What’s Ahead
Coronavirus Scrambling Congressional Calendar
Spring is normally a pivotal period in the annual federal budget process as the House and Senate Appropriations Committees hold public hearings while writing their spending proposals behind closed doors. The panels have not yet indicated how they will proceed in light of the pandemic, though the chair of the Senate committee has indicated it may hold virtual hearings or skip that step in the process entirely. Much of Congress’ attention is instead turning to overseeing the roughly $2 trillion coronavirus relief legislation that was just enacted and developing a potential follow-on package. The House has also established a bipartisan Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis to oversee the relief funds.
Defense Panel Holding ‘Paper’ Hearing on Nuclear Weapons Funding
In a bid to continue public oversight of defense programs during the coronavirus pandemic, the Senate Armed Services Committee is holding a “paper” hearing on Thursday to examine the Department of Energy’s budget request for nuclear weapons programs. At the scheduled time of the hearing, the committee will post opening statements from witnesses and committee members online and will submit written questions to the witnesses, with a target response time of one week. Among the witnesses are Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, who leads DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration, and Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette. The budget for nuclear weapons is expected to be particularly controversial this fiscal year, as NNSA is seeking to increase funding for weapons modernization and stewardship programs by 25% to $15.6 billion, which includes funding for a new type of warhead . Although the committee does not write NNSA’s budget legislation, it can direct or limit the agency’s activities through the annual National Defense Authorization Act. The top Republican on the counterpart House committee said last month he expects nuclear weapons modernization to be the “most contentious issue” in this year’s version of the legislation. (Update: The hearing has been postponed.)
Academies to Explore Higher Ed Role in Coronavirus Response
The National Academies is kicking off an event series this week focused on the role of higher education institutions in responding to the pandemic. The first event will address how researchers can assist national response efforts and subsequent meetings will turn to topics such as how labs are shifting research agendas, ways to improve public information by crowdsourcing scientific expertise, and options for providing rapid policy advice. The series of seven events will run through the end of April.
NOAA Ocean Exploration Efforts Spin Up
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Ocean Exploration Advisory Board is meeting this week to discuss the status of the agency’s unmanned systems (UxS) strategy and its ocean mapping efforts, among other topics. NOAA has recently taken several steps to support these priorities, including establishing a new Unmanned Systems Operations program and purchasing two new oceanographic vessels. The agency has also sought partnerships to advance innovation in UxS and ocean mapping, striking a four year agreement with a private-sector company to develop deep-water autonomous technologies, and holding a prize competition focused on ocean observations. NOAA is prioritizing ocean mapping in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, in accordance with an executive order issued in 2019.
In Case You Missed It
Droegemeier Takes Helm of NSF as Córdova Concludes Term
France Córdova stepped down as director of the National Science Foundation on March 30 as she concluded her six year term. With President Trump’s nomination of Sethuraman Panchanathan to succeed her still pending in Congress, the administration chose to appoint White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Kelvin Droegemeier as acting director in the interim. Droegemeier previously served on NSF’s governing board for 12 years, including four years as its vice chair. This is the first time since OSTP’s establishment in 1976 that its director has taken on a separate role in a federal agency. The job would ordinarily fall to NSF’s deputy director, also a Senate-confirmed position, but that post has been vacant since 2014. The next-highest-ranking official at the agency is Chief Operating Officer Fleming Crim, who is not a presidential appointee. In an interview with Physics Today, Cordova said she now plans to return to her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to consider her next career step.
DOE Labs Remain Open for ‘Mission Critical’ Work
Lawrence Livermore National Lab expanded its onsite activities last week following two weeks of “minimum safe operations” due to California’s shelter in place order. While the majority of employees continue to work remotely, a small number have returned to the lab to carry out “mission-critical activities,” including some classified work. At a town hall meeting last week, Los Alamos National Lab Director Thom Mason said his lab will likewise continue to perform essential activities onsite, such as nuclear stockpile stewardship, nuclear forensics, and production of medical isotopes. He noted New Mexico’s national labs are exempt from some restrictions imposed by the state-level stay at home order. Sandia National Lab’s main campus in Albuquerque is reopening several buildings that had been vacated after employees tested positive for coronavirus. In addition, staff at some DOE facilities are remaining on site to carry out COVID-19 research. Oak Ridge National Lab is now accepting rapid access proposals for coronavirus research at its Spallation Neutron Source, which is coming back online following a planned shutdown in March, and the High Flux Isotope Reactor, which is still on a planned shutdown.
NASA Outlines Long-Term Lunar Plans
On April 2, NASA released a “plan for sustained lunar exploration and development” that broadly outlines activities it intends to conduct at the Moon after it returns astronauts to the surface, a milestone it aims to accomplish by 2024. The plan includes the establishment of a facility called Artemis Base Camp near the lunar south pole that would eventually host crews for periods of one-to-two months and provide a hub for further exploring the surface and potentially operating a radio telescope on the lunar far side. The document also reaffirms NASA’s plans to work with international partners to build out the future Gateway outpost in lunar orbit, though agency officials recently stated it may not be used for the first crewed landing. Although the document responds to a call from the National Space Council last summer to flesh out NASA’s entire Moon to Mars program, it includes few details about plans for crewed Mars exploration while projecting that a first mission will occur “in the 2030s.” Policy legislation pending in the House would require NASA to focus on Mars while designating sustained lunar exploration as outside the “critical path” of preparing for a crewed Mars mission.
Space Station Research Set for Move to NASA Science Directorate
Craig Kundrot, the head of NASA’s Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Applications Division, said last week the agency will likely move his portfolio out of the agency’s human exploration directorate. He said the division is set to be administered by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and that an official announcement will be made in “probably a matter of weeks.” The division’s physical sciences portfolio revolves around work performed using the International Space Station, particularly research on phenomena peculiar to micro-gravity environments. Its biological research , which includes a large component dedicated to human health in space, takes place on the station and other platforms, including ground-based facilities.
NASA to Fund Six-Cubesat Heliophysics Mission
NASA announced on March 30 that it will fund a mission called the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) with a launch target date no earlier than summer 2023 and a total development and launch cost of $63 million. Comprising six cubesats orbiting the Earth in a close formation, the mission will produce three-dimensional maps of solar activity by observing the radio waves emitted. NASA is increasingly supporting science missions employing small-scale spacecraft such as cubesats, which have lower costs and can readily accommodate mission architectures entailing multiple spacecraft.
DOE Expands Support for Direct Air Capture Carbon Mitigation
Last week, the Department of Energy announced plans to provide up to $22 million to support development of technologies that remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. One solicitation, from the department’s Office of Science, will support “fundamental research in materials and chemical sciences” at DOE national labs. A second, from the Office of Fossil Energy, will focus on applied materials research and field testing prototypes. In its appropriation for fiscal year 2020, Congress directed the Office of Fossil Energy and the Office of Science to together spend at least $15 million on direct air capture R&D as part of a larger effort to support negative-emissions technologies.
Commission Calls for Doubling Federal AI Spending
The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence released its first set of quarterly policy recommendations last week, building on a preliminary report released late last year. The congressionally chartered group calls for the federal government to double non-defense spending on AI to $2 billion in fiscal year 2021, a steeper rate than the doubling by fiscal year 2022 proposed in President Trump’s latest budget request. Among the commission’s other recommendations are to establish a National AI Research Resource, described as an “infrastructure that would provide researchers and students with access to compute resources, co-located with AI-ready government data sets, educational tools, and user support.” It also recommends increasing investments in complementary areas, including AI-enabling microelectronics and spectrum sharing for 5G telecommunications networks.
EPA Extends Comment Period for Science Transparency Rule
The Environmental Protection Agency announced last week it has extended the deadline from April 17 to May 18 for public comments on revisions to a proposed rule to restrict the agency from using certain scientific studies that lack publicly available data. In response to the announcement, House Science Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) said “While this extension is a step in the right direction, it is unreasonably optimistic to expect the COVID-19 public health crisis to subside by mid-May,” reiterating her previous call to extend the comment period to “at least 109 days.” In a separate letter , Democratic committee chairs including Johnson request that all agencies extend the deadlines for open comment periods, citing the challenges associated with responding to EPA’s transparency rule.
Pandemic Delays Future Circular Collider Announcement
At a videoconference meeting last month, the CERN Council agreed to postpone the release of the European Particle Physics Strategy Update due to the coronavirus pandemic. The strategy was drafted at a meeting this January and makes recommendations about future priorities, including on such crucial questions as whether CERN should move ahead with its proposed Future Circular Collider megaproject. Those recommendations were due to be approved at a meeting of the CERN Council on May 25, but the council will instead hold another videoconference on that date to determine next steps. The council resolved that in the meantime it would be inappropriate to release the draft strategy or make any comment about its contents.
Events This Week
All times are Eastern Daylight Time and all congressional hearings are webcast, unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement.
Monday, April 6
CSIS/SWF: “Threats, Challenges, and Opportunities in Space” 2:00 pm, Virtual event Atlantic Council: “COVID-19: Clean Energy and Climate Impacts” 4:00 - 5:00 pm, Virtual event
Tuesday, April 7
National Academies: “Addressing the Underrepresentation of Women of Color in Tech” (continues Wednesday) Virtual event NSF: Engineering Advisory Committee meeting 11:00 am - 5:00 pm, Virtual event
Wednesday, April 8
NOAA: Ocean Exploration Advisory Board meeting (continues Thursday) Virtual event Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America: “What to Do When Your University, FBI, or DOJ Knocks on Your Door: Responding to University, Criminal, and Civil Investigations” 12:00 - 1:00 pm, Virtual Event CSIS: “US-China Tech Competition and Cooperation in the COVID-19 Era” 1:00 - 2:00 pm, Virtual Event National Academies: “The Supply Chain and COVID-19” 2:00 - 3:30 pm, Virtual event
Thursday, April 9
POSTPONED -- Senate: “Department of Energy Budget Posture” 9:30 am, Armed Services Committee Senate: “Enlisting Big Data in the Fight Against Coronavirus” 10:00 am, Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee American Meteorological Society: “Anxiety and Action in the Age of Quarantine: Strategies for Success” 12:00 pm, Virtual event National Academies: “Enhancing Quantitative Capacity of Geoscience Programs” 1:00 - 5:15 pm, Virtual event National Academies: “Postsecondary Response to COVID-19: Hubs of Knowledge and Resources for the Nation” 3:00 - 4:30 pm, Virtual Event American Academy of Arts and Sciences: “How to Talk to Coronavirus Skeptics” 4:00 pm, Virtual event
Friday, April 10
AAAS: “In it for the Long Haul? University/ISE Partnerships in Support of Broader Impacts” 12:00 - 1:00 pm, Virtual event #ScienceInAction: “Conversation about #ScienceInAction during COVID-19” 1:30 pm, Virtual event
Monday, April 13
National Academies: “The Impacts of Racism and Bias on ‘Black’ People Pursuing Careers in Science, Engineering, and Medicine: A Workshop” 9:30 am - 3:30 pm, Virtual event
Opportunities
OSTP Extends Deadline for Open Access RFI
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has again extended the deadline for its request for public input on “approaches for ensuring broad public access to the peer-reviewed scholarly publications, data, and code that result from federally funded scientific research.” Submissions are now due May 6.
National Science Board Hiring Policy Analyst
The National Science Board is hiring a Science and Engineering Policy Analyst responsible for identifying and researching significant policy issues, leading high-level discussions on S&T policy, and serving as the point of contact for board committees, among other tasks. Applications are due April 15.
APS Collecting Stories about Physics During the Pandemic
The American Physical Society is accepting stories about the experience of physicists during the pandemic. Submissions may address questions such as: “How are you carrying out your research? What steps are you taking to help your students or to stay in touch with collaborators? How are you using your physics training during the pandemic?” To submit your story, send a 100 to 200 word email to physics@aps.org .
For additional opportunities, please visit www.aip.org/fyi/opportunities . Know of an opportunity for scientists to engage in science policy? Email us at fyi@aip.org .
Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org .
Around the Web
News and views currently in circulation. Links do not imply endorsement.
White House
- The US was beset by denial and dysfunction for 70 days as the coronavirus raged (Washington Post)
- Pressed by Trump, US pushed unproven coronavirus treatment guidance (Reuters)
- Inside the epic White House fight over hydroxychloroquine (Axios)
- Peter Navarro on his qualifications to disagree with Dr. Anthony Fauci on coronavirus treatments: ‘I’m a social scientist’ (CNN)
- Tensions persist between Trump and medical advisers over the coronavirus (New York Times)
- Fauci and Birx worked together at the dawn of the AIDS crisis. Thirty-seven years later, they are partners in fighting the coronavirus (Washington Post)
- How Fauci and Birx got Trump to listen to science (CNN)
- White House-backed panel uses AI to distill data needed to battle coronavirus (Washington Examiner)
Congress
- Pelosi punts on infrastructure in next coronavirus aid package (Roll Call)
- Clyburn: House coronavirus panel ‘will be forward-looking,’ not review Trump’s early response (Politico)
- Support grows in the House for a 9/11-style commission on coronavirus response (NBC News)
- Research associations request future study of COVID-19 response (AAU)
Political Engagement
Science, Society, and the Economy
- The rising heroes of the coronavirus era? Nations’ top scientists (New York Times)
- How NIH chief Francis Collins is trying to get people of faith to wake up to coronavirus realities (Washington Post)
- Mobile phone mast fires are being investigated amid conspiracy theories claiming a link between 5G and coronavirus (BBC News)
- Coronavirus: Do governments ever truly listen to ‘the science’? (The Conversation, perspective by Reiner Grundmann)
- The medical news site that saw the coronavirus coming months ago (New York Times)
- How the rhetoric of moderation has shaped the US government’s approach to risk, from nuclear fear to climate policy (Physics Today, perspective by Gabriel Henderson)
Education and Workforce
- COVID-19 institutional and student aid proposal and assumptions (AAU)
- Safely conducting essential research in the face of COVID-19 (Nature)
- Opening a new university offers opportunities to try new approaches and reach new populations (Physics Today)
- Female scientists allege discrimination, neglect of research on women at NIH’s child health institute (ScienceInsider)
- Expropriated Indigenous land is the foundation of the land-grant university system (High Country News, perspective by Robert Lee and Tristan Ahtone)
Research Management
- COVID-19 changed how the world does science, together (New York Times)
- The long-term effects of COVID-19 on field science (Undark)
- Big labs replace data taking with new priorities due to COVID-19 (Physics)
- Invoking Bayh-Dole may be needed to get affordable COVID-19 treatments (STAT, perspective by Varoon Mathur)
- Breaking technology’s rules in times of crisis, featuring John Trump (Rational Action, perspective by William Thomas)
- Proposal for a National Research Cloud (Stanford Human-Centered AI Lab)
- Journal publishers promote flexibility during COVID-19 pandemic (Chemical & Engineering News)
- Responding to peer reviews is never fun. It’s harder when COVID-19 shuts down your lab (ScienceInsider)
- What is replication? (PLOS Biology, perspective by Brian Nosek)
- ‘Open access’ was supposed to change scientific publishing. Critics worry the model is being corrupted by money anyway (Undark)
Labs and Facilities
- How the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the world’s biggest physics experiments (Nature)
- Critical research hit as COVID-19 forces physics labs to close (Physics World)
- Chilean telescopes that explore galaxies brought down to earth by coronavirus (Reuters)
- CDC lifts shutdown order on Army biolabs at Fort Detrick (Military.com)
- NERSC, ESnet continue to deliver supercomputing, networking support for nation’s scientists during pandemic (Berkeley Lab)
- Under Secretary Paul Dabbar on the COVID-19 HPC Consortium (insideHPC)
- UT-Battelle gets five-year extension to manage ORNL (Oak Ridge Today)
- Cost and schedule performance of NSF major facilities construction projects (GAO, report)
- $153 million awarded for high luminosity upgrades to particle detectors at the Large Hadron Collider (NSF)
- A walk through the ‘new IBM’ (Rochester Post Bulletin)
Emerging Technologies
- Oak Ridge’s Raphael Pooser on progress in quantum communication (HPCwire)
- Argonne National Lab testing quantum internet (National Defense Magazine)
- Quantum computing meets particle physics for LHC data analysis (Physics World)
- Britain set to ‘lose out in quantum computing race’ (The Telegraph)
Space
- ESA restores operations of space science missions (SpaceNews)
- Limited work continues on JWST (SpaceNews)
- Nighttime US / international astronomy gets new identity (NOIRLab)
- NASA officials outline plans for building a Lunar Gateway in the mid-2020s (Ars Technica, interview with Dan Hartman)
- The decade of Venus: An interview with David Grinspoon (Space Review)
- Hubble’s 30-year legacy (Physics Today)
- Stars and Starlink (Space Review)
- What NASA is doing to keep COVID-19 off the space station (Astronomy.com)
- NASA taps workforce for innovative ideas for coronavirus response efforts (NASA)
- NASA and ESA to fund coronavirus projects (SpaceNews)
Weather, Climate, and Environment
- Amid pandemic, UN cancels global climate conference (Washington Post)
- If you have to ask EPA for data, are they really public? Agency critics say no (ScienceInsider)
- EPA Science Advisory Board revamp faced internal pushback — docs (E&E News)
- Leading scientists say NOAA plan to improve US weather forecasting is incomplete (Washington Post)
- A conversation with Dr. Jane Lubchenco on Women’s History Month (Climate.gov)
- Modern meteorology was born 60 years ago (Ars Technica)
- New map pinpoints US power lines susceptible to space weather superstorms (Physics World)
Energy
- Review of the SBIR and STTR programs at DOE (National Academies, report)
- Energy innovation in the FY2021 budget: Congress should lead (ITIF, report)
- Harnessing heat: How the federal government can advance geothermal energy (ITIF, report)
- Granular technologies to accelerate decarbonization (Science)
- Advances, challenges, and long-term opportunities in electrochemistry (National Academies, report)
- Winners announced for the Powering the Blue Economy Ocean Observing Prize (DOE)
- Companies ink deal to build world’s first gas CCS plant (E&E News)
- Centrus centrifuges among first projected DOE work delays due to COVID-19 (Exchange Monitor)
Defense
- Acting Director Highnam discusses COVID-19 (DARPA)
- COVID-19 is killing off our traditional notions of national defense (Washington Post, perspective by Max Boot)
- Budget would slash Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program (Arms Control Association)
- America’s adversaries keep investing in weapons to take out satellites (C4ISRNet)
- Take your pick: A new warhead or a ‘new program of record’ (Physics Today)
- Forging an alliance innovation base (CNAS, report)
- DNFSB urges staff to delve deeper into nuke sites (Exchange Monitor)
- Cleanup of US nuclear waste takes back seat as virus spreads (AP)
Biomedical
- Inside the coronavirus testing failure: Alarm and dismay among the scientists who sought to help (Washington Post)
- An interview with the CDC director on coronavirus, masks, and an agency gone quiet (STAT)
- Trump administration ended pandemic early-warning program to detect coronaviruses (Los Angeles Times)
- This tiny federal agency was built to respond to a crisis like coronavirus. Now that it’s here, is BARDA ready? (STAT)
- 28 NIH staffers tested positive for coronavirus in Maryland (WTOP)
- The simulations driving the world’s response to COVID-19 (Nature)
- Scientists are preparing a massive computer model of the coronavirus (NSF)
- Rapid expert consultation on the possibility of bioaerosol spread of SARS-CoV-2 (National Academies, report)
- Is the coronavirus airborne? Experts can’t agree (Nature)
- Particle physicists propose stripped-down ventilator to help combat COVID-19 (CERN Courier)
- Coronavirus sidelines research on cancer and other ailments (Wall Street Journal)
International Affairs
- Experts highlight how science diplomacy combats pandemics (AAAS)
- Live Blog: R&D response to COVID-19 pandemic (Science|Business)
- COVID-19 crisis forces EU to prepare Plan B (and Plan C) for seven-year budget (Science|Business)
- CERN establishes COVID-19 task force (CERNCourier)
- Swiss government launches COVID-19 scientific taskforce (Swissinfo.ch)
- EU science spending must not fall victim to the post-COVID cull (Times Higher Education, perspective by Jan Palmowski)
- UK’s R&D funding reached a historic high of £37bn in 2018 (Research Professional)
- The Middle East’s synchrotron is open SESAME (Chemistry World)
- US officials agree on new ways to control high tech exports to China — sources (Reuters)
- Access to information an obstacle in EU-China joint research (Science|Business)
- China pulls the plug on wasteful, unnecessary research into COVID-19 (South China Morning Post)
- China’s historic rise in science and tech stirs criticism (Science|Business)