What’s Ahead
Congress Has Full Agenda as 2018 Session Begins
The Senate is returning to work Wednesday, while the House will resume its business next week. As they kick off the 2018 session of the 115th Congress, lawmakers are immediately facing several time-sensitive tasks, including finalizing spending legislation for fiscal year 2018. Since Oct. 1, federal agencies have been operating under continuing resolutions (CRs), stopgap measures that extend the previous year’s funding levels. The latest CR, signed into law on Dec. 22, extended government funding through Jan. 19. If Congress is unable to complete an appropriations package by then, it will have to pass yet another CR to avoid a government shutdown.
Struggles to reach deals on several difficult issues will complicate the negotiations. Congressional leaders are still working out details of a proposed increase in defense and nondefense budget caps. They are also considering a special appropriations bill to support ongoing hurricane and wildfire recovery efforts. The House has already moved on this issue, passing an $81 billion disaster relief package on Dec. 21 that included $340 million in one-time funding for science agencies, but the Senate refrained from acting before the holiday recess. Other issues that will weigh into negotiations over a final appropriations agreement include protection for undocumented immigrants who are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and extending the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Earth Science Decadal Survey Set for Release
The National Academies will release its second Earth system science decadal survey report, titled “Thriving on Our Changing Planet: A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observation on Space,” on Friday. The report will identify priorities and recommendations for U.S. space-based Earth system science. National Academy of Sciences President Marcia McNutt and study committee co-chairs Waleed Abdalati and Bill Gail will participate in a release briefing also taking place Friday. The event will be webcast here .
In Case You Missed It
Trump Signs Tax Bill
On Dec. 20, Congress passed its sweeping tax reform legislation before leaving for its end-of-year recess. President Trump signed it into law two days later. The reform does not include controversial proposals to revoke student loan interest deductions and the exemption of graduate student tuition waivers from taxable income. It does, though, institute a 1.4 percent excise tax on large private university endowments. FYI’s full roundup of the law’s science-related provisions can be found here .
National Security Strategy Gives Innovation a Major Role
On Dec. 18, President Trump released his National Security Strategy , a document that sets a broad framework for the nation’s military, diplomatic, economic, immigration, and homeland security policy. This latest version gives a prominent place to scientific research and technological innovation throughout. It specifically identifies a number of priority areas for R&D that federal science agencies are likely to consider as they manage their research portfolios. These include advanced computing, data science, artificial intelligence, autonomous technology, encryption, gene editing, novel materials, and nanotechnology. The strategy identifies nuclear technology, next-generation nuclear reactors, improved batteries, carbon capture technology, and opportunities at the energy–water nexus as means of preserving the nation’s “technological edge” in energy. As keys to maintaining U.S. strength, it spotlights the importance of maintaining the military’s overmatch capability , modernizing the nuclear deterrent, extending and protecting the nation’s presence in space, and defending against cybersecurity threats. The document also considers the need for training, attracting, and retaining innovators and inventors and for protecting intellectual property.
House Passes Three STEM Education and Workforce Bills
The House passed three bipartisan STEM education and workforce bills on Dec. 19. The most consequential of the three, the “STEM Research and Education Effectiveness and Transparency Act,” passed on a vote of 376 to 9. It would require the National Science Foundation to collect and analyze data on federal research and education programs aimed at broadening participation in STEM fields. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that it would cost NSF and other agencies a total of $61 million to implement the activity from 2018 to 2022. The other two bills prescribe adjustments in existing STEM programs at NSF and NASA. The “Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act” passed on a vote of 420 to 1, while the “Women in Aerospace Education Act” passed on a vote of 409 to 16. The three bills now head to the Senate.
CDC Budget Language Restriction Sparks Backlash
Leaders in the scientific community reacted swiftly to news reports that Centers for Disease Control officials are being prohibited from using the words “diversity,” “entitlement,” “evidence-based,” “fetus,” “science-based,” “transgender,” and “vulnerable” in submissions for the president’s forthcoming fiscal year 2019 budget request. The Washington Post first reported on the restriction on Dec. 15, and a follow-up article the next day revealed that similar restrictions are in place throughout the Department of Health and Human Services. The presidents of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine issued a rare joint statement on Dec. 18, warning that, although the directive pertains only to the budget request, it “sends a dangerous message that CDC’s broader research and public health mission could be unduly politicized as well.” On Dec. 19, 45 scientific organizations, including the Optical Society, an AIP Member Society, issued a joint letter to White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, urging him to commit to grounding policies and decisions in scientific evidence.
Bills To Create DOE Public-Private Foundation Introduced
On Dec. 20, Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced the “IMPACT for Energy Act” in the Senate, and Reps. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and Joe Wilson (R-SC) introduced a companion bill in the House. The legislation directs the Department of Energy to create an independent private–public “IMPACT for Energy Foundation” that would accept and channel private investments in technology development and commercialization efforts. The foundation would be authorized to expend its funds in a variety of ways ranging from support for collaborative projects to fellowships and prize competitions. It would be governed by a board of directors comprising the secretary of energy and congressional leaders from both parties, as well as appointees from universities, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other stakeholder communities.
Low Dose Radiation Research Legislation Reintroduced
On Dec. 18, Rep. Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced the “Low Dose Radiation Research Act,” which would compel the Department of Energy to reinstate its recently discontinued research program on the biological effects of low dose radiation. The legislation is co-sponsored by Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-IL), House Science Committee Chair Lamar Smith (R-TX), and Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX), chair of the Science Committee’s Energy Subcommittee. The Science Committee held a hearing on the subject in November that showcased broad bipartisan support for the low dose program. The House passed similar legislation during the last two Congresses but the Senate never acted on it.
NASA Selects Planetary Science Mission Finalists
On Dec. 20, NASA narrowed down a list of 12 proposals for its next New Frontiers planetary science mission to two finalists. The Dragonfly mission would land a flying rotorcraft on Saturn’s moon Titan, which has seas of liquid methane, a feature unique in the solar system. Titan was briefly visited in 2005 by the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe as part of NASA’s Cassini mission. The second finalist, the Comet Astrobiology Exploration Sample Return (CAESAR) mission, would acquire a sample from the nucleus of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and return it to Earth. ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft and Philae lander previously explored the same comet from 2014 to 2016. Unlike NASA’s most expensive missions, New Frontiers missions are proposed and operated by independent teams and abide by strict cost caps. NASA expects to make its final selection in mid-2019 and to launch the mission in the mid-2020s.
Study Says ITER-Like Experiment ‘Critical But Not Sufficient’ for Fusion Energy
A National Academies study committee tasked with informing the Department of Energy’s long-term strategy for fusion research released its interim report on Dec. 21. In it, the panel states that a burning plasma experiment “such as ITER,” an international fusion facility under construction in France, is a necessary step toward developing a commercially-viable fusion energy source. The report comes at a precarious time for ITER, as the Senate has repeatedly proposed to zero out funding for the project in recent years. The panel does not directly weigh in on whether the U.S. should remain in the project, although it does warn that presently there is no “mature” alternative to ITER and that withdrawing could isolate the U.S. fusion research community absent a substitute effort. The panel also stresses that such a facility is “critical, but not sufficient” to achieving the goal of fusion energy, pointing to a need for further research and warning that recent closures of domestic fusion facilities “threaten the health of the field” in the U.S. The panel also notes that, in contrast to other countries, the U.S. does not have a “nationally endorsed” strategic plan for fusion energy research, and advocates for the development of a long-term strategy.
Events This Week
Monday, January 1 New Year’s Day
Tuesday, January 2 National Science Board: Committee on National Science and Engineering Policy teleconference
4:30 - 5:30 pm
Wednesday, January 3 No events.
Thursday, January 4 Engaging Scientists and Engineers in Policy: Science Policy Happy Hour
5:30 - 7:30 pm, Penn Social (801 E St. NW, DC)
Friday, January 5 National Academies: Public briefing on the Decadal Strategy for Earth Observation from Space
11:00 am - 12:00 pm, Keck Center (500 5th St. NW, DC)
Webcast available
NSF: Environmental Research and Education Advisory Committee teleconference
3:00 - 5:00 pm
Saturday, January 6 American Association of Physics Teachers: Winter meeting
(continues through Tuesday)
Town and Country Hotel (San Diego, CA)
Sunday, January 7 American Meteorological Society: Annual meeting
(continues through Thursday)
Austin Convention Center (Austin, TX)
Monday, January 8 National Academies: “Workshop on Government Decision-Making to Allocate Scientific Resources”
(continues Tuesday)
9:00 am - 5:30 pm, Mon; 9:00 am - 12:30 pm, Tue
Keck Center (500 5th St. NW, DC)
American Astronomical Society: Winter meeting
(continues through Friday)
Gaylord Convention Center (National Harbor, MD)
Opportunities
Congressional Science Fellowship Deadlines Approaching
The deadlines to apply for several 2018-2019 Congressional Science Fellowship programs are rapidly approaching. Fellows spend a year in a congressional office in Washington, D.C., gaining experience in the policymaking process. Among the upcoming deadlines are the following:
- The Optical Society: Jan. 5
- AIP: Jan. 15
- American Physical Society: Jan. 15
- American Meteorological Society: Feb. 1
DOE High Energy Physics Office Seeking Strategic Input on Quantum Science
The Department of Energy Office of High Energy Physics is seeking input from the research community on how R&D advances in quantum information science (QIS) could address scientific and technological needs in high energy physics and how the high energy physics community can advance QIS. Of note, the office is requesting specific feedback on “organizational and assessment considerations” such as the appropriate role of different institutions, effective joint collaboration models, and national laboratory resources that could facilitate QIS research. Submissions are due by Feb. 12.
National Academies Hiring for Air Force Studies Board
The National Academies is hiring for multiple positions to support the Air Force Studies Board. The board is seeking individuals with expertise in managing scientific research projects for two program officer positions, as well as individuals with a background in qualitative and/or quantitative research and analysis for a research assistant position. More information on the positions is available on the National Academies jobs website .
AIBS Seeks Public Policy Manager
The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) is currently accepting applications for public policy manager. The position is responsible for leading AIBS’ science policy and communications agenda, including organizing congressional briefings and advocacy events and representing the organization in science policy coalitions. Interested individuals with at least five years of science policy experience and a degree in a related field are encouraged to apply. Review of applications will begin on Jan. 5.
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? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
Around the Web
News and views currently in circulation. Links do not imply endorsement.
White House
- Here’s how science fared in the first year of Trump (E&E News)
- Trump and scientists: An epic estrangement (Science)
- The Trump administration’s war on science agencies threatens the nation’s health and safety (Scientific American, perspective by Andrew Rosenberg and Kathleen Rest)
- Science under siege but surviving — a Trump timeline (Discover, perspective by Gemma Tarlach)
- Washington bureaucrats are quietly working to undermine Trump’s agenda on climate and other issues (Bloomberg)
- Asked at AGU fall meeting, scientists react to Trump science agenda (Eos)
- What is the Trump administration’s evidence-based policymaking stance? Confusing (Bipartisan Policy Center, perspective by Nick Hart)
- In Trump’s National Security Strategy, climate change not a threat (AP)
- What position does the Trump administration take on climate change? All of them (Washington Post)
- Trump mocks global warming in tweet (Axios)
- Trump signs order to boost US production of critical minerals (Bloomberg)
Congress
- Sen. Murkowski eyes January revival of energy bill (E&E News)
- Little holiday cheer for US science agencies as Congress extends spending freeze (ScienceInsider)
- To fill STEM jobs, federal programs need to focus on results (The Hill, perspective by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX))
Political Engagement
- With science under siege in 2017, scientists regrouped and fought back: 5 essential reads (The Conversation, perspective by Maggie Villiger)
Education and Workforce
- Graduate students escaped tax increases, but they still feel a target on their backs (New York Times)
- White House may restrict some foreign students (Inside Higher Ed)
- Women are invited to give fewer talks than men at top US universities (The Atlantic)
- Without broad participation, science will lose its economic power and legitimacy (Pacific Standard, perspective by Michael White)
- Women in science: addressing the implications of the gender imbalance (Huffington Post, perspective by Sothy Eng and Kallie Ziltz)
- Science teachers respond to climate materials sent by Heartland Institute (InsideClimate News)
- What STEM students need to know (Wall Street Journal, perspective by Eric Freeman and David Gelernter)
- Introductory physics labs: We can do better (Physics Today, perspective by Natasha Holmes and Carl Wieman)
- NSF entrepreneur program for university scientists now seeks nonacademic trainees (C&EN)
Science, Society, and the Economy
- What Americans thought about science in 2017 (Scientific American)
- Real numbers: Mixed messages about public trust in science (Issues in S&T, perspective by Cary Funk)
- Rushing students through university and fixating on science is not the way forward (The Guardian, perspective by David Cannadine)
- What does innovation today tell us about the US economy tomorrow? (Issues in S&T, perspective by Jeffrey Funk)
- Do-it-yourself science is taking off (The Economist)
- Former Obama adviser Knatokie Ford on a mission to build a brighter future for STEM (Vice)
Research Management
- Science, big and small (Science, editorial)
- A turbulent year in the publishing world (The Scientist)
- Legal and illegal sources of paywalled journal articles are aiding researchers and undermining subscription models (Physics Today)
- Open access in Germany: The best DEAL is no deal (Times Higher Education, perspective by Alex Holcombe and Bjoern Brembs)
- Assuring the integrity of peer review (NIH)
- Why three national scientific societies are calling for research evaluators to be highly valued and trained (Nature, perspective by Richard Catlow)
- Could Bitcoin technology help science? (Nature)
- Why some experts say ending net neutrality could harm science (Forbes, perspective by Marshall Shepherd)
- USGS scientists blocked from attending AGU annual meeting (Washington Post)
Labs and Facilities
- An assessment of the NIST Material Measurement Laboratory (National Academies, report)
- NASA willing to consider flying researchers on commercial suborbital vehicles (SpaceNews)
- US bars drones over nuclear sites for security reasons (Reuters)
- For some tourists, legacy nuclear sites have a peculiar appeal (Distillations)
- Big physics experiments built from recycled World War II steel (Gizmodo)
Energy
- DOE reshuffles science’s place within sprawling agency (ScienceInsider)
- US should support ITER fusion project, says expert panel (ScienceInsider)
- A Department of Energy foundation: An idea whose time has come (The Hill, perspective by Stephen Ezell and David Hart)
- The nuclear energy showdown in Georgia (New York Times)
- Vogtle nuclear power plant expansion will continue (ANS Nuclear Cafe)
- Trump administration instructed illegal withholding of funds affecting ORNL projects, GAO finds (Knoxville News Sentinel)
- Milestone for new LEU research reactor fuel (World Nuclear News)
Space
- NASA’s two New Frontiers finalists want a second look at Rosetta’s comet and Titan (SpacePolicyOnline)
- Is the James Webb Space Telescope ‘too big to fail?’ (Scientific American)
- Why DARPA and NASA are building robot spacecraft designed to act like service stations on orbit (Washington Post)
- NASA has begun plans for a 2069 interstellar mission (New Scientist)
- US and China both want to launch a Mars sample return mission before 2030 (Popular Mechanics)
- Funding concerns for big telescopes (Physics Today, perspective by Brett Isham)
- Sorry America, we’re not going back to the Moon (Forbes, perspective by Ethan Siegel)
Weather, Climate, and Environment
- EPA officials, disheartened by agency’s direction, are leaving in droves (New York Times)
- What it’s like inside the Trump’s administration’s regulatory rollback at the EPA (ProPublica)
- In ‘defense of science,’ researchers sue EPA over move to overhaul advisory boards (Washington Post)
- Pruitt sweeps more scientists off advisory panels (E&E News)
- ‘Junk science’? Studies behind Obama regulations under fire (Fox News)
- 2017 was a big year for scrubbing science from government websites. Here’s the list. (Mother Jones)
- The National Park Service promises to reinstate 92 climate change pages removed from its website (Vice)
- NASA and NOAA are still talking about climate change. That’s notable. (Washington Post)
- They wrote a ‘bulletproof’ endangerment finding. What next? (E&E News, interview with Dina Kruger and Jason Samenow)
- GAO to study social cost of carbon (E&E News)
- Can Trump’s pick to lead the weather service really be independent of his family business? (FiveThirtyEight perspective by Maggie Koerth-Baker)
- Weather forecasting faces a new world of challenges ahead (Washington Post, perspective by Eric Webster)
- GOES-16, now at GOES-East, ready to improve forecasts even more (NOAA)
Defense
- The Pentagon’s Third Offset may be dead, but no one knows what comes next (Foreign Policy)
- 2018 a big year of transition for military space (SpaceNews)
- Could the Pentagon’s new R&E head take over military space programs? (DefenseNews)
- Bad idea: space-based missile interceptors (Defense360°, perspective by Thomas Roberts)
- The new era of nuclear arsenal vulnerability (APS Physics & Society, perspective by Keir Lieber and Daryl Press)
- US nuclear tests killed far more civilians than we knew (Quartz)
Biomedical
- CDC word ban? The fight over seven health-related words in the president’s next budget (ScienceInsider)
- Language, science, and politics: the politicization of public health (JAMA, perspective by Lawrence Gostin)
- Roadmap for medical imaging R&D (NSTC, report)
- NIH plans big shake-up of minority mentoring network (ScienceInsider)
- US lifts moratorium on funding controversial, high-risk virus research (STAT)
- New NCI director expects big data to revolutionize cancer research, care (ScienceInsider)
- Consortium aims to accelerate drug discovery process (Physics Today)
- Nobel laureate will step down from leading embattled Salk Institute (ScienceInsider)
International Affairs
- Restore State Department science capacity, expert urges (Eos)
- China unveils an ambitious plan to curb climate change emissions (New York Times)
- China to promote space remote sensing development in 2018 (Xinhua)
- In an unusual move, organizers postpone India’s major annual science conference (ScienceInsider)
- Zafra Lerman on peace through science diplomacy (Physics Today, interview)
- Qatar’s science suffers under Arab blockade (ScienceInsider)
- Sensing a moment, Canadian scientists swing for the fences (The Globe and Mail)
- New EU member states face worse odds of Horizon 2020 success (*Research)
- UK losses in Horizon 2020 most severe for collaborative grants (*Research)
- Anniversary address from the president of the Royal Society (Royal Society)