff express their support for the Science Debate 2008 initiative and encourage the presidential candidates of both major political parties to devote one nationally televised debate specifically to issues related to science, technology, and innovation.
Preserving the U.S. competitive edge in science requires many things to happen, but most immediately we must maintain English as the lingua franca of science, and open the doors to all who want to study science in our country.
