Market forces alone are not enough to expand the research and innovation initiatives that will drive a competitive U.S. economy. To bolster the economy, science and technology policy must return to the national priority list, said Science Progress advisory board member Tom Kalil, speaking yesterday at the Congressional Intern Caucus “State of the Net” conference.
Business and blogs in the Middle East, Asia and, North Africa ground to a halt after damage to two undersea communications cables in the Mediterranean crippled Internet services. The incident could be a “wake-up call” to a region heavily dependent on underground lines without much of a back-up infrastructure.
The Bush Administration will likely withdraw its $1.5 billion in support for the FutureGen coal-fired power plant in Illinois. The plant was to be the flagship demonstration project for carbon capture and sequestration technology, which would divert carbon emissions from coal combustion and bury them underground.
The phrase “stem cells” never made it into the State of the Union address—until last night, when the President implied that only policy makers, not scientists, can understand morality.
Yesterday, we noted the frequency with which President Bush has mentioned “energy” in previous State of the Union speeches. Last night’s address and included the word “energy” five times, but contained more doublespeak than leadership.
Financing Science
Progressives can get behind the president if he supports in words and deeds his calls for a doubling of federal spending on critical basic research, writes Ed Paisley.
FINANCING SCIENCE
The decline in basic scientific research in the United States is verifiable, writes Tom Kalil, but easily reversible with the right set of policies in place.
Press coverage of last week’s announcement from the J. Craig Venter Institute that researchers have built the first synthetic genome focused on synthetic cells as potential fuel factories, carbon dioxide sinks, biological weapons, ecosystem ravagers, and ego boosters.
CULTIVATING SCIENCE
Tonight, President Bush offers the final State of the Union address of his presidency. Saying that science has gotten short shrift during the Bush years is nothing new. Science Progress takes a look at some of the key terms in science and tech policy that have, and have not, appeared in the previous six State of the Union addresses.
CULTIVATING SCIENCE
Free public archiving of Institute-funded research will accelerate scientific communication, control costs in higher education, and more effectively share information.
A roundup of some of the science and technology policy events happening around Washington D.C. from Jan. 28 to Feb. 1.
Experts testify that auction would foster green job growth, offset higher energy prices for low-income consumers, and fund R&D in alternative energy sources and technology.
President Bush’s “Vision for Space Exploration,” unveiled in 2004, outlined new plans for the country’s space program. Four years later, some in the science and space community feel the current vision is “blurred” and in need of a new “prescription” for the future of science and space exploration in the United States.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission began auctioning off licenses to a portion of the 700 MHz band of the radio frequency spectrum. The decisions of companies that win those national licenses will determine the shape of wireless communications in the United States for years to come. Science Progress offers this short guide to the issues involved.
A new plan to sequence and compare one thousand human genomes; WHO releases data on bird flu monitoring; Ares 1 design flaw could cause violent vibrations.
Scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland have succeeded in synthesizing the complete genome of a bacterium, Mycoplasma genitalium. If the stitched DNA can be inserted into a cell that then replicates, it will appear to have met the criteria for the first “artificial life” form.
DEFINING SCIENCE
We need more popular intersections of scientific thinking with the other lenses through which we see the world.
Europe revises biofuels standards, NSF Science and Engineering Indicators in global context, and sub-national regions lead the world in climate policy.
FINANCING SCIENCE
President Bush’s last budget is unlikely to expand dedicated and critical federal spending on science. It’s a problem that must be overcome.
The NSF has been making measurable headway in its efforts to improve STEM education from Kindergarten to Grad School and beyond, but it still has a long way to go. On Jan. 15th and 16th the NSF held a conference in DC entitled “Science Education and Workforce Development: Key Challenges for Innovation in the States,” focusing on progress an challenges in the overlapping fields.
Science Progress and American Progress's Doing What Works project teamed up to produce a set of policy proposals that the Obama administration and Congress can adopt to reinvest in the building blocks of American science, innovation, and economic competitiveness. Read the overview of the five reports.
Science Progress proceeds from the propositions that scientific inquiry is among the finest expressions of human excellence, that it is a crucial source of human flourishing, a critical engine of economic growth, and must be dedicated to the common good. Scientific inquiry entails global responsibilities. It should lead to a more equitable, safer, and healthier future for all of humankind.