What’s Ahead
Science and Technology Measures Moving Ahead with Key Defense Bill
The Senate is expected to approve the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 this week, sending it to President Trump for his signature. Congressional negotiators resolved lingering disputes over the annual defense policy update last week, including the decision to create a sixth branch of the U.S. armed services called the Space Force. The new branch will sit within the Department of the Air Force and subsume the U.S. Air Force’s existing space activities as well as the new Space Development Agency, but it will not incorporate most other defense and intelligence-related space R&D programs. The finalized bill also provides direction to two panels that are working to protect research from foreign exploitation, instructs the Department of Defense to continue supporting the JASON science advisory group, and requires the department to implement a “process” to keep its policies for emerging technologies up to date. The bill rejects a proposal to bar the Trump administration from deploying a new low-yield nuclear warhead and repeals previously enacted directions to develop a “testbed” for space-based missile interceptors. It also directs DOD to increase the resilience of facilities against climate change and instructs the director of national intelligence to create a Climate Security Advisory Council.
Congress Appears Poised to Pass Final Spending Agreement
Congress is aiming to pass final spending legislation for fiscal year 2020 this week, the details of which could be released as soon as today. The current stopgap measure funding the government is set to expire on Friday. According to reporting by Politico, the House plans to split the 12 annual spending bills into two packages and vote to send them to the Senate on Tuesday. Details of the final amounts for science agencies will be recorded in FYI’s budget tracker .
New State Department S&T Adviser Begins Work
Mung Chiang, dean of engineering at Purdue University, begins a one-year leave of absence this week to serve as director of the State Department’s Office of the Science and Technology Adviser. Purdue announced his appointment to the post last week. Chiang is an expert in network systems and received the National Science Foundation’s top early career research award in 2013 for his “fundamental contributions to the analysis, design, and performance optimization of wireless networks.” The State Department created the adviser’s office in 2000 after a National Academies study called for it to increase attention to the place of science, technology, and health in foreign policy. The office has gone without an official director since Vaughan Turekian left the job in 2017.
Energy R&D Bills Up for Science Committee Vote
The House Science Committee is meeting Thursday to consider amendments to three bipartisan bills focused on energy storage, geothermal energy, and grid modernization. Among their provisions, the Better Energy Storage Technology (BEST) Act would direct the Department of Energy to carry out up to five grid-scale energy storage demonstration projects by the end of fiscal year 2023. The Advanced Geothermal R&D Act , introduced last week, would provide direction to DOE’s geothermal programs, including a requirement that the department establish up to three field research sites. The Grid Modernization R&D Act , also introduced last week, would direct DOE to establish a smart grid regional demonstration initiative and prioritize research that enhances “cyber and physical situational awareness of the electric grid during adverse man-made and naturally occurring events,” among other provisions. The bills add to the large bundle of energy R&D policy bills the committee has advanced this year, some of which have gained traction in the Senate. The counterpart committee in the Senate has approved versions of the BEST Act as well as bills focused on wind and solar energy R&D. (Note: Updated to reflect rescheduling of the meeting from Wednesday to Thursday.)
NOAA Considering Data Access and Long-Term Prediction Reports
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Science Advisory Board is meeting on Monday and Tuesday. The board will vote on whether to accept reports on data archiving and access policies and opportunities for developing subseasonal-to-seasonal-to-decadal (S2S2D) forecasts. It will also receive a presentation on NOAA’s response to the board’s 2018 report on ways to expand use of citizen science in environmental data collection.
In Case You Missed It
JASON Argues Against Restricting Fundamental Research
The National Science Foundation released a study by the JASON science advisory group last week that concludes the risks of foreign governments exploiting U.S.-funded fundamental research are best addressed through existing research integrity safeguards. JASON taxonomizes modes of foreign “influence” into four categories — reward, deception, coercion, and theft — and reviews evidence for how widespread each may be and how cultural differences may influence views on what constitutes appropriate information sharing. It finds the threat of exploitation is real and “appears to be growing in scale,” but argues against modifying a longstanding national policy on the classification of research. It instead recommends expanding the concept of research integrity to encompass full disclosure of potential conflicts of interest and commitment as well as developing “project assessment tools” to help researchers evaluate risks, such as a “catechism” of questions to consider before entering foreign collaborations. Although the current concerns about the Chinese government’s alleged attempts to misappropriate U.S.-funded research are a clear backdrop to the study, JASON observes it took a “nation-agnostic approach” in its work.
AMO Physics Strategy Spotlights International Collaboration
Last week, the National Academies released a “decadal assessment” of accomplishments and emerging opportunities in atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics. The study panel states that federal support for AMO physics has “not kept up with the growth of the field, showing large annual variations for certain programs, and essentially flat budgets for others.” It suggests this situation has contributed to an erosion of U.S. leadership in the field in the face of increasing investment by other countries. At the same time, it stresses the “vital” role that international collaborations play in AMO science and identifies factors currently inhibiting such exchange. It calls on the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and State Department to work to remove “excessive visa application delays” affecting international students and scholars and to standardize mechanisms for joint funding of cooperative projects. Among its other recommendations, the panel stresses the importance of enabling cross-disciplinary hiring of theorists and experimentalists as well as addressing the persistent underrepresentation of women and minorities in the field.
APS Surveys Reveal International Student Challenges
A recent survey conducted by the American Physical Society documents challenges its international student members have faced in coming to the U.S. Of the students reporting difficulties, 85% experienced delays in visa processing. Additionally, of students who chose not to come to the U.S., 32% reported feeling the country is “unwelcoming to foreigners.” A separate survey by APS found international applications to physics PhD programs have dropped 22% on average over the past two years at U.S. universities that are “outside the top-tier.” APS reports some of these institutions are facing “destabilizing declines” and are adapting by lowering admission standards. To address these issues, APS is advocating for the Keep STEM Talent Act , which would make it easier for international STEM students to remain in the U.S. after graduation. (APS is an AIP Member Society.)
AGU Sounds Alarm About Climate in New Position Statement
The American Geophysical Union issued a revised position statement last week that declares the threat posed by climate change constitutes a “crisis.” Released on the first day of its annual fall meeting, the statement calls for “immediate and coordinated actions to limit and adapt to human-caused climate change,” including expanded engagement by scientists in the policy process. The meeting featured several sessions focused on jumpstarting climate action, including a panel with former California Governor Jerry Brown and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is currently running for the Democratic nomination for president. Calling on the crowd to embrace advocacy, Brown said, “Scientists have to get the word to the politicians that the lifeblood of the future is new knowledge.”
NIH Commits to Implement Harassment Task Force Recommendations
On Dec. 12, the National Institutes of Health released the final report of a working group it created early this year to recommend ways to combat sexual harassment in science. In a statement , NIH Director Francis Collins remarked, “NIH will make every effort to adhere to the vision of the working group by seeking to implement the recommendations provided.” These recommendations include that NIH establish means by which grantees can report harassment claims directly to the agency and create funding opportunities targeted at reintegrating harassment victims into the workforce. Collins noted that some of the task force’s recommendations will require NIH to “explore policymaking options” given that they require partnerships with other organizations to implement. These recommendations include “requiring grantee institutions to inform NIH of a harassment investigation” and creating a “parallel process for managing professional misconduct, including sexual harassment, as seriously as research misconduct.”
Science Committee Flexes Oversight Powers on Six Issues
Leaders of the House Science Committee sent a series of letters last week seeking information and initiating investigations concerning a variety of science-related issues at federal agencies:
- Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-OK) asked National Science Foundation Director France Córdova to meet with them to discuss incidents in which agency employees were harassed due to their sexual orientation. The letter expresses concern that the matter “appears to have gone unreported and unaddressed for up to a year” and that details about the employees’ experiences were made public without their consent.
- Johnson and Lucas asked the Government Accountability Office to assess issues surrounding the recent conflict pitting NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration against the Federal Communications Commission over whether planned out-of-band emissions limits for 5G telecommunications equipment will fail to prevent severe interference with weather observations.
- Johnson pressed the Commerce Department to respond to her previous demands for information concerning reports it pressured NOAA to release a statement criticizing weather forecasters’ communications about Hurricane Dorian that contradicted statements made by President Trump.
- Johnson asked the new acting head of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office at the Department of Homeland Security for information relating to the troubled BioDetection 21 program, which deploys sensors to detect ambient infectious agents and toxins.
- Johnson and two other House committee chairs wrote to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler insisting he reverse his reported refusal to cooperate with EPA’s inspector general on matters that include allegations the agency interfered with congressional testimony by the chair of one of its science advisory panels.
- Committee member Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), Oversight Subcommittee Chair Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), and three other Democratic committee members asked GAO to investigate the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to relocate two research offices from the nation’s capital to Kansas City, which resulted in the resignation of many of the offices’ employees.
Ways to Mitigate Helium Shortages Discussed at Hearing
U.S. researchers’ access to helium was a major subject of discussion at a House Science Committee hearing last week on the U.S. supply of critical materials. In his opening statement , Energy Subcommittee Chair Conor Lamb (D-PA) addressed the need for a reliable helium supply, saying that “R&D can play a significant role in improving our helium-use efficiency, finding new sources, and developing substitutes where possible.” Sophia Hayes, a chemistry professor at Washington University in St. Louis who relies on helium for her research, suggested expanding the National Science Foundation’s program that supports the purchase of helium recyclers, calling it a “model” for other agencies. Hayes also recommended Congress postpone the planned 2021 shutdown of the federal government’s Strategic Helium Reserve “until the helium supply chain has been made more resilient to supply shocks and price spikes.” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) also testified at the hearing in favor of a bill he introduced in September, the Securing Energy Critical Elements and American Jobs Act , which would support R&D on the recycling and substitution of critical materials but does not address helium specifically.
Events This Week
All times are Eastern Standard Time and all congressional hearings are webcast, unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement.
Monday, December 16
NOAA: Science Advisory Board meeting (continues Tuesday) Sheraton Silver Spring Hotel (Silver Spring, MD) Webcast available National Academies: “Review of the Report of the NASA Planetary Protection Independent Review Board,” meeting two (continues Tuesday) National Academies: “Solar Climate Intervention Strategies Scenarios” 10:00 - 11:00 am, Webinar National Academies: “Illustrating the Impact of the Mathematical Sciences,” kickoff meeting 2:00 - 5:00 pm
Tuesday, December 17
National Academies: Committee on Earth Science and Applications from Space meeting (continues Wednesday) National Academy of Sciences (2101 Constitution Ave. NW, DC) Webcast available Hudson Institute: “The Role of Global Standards in the Battle for 5G Leadership” 11:30 am - 1:30 pm, Hudson Institute headquarters (1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, DC) Webcast available Cato Institute: “Scientocracy: The Tangled Web of Public Science and Public Policy” 3:00 - 4:30 pm, Cato Institute headquarters (1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW, DC) Webcast available AAAS: “A Climate of Hope: Scientists and Faith Communities Addressing the Climate Crisis” 5:30 - 7:30 pm, AAAS headquarters (1200 New York Ave. NW, DC) Webcast available
Wednesday, December 18
Council on Competitiveness: National Competitiveness Forum Reagan International Trade Center (1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, DC) AAAS: “Telling Stories about Climate Change Responses, with Katharine Hayhoe” 9:00 - 10:30 am, AAAS headquarters (1200 New York Ave. NW, DC) ITIF: “Less Certain than Death: Using Tax Incentives to Drive Clean Energy Innovation” 10:00 - 11:30 am, 121 Cannon House Office Building House: “The Future of Work: Ensuring Workers are Competitive in a Rapidly Changing Economy.” 10:15 am, Education and Labor Committee (2175 Rayburn Office Building)
Thursday, December 19
Senate: “Impacts of Wildfire on Electric Grid Reliability”
9:30 am, Energy and Natural Resources Committee (366 Dirksen Office Building) House: Markup of energy storage, geothermal, and grid modernization bills
10:00 am, Science Committee (2318 Rayburn Office Building) House: “Climate Change, Part IV: Current Economic Effects of Climate Change and the Costs of Inaction”
3:00 pm, Oversight and Government Reform Committee (2154 Rayburn Office Building)
World Resources Institute: “Towards Ocean Equity”
5:00 - 6:30 pm, Webinar
Friday, December 20
No events.
Opportunities
NIST Hiring Director for Industry Programs
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking a director for its innovation and industry services portfolio, which includes the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Office of Advanced Manufacturing, Technology Partnerships Office, and Small Business Innovation Research Program, among others. Applications are due Jan. 13, 2020.
Input Sought on Federal Invention Reporting System
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking comments as it prepares to “rebuild” the Interagency Edison (iEdison) system, a grant management platform used by many agencies to track reporting of inventions created using extramural funds. NIST specifically seeks input on what features should be retained or changed in an updated version of iEdison. Comments are due Jan. 27, 2020.
Seismology and Geodynamics Committee Seeking Members
The National Academies Committee on Seismology and Geodynamics is seeking three new members. Expertise is particularly sought in the areas of seismology, mineral physics and rock mechanics, magnetotelluric and electromagnetic methods, sea level and cryosphere-solid Earth interactions, and/or industry. Nominations are due Jan. 31, 2020.
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
- 2019 national plan for civil Earth observations (White House, report)
- Staying out of the storm: A profile of OSTP Director Kelvin Droegemeier (The Hill)
- Emails illuminate climate agendas of physicists William Happer and Steve Koonin (E&E News)
- Federal cybersecurity R&D strategic plan (White House, report)
Congress
- Congress creates two bodies to tackle foreign influence on US research (ScienceInsider)
- Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) says the best-kept secret in Washington is record funding for national laboratories, supercomputing, biomedical research (Clarksville Online)
- Q&A: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) on climate, energy innovation, and impeachment (E&E News)
- House preparing to introduce new NASA authorization bill (SpaceNews)
Political Engagement
- Former NOAA head calls for renewed social contract for science (Eos)
- Research leaders battling EU budget cuts should take a leaf from the farmers’ playbook (Science|Business, perspective by John Wyles)
Science, Society, and the Economy
- New York loses climate change fraud case against Exxon Mobil (New York Times)
- Americans broadly accept climate science, but many are fuzzy on the details (Washington Post)
- How a closed-door meeting shows farmers are waking up on climate change (Politico)
- Scientists explore how best to communicate about climate change at AGU meeting (Eos)
- Should scientists be considered ‘celebrities’ to inspire kids? (Forbes, perspective by Marshall Shepherd)
- On the shortage of Spanish-language science journalism in US media (Open Notebook)
- Remastering matter: Materials science goes to market (Nature Index, feature)
- Fermilab’s economic impact in Illinois (Fermilab)
- Latent innovation in local economies (Research Policy, paper by Stephan Goetz and Yicheol Han)
- Midway through his career, the inventor of ‘cyberspace’ turned his attention to a strange new world, the present (New Yorker)
Education and Workforce
- Mistrust and the hunt for spies among Chinese Americans (Bloomberg)
- Protect global collaboration (Science, perspective by Alan Leshner)
- Let foreign students boost NC tech economy (North Carolina News and Observer, perspective by Amber Lauer)
- Gender and sexual minorities in astronomy and planetary science face increased risks of harassment and assault (Bulletin of the AAS, paper by Christina Richet, et al.)
- Private astronomer funder finds that gender diversity takes more than good intentions (ScienceInsider)
- Ellen Ochoa, the first Latina to go to space: How to get more women into STEM (NBC News)
- Nature Conferences: No more ‘manels’ (Nature, editorial)
- Within three years, US manufacturing workers with college degrees will outnumber those without (Wall Street Journal)
- First-year graduate students in physics and astronomy: Characteristics and background (AIP, report)
Research Management
- The age of moonshots (Barron’s)
- State government R&D expenditures increased 3% in FY18; Energy-related R&D up 29% (NSF)
- China splashes millions on hundreds of home-grown journals (Nature)
- Comment on cOAlition S implementation guidance (STM Publishers)
- Politics and open access (Scholarly Kitchen, perspective by Robert Harrington)
- Elsevier deal with France disappoints open access advocates (ScienceInsider)
- Why are librarians concerned about GetFTR? (Scholarly Kitchen, perspective by Lisa Hinchliffe)
- Hyperauthorship: Global projects spark surge in thousand-author papers (Nature)
- Raising research quality will require collective action (Nature, perspective by Marcus Munafò)
- Predatory journals: No definition, no defence (Nature, perspective by Agnes Grudniewicz)
- When it comes to good practice in science, we need to think global but act local (Nature, editorial)
- Researchers will keep $2 million prize after U of Florida changes policy (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Labs and Facilities
- A new schedule for LHC and its successor (CERN)
- Japan greenlights Hyper-Kamiokande, the world’s largest neutrino detector (Nature)
- China plans ‘paradise for physicists’ with particle colliders that will test the strongest forces in the universe (South China Morning Post)
- Sanford Lab preps for excavation above and below the surface (Black Hills Pioneer)
- Sandia National Laboratories’ categorization of its radiological facilities (DOE IG, report)
- UC settles with retirees of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (San Francisco Chronicle)
- Battelle names Paula Mabee as NEON chief scientist and observatory director (NEON)
Quantum Science and Technology
- Revolt! Scientists say they’re sick of quantum computing’s hype (Wired)
- Quantum computers are the ultimate paper tiger (National Interest, perspective by Subhash Kak)
- Intel’s Jim Clarke why Intel isn’t late to the quantum party (HPCwire)
- Google’s quantum supremacy algorithm has found its first practical use (New Scientist)
- Supremacy is for racists — use ‘quantum advantage’ (Nature, perspective by Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, et al.)
- AMS President Jill Pipher to Congress: ‘No longer secure: Cryptography in the quantum era’ (American Mathematical Society)
- Overview of the status of quantum S&T and recommendations for the DOD (IDA, report)
Space
- NASA looks for ways to keep Artemis on track regardless of budget outcome (SpaceNews)
- NASA administrator names Robert Pearce head of agency aeronautics (NASA)
- Energy Department emphasizing roles in supporting space industry (SpaceNews)
- X marks the spot: NASA selects site for asteroid sample collection (NASA)
- UArizona looks toward work on NASA’s potential asteroid-hunting space telescope (University of Arizona)
- European space telescope to launch new era of exoplanet science (Nature)
- Next step space weather benchmarks (IDA, report)
Weather, Climate, and Environment
- Plan to limit EPA Science Advisory Board members’ authority to review regulatory proposals sparks concerns (E&E News)
- Methane: It’s a vast, invisible climate menace. We made it visible (New York Times, perspective by Jonah Kessel and Hiroko Tabuchi)
- From methane emissions to space weather, satellite-based observations forge ahead (Physics World)
- Sounding the alarm on climate change, 1989 and 2019 (NEJM, perspective by James Dunk and David Jones)
- NASA to buy more commercial Earth observation data (SpaceNews)
- NASA Earth Science leaders anticipate low-cost launch options (SpaceNews)
Energy
- These Republicans want to show they’re serious about climate change. So they put on a showcase (Washington Post)
- House Republicans solidify energy innovation pitch (E&E News)
- Don’t let China win the green race (New York Times, perspective by John Kerry and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA))
- Microreactor company Oklo announces DOE site use permit for plant at Idaho National Lab (BusinessWire)
- The next nuclear plants will be small, svelte, and safer (Wired)
- EU Commission approves €3.2B partnership for batteries research (Science|Business)
Defense
- Space Force may finally become real — but it won’t be an overhaul (The Verge)
- Explaining the valley of death in defense technology (Acquisition Talk)
- The Pentagon is ignoring small innovators (Defense One, perspective by Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA))
- Expanding naval capability through ties with industry, academia (US Navy)
- Energy, Defense relationship is healthiest in recent memory, nuclear exec says (Aiken Standard)
- DOD’s use of study and analysis centers (GAO, report)
- Further collaboration with the intelligence community would help Missile Defense Agency keep pace with emerging threats (GAO, report)
- US Army will fund rare earths plant for weapons development (Reuters)
- And the prize for global nuclear security goes to… China (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, perspective by Sara Kutchesfahani)
Biomedical
- NIH has investigated 100 claims of inappropriate conduct this year (Nature)
- NIH clarifies meaning of ‘disadvantaged’ in bid to boost diversity in science (ScienceInsider)
- Senate confirms Stephen Hahn to head FDA (New York Times)
- How Twitter is changing medical research (Nature Medicine)
International Affairs
- UK election dashes scientists’ hopes of staying in the EU (Nature)
- Conservative victory brings promise and peril for research (Research Professional)
- Further details emerge on proposed ‘UK ARPA’ (Research Professional)
- EU Council president calls for massive research investment, but cuts still loom (Science|Business)
- Jean-Eric Pacquet has a €10 billion war chest to turn the European Innovation Council into ‘the biggest deeptech equity fund in Europe’ (Sifted)
- EU research partnership announces €92M for graphene prototypes (Science|Business)
- Political tensions unravel plan to convert Iranian nuclear site to civilian uses (ScienceInsider)
- US drops charges against two more scientists after Iran prisoner swap (Nature)
- US loses top spot to China in chemistry papers amid Washington’s increased scrutiny of foreign ties in basic research (South China Morning Post)
- Hong Kong think tank proposes mega science hubs for city amid dearth of joint research projects (South China Morning Post)
- The world should beware a technology cold war (Financial Times, editorial)