What’s Ahead
National Space Council Holding First Meeting Under Biden
Vice President Kamala Harris will convene the Biden administration’s first meeting of the National Space Council on Wednesday. The council comprises the heads of a number of federal departments and agencies that are concerned with issues such as space commerce, military uses of space, space-based science, and crewed spaceflight. The Trump administration revived the council in 2017 after a quarter-century hiatus, and the Biden administration indicated in March that it would be retained, observing that it is a “time of unprecedented activity and opportunity” for U.S. space activities. Harris, who chairs the council by statute, personally announced the meeting earlier this month during a visit to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, where she discussed opportunities to use space to help address problems such as climate change. She also said that at its first meeting the council will “outline a comprehensive framework for our nation’s space priorities.”
Science Committee to Examine Strategy for Astrophysics
At a hearing on Wednesday, the House Science Committee will discuss the recently released National Academies decadal survey for astronomy and astrophysics, which recommends priorities for NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy. The survey co-chairs, Caltech professor Fiona Harrison and Texas A&M University professor Robert Kennicutt, will appear on the witness panel alongside Bill Russell of the Government Accountability Office. GAO has kept watch over cost overruns and schedule delays affecting science missions such as the James Webb Space Telescope, and it produces an annual report that reviews the agency’s entire portfolio of major projects. In view of past difficulties with large space telescopes, the decadal survey recommends NASA establish a “Great Observatories Mission and Technology Maturation Program” that would reduce technical risks and solidify cost estimates for large missions before they are formally approved for development. A recent internal NASA study of large science missions also recommended devoting more resources to maturing mission technology and concepts early in the design process.
Hearing to Air Case for Semiconductor Subsidies
As Congress considers funding the national microelectronics R&D and manufacturing initiative recently authorized by the CHIPS for America Act , the House Science Committee is holding a hearing on Thursday on “ensuring American leadership in microelectronics.” Several committee members have indicated they support funding the CHIPS Act, including Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Research and Technology Subcommittee Chair Haley Stevens (D-MI), the latter of whom recently led a bipartisan statement calling on Congress to fully fund the initiative. While the Senate has proposed to allocate $52 billion to the initiative over five years via the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, the House has yet to follow suit. The witness panel for this week’s hearing will be semiconductor company executives Ann Kelleher and Manish Bhatia, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Director Michael Witherell, and Purdue University engineering dean Mung Chiang, who in 2020 served as science and technology adviser to the secretary of state.
Space Weather Advisory Group Kicks Off
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Advisory Group is meeting for the first time on Wednesday. The 16-member group was created pursuant to the PROSWIFT Act of 2020 and will advise interagency efforts to research, forecast, and mitigate the effects of major solar events that can induce damaging currents in electrical equipment and disrupt telecommunications systems, among other hazards. NOAA announced the group’s initial roster in September and as chair selected Tamara Dickinson, who oversaw space weather preparedness initiatives for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy during the Obama administration. At the meeting, the group will discuss its statutory charge to survey user needs for space weather information.
PCAST to Discuss Bio and Nanotech, Federal Workforce
The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology is meeting on Monday to continue its series of listening sessions . The meeting will begin with a session on biomanufacturing that will include remarks from the chairs of recent National Academies reports on innovations in pharmaceutical manufacturing and preparing for future biotechnologies . The following session will discuss ways of “ensuring a vibrant federal S&T workforce,” with presentations by Marie Bernard, the National Institutes of Health’s chief officer for scientific workforce diversity; Bruce Rodan, associate director for science at the Environmental Protection Agency; and Candice Wright, director of the Government Accountability Office’s Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics team. Wright recently testified to the House Science Committee on factors affecting agencies’ ability to attract and retain S&T talent, such as federal pay and hiring practices. A final session at the meeting will provide an overview of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, which PCAST periodically reviews per statute.
In Case You Missed It
Stanford Professor Sally Benson Leading New OSTP Energy Division
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced on Nov. 24 that it has hired Stanford University decarbonization expert Sally Benson to lead a newly formed Energy Division. Holding the title of deputy director, she will be OSTP’s fifth division leader and will also serve as “chief strategist for the energy transition.” Benson holds a doctorate in material science and mineral engineering and spent the first part of her career at Berkeley Lab, where she served as assistant director for energy sciences and then deputy director for operations. Since moving to Stanford in 2007, she has led the university’s Global Climate and Energy Project and co-directed its Precourt Institute for Energy. OSTP also appointed Carnegie Mellon University professor Costa Samaras as principal assistant director for energy and “chief adviser for energy policy.” Samaras holds a joint doctoral degree in civil and environmental engineering and in engineering and policy, and he is director of CMU’s Center for Engineering and Resilience for Climate Adaptation and the university’s Power Sector Carbon Index project.
Acting Budget Director Nominated to Lead Office
President Biden announced on Nov. 24 that he is nominating Shalanda Young to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget, the only Cabinet-level position still vacant. The Senate confirmed Young as OMB’s deputy director in March on a 63-to-37 vote, and she has led the office on an acting basis since then. Biden’s first pick for budget director, Neera Tanden, withdrew from consideration earlier that month after failing to secure unanimous support from Senate Democrats. Young was a longtime staff member for the House Appropriations Committee and various lawmakers from both parties have expressed support for her to be appointed OMB director. OMB is responsible for assembling the president’s annual budget request and it exercises authority over federal agencies as they prepare their proposals for it.
US Blacklists Chinese and Russian Research Institutes
On Nov. 26, the Commerce Department implemented strict limits on U.S. exports to a dozen institutions based in China, including several microelectronics and quantum technology companies as well as the Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, a leading quantum research institute. The institutions are now on the department’s “Entities List,” which means it believes, “based on specific and articulable facts, that the entities have been involved, are involved, or pose a significant risk of being or becoming involved in activities that are contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.” In a press release , the department stated that eight of the institutions were targeted in order to “prevent U.S. emerging technologies from being used for [China’s] quantum computing efforts that support military applications, such as counter-stealth and counter-submarine applications, and the ability to break encryption or develop unbreakable encryption.” The department also added to the Entities List several institutions deemed to be contributing to nuclear or ballistic missile programs in Pakistan, and it added the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology to its list of institutions that support military end-users, a designation that likewise restricts exports. Earlier this year, the department added seven Chinese supercomputing institutions and 10 Russian institutions to the Entity List for their support of military activities.
Have a Listen: FYI Speaks With Issues in Science and Technology
Last week, FYI’s Mitch Ambrose and Will Thomas appeared on the inaugural episode of The Ongoing Transformation, a podcast produced by the publication Issues in Science and Technology. The episode takes listeners behind the scenes of FYI, looking at how the team keeps up with, and makes sense of, science policy. It also examines the challenges involved in understanding science policy as it becomes intertwined with matters as varied as foreign policy, telecommunications policy, and the workings of the federal criminal justice system.
Events This Week
All times are Eastern Standard Time, unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement.
Monday, November 29
Acoustical Society of America: 181st meeting
(continues through Friday)
NOAA: U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System Advisory Committee meeting
(continues Dec. 6)
Harvard Belfer Center: “How to Lose a Lot of Weapons Grade Uranium and Get Away With It”
12:15 pm - 1:30 pm
OSTP: President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology meeting
12:15 - 4:30 pm
NSPN: “Change and Challenges in Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEM”
1:30 - 3:00 pm CST
National Academies: “Paving the Way Toward Carbon-Neutral Concrete”
2:00 - 3:30 pm
Tuesday, November 30
National Academies: Committee on Planetary Protection fall meeting
(continues through Dec. 2)
American Nuclear Society: Winter meeting and technology expo
(continues through Friday)
Carnegie Endowment: “Emerging Industry Supply Chains: Opportunities for Taiwan”
9:00 - 10:00 am
Hudson Institute: “The Future of U.S. Climate Policy with Rep. John Curtis (R-UT)”
12:00 - 12:30 pm
National Academies: “Enhancing Science and Engineering in Prekindergarten through Fifth Grade”
12:00 - 1:00 pm
DOE/DOEd: Webinar on STEM workforce diversity initiatives
2:00 - 3:30 pm
National Academies: Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate fall meeting, day one
3:00 - 5:00 pm
National Academies: Polar Research Board fall meeting, day three
3:00 - 5:00 pm
Columbia University: “The Hydrogen Revolution and the Energy Transition”
5:00 - 6:00 pm
Wednesday, December 1
White House: National Space Council meeting
Defense Strategies Institute: Space Resilience Summit
(continues Thursday)
Senate: Meeting to advance four EPA nominations, including Christopher Frey as assistant administrator for R&D
9:45 am, Environment and Public Works Committee
Senate: “Oversight of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission”
9:45 am, Environment and Public Works Committee
Senate: Hearing on the nomination of Katherine Vidal to lead the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
10:00 am, Judiciary Committee
NOAA: Space Weather Advisory Group meeting
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Senate: Meeting to advance the nominees for FCC chair and NOAA deputy administrator
10:15 am, Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
Senate: Hearing on the nominations of Alan Davidson as NTIA administrator and Gigi Sohn as an FCC commissioner
10:15 am, Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
House: “The Future of Federal Work”
10:15 am, Oversight and Reform Committee
House: “A Review of the Decadal Survey for Astronomy and Astrophysics in the 2020s”
11:00 am, Science Committee
Heritage Foundation: “The Iran Nuclear Negotiations: Why the Humpty Dumpty JCPOA Should Not Be Renewed”
11:00 - 11:45 am
Industry Studies Association: “Taking Charge: Batteries for Electric Vehicles and the Transformation of the Automotive Supply Chain”
12:00 - 2:00 pm
Arecibo Science Advocacy Partnership: “Remembering the Tragic Arecibo Telescope Collapse and Advocating for its Future”
12:00 pm
Stanford University: “America in One Room — Climate and Energy: Discussion Results from a National Deliberative Poll”
12:30 - 2:00 pm PST
National Academies: Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate fall meeting, day two
2:00 - 5:15 pm
Thursday, December 2
NSF: Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate Advisory Committee meeting
(continues Friday)
Resources for the Future: “Offshore Wind: Today’s Challenges and Tomorrow’s Opportunities”
(continues Friday)
ITIF: 2021 Global Trade and Innovation Policy Alliance Annual Summit
8:15 am - 5:00 pm
House: “How the Intelligence Community is Using AI”
9:30 am, Intelligence Committee Closed to the public
House: “Ensuring American Leadership in Microelectronics”
10:00 am, Science Committee
House: “Supporting U.S. Workers, Businesses, and the Environment in the Face of Unfair Chinese Trade Practices”
10:00 am, Ways and Means Committee
Stimson Center: “3D Printing: Its Potential and Implications for International Security”
10:00 - 11:00 am
U.S. Chamber of Commerce: “EnergyInnovates: Methane — Tackling that ‘Other’ Gas”
10:00 - 11:00 am
National Academies: “Strengthening the Talent for National Defense: Infusing Advanced Manufacturing in Engineering Education,” meeting three
10:00 am - 1:30 pm
Atlantic Council: “The Hydrogen Revolution: Clean Hydrogen’s role in the Energy Transition”
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
NITRD: Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program 30th Anniversary Commemoration
12:00 pm
Duke Law: “Antitrust Perspectives on Innovation and Competition”
12:30 pm
STEM Education Coalition: “Strengthening the Pathway from Service to STEM: The Future of Women Veterans in STEM”
1:00 - 2:00 pm
Columbia University: “Open Science: Sino-US Collaboration in an Age of Surveillance”
6:00 - 8:00 pm
Friday, December 3
WeShareData.org: “Reproducibility and Open Scholarship: National Academies Efforts and Roles for Societies”
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
National Academies: Space Technology Industry-Government-University Roundtable meeting
12:00 - 4:30 pm
Physicists Coalition for Nuclear Threat Reduction: “Briefing on President Biden’s Nuclear Posture Review”
12:30 pm
National Academies: “Advising NSF on its Efforts to Achieve the Nation’s Vision for the Materials Genome Initiative,” meeting 15
1:00 - 2:00 pm
Philosophical Society of Washington: “The Arecibo Observatory: Legacy and Ideas for the Future”
8:00 pm
Monday, December 6
National Academies: “Merits and Viability of Different Nuclear Fuel Cycles and Technology Options and the Waste Aspects of Advanced Nuclear Reactors,” meeting 12
(continues Tuesday)
National Academies: “Workshop on the State of Anti-Black Racism in U.S. Science, Engineering, and Medicine”
(continues Tuesday)
NSF: Computer and Information Science and Engineering Advisory Committee meeting
(continues Tuesday)
Hoover Institution: “The Battle over Patents: History and Politics of Innovation”
10:00 am PST
DOE: Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee meeting
11:00 am - 5:00 pm
Columbia University: “How Can Carbon Mineralization Help Fight Climate Change?”
12:00 - 1:30 pm
EPA: Radiation Advisory Committee MARSSIM Review meeting
1:00 - 5:00 pm
National Academies: “U.S. Global Change Research Program Pilot Listening Session: Food”
3:30 - 5:00 pm
Opportunities
Science Policy Accelerator Seeking Participants
The Day One Project is accepting applications for its newly launched “science policy accelerator” for early-career researchers. The nine-week program will help participants develop policy proposals on a topic of their interest with the guidance of policy experts. Applications are due Dec. 15.
Science Policy Journal Seeking Associate Editors
The Journal of Science Policy and Governance is accepting applications for volunteer associate editors, who are responsible for reviewing submissions and providing feedback to authors. Applications for the first cohort will open Jan. 17, 2022, and will continue to be accepted until all positions are filled. The journal is hosting an open house on Dec. 6 for all interested applicants.
ClearPath Accepting Applications for a Policy Fellow
The energy policy think tank ClearPath is accepting applications for a 2022-2023 policy fellow. The fellow will analyze legislative and regulatory developments related to clean energy innovation and deployment. Applicants should have a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field or public policy.
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
- Biden administration gears up to expand global science cooperation (Science|Business)
- Statement by President Joe Biden on the Omicron COVID-19 variant (White House)
Congress
- Senate, House trade blame over delayed R&D package (National Journal)
- China blowback looms for Schumer’s Innovation and Competition Act (Politico)
- Can Dems’ aggressive industrial policy pass the Senate? (Politico)
- Congress must fund semiconductor legislation to bolster innovation and supply chains (U.S. Chamber of Commerce)
- House Science Committee chair leaves bipartisan legacy as she bids farewell (ScienceInsider)
Science, Society, and the Economy
- How the $4 trillion flood of COVID relief is funding the future (New York Times)
- US needs ‘manufacturing renaissance’ to compete with China: report (Breaking Defense)
- Chinese tech philanthropy in the age of ‘common prosperity’ (SupChina)
- OECD launches Short-term Financial Tracker of Business R&D (SwiFTBeRD) dashboard (OECD)
- The post-truth pandemic (Overmatter, perspective by Natasha Loder)
- So you think the history of science is easy? (Physics World, perspective by Robert Crease)
Education and Workforce
- As US hunts for Chinese spies, university scientists warn of backlash (New York Times)
- After controversy, University of Florida has a new policy on faculty testimony. Here’s what it says (Chronicle of Higher Education)
- Black students take on more debt and get fewer slots on grants, data show (ScienceInsider)
- Employers need to do more to improve workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, a Nature survey finds (Nature)
- AIP welcomes Jovonni Spinner as Diversity, Equity and Belonging Officer (AIP)
- Support deaf participants at virtual conferences (Nature, perspective by Denis Meuthen)
- How burnout and imposter syndrome blight scientific careers (Nature)
- How to be a better mentor (and mentee) (Symmetry)
- AGU updates position statements on science education (AGU)
- Does the US need a West Point for tech-savvy civil servants? (Washington Post, editorial)
Research Management
- AIP marks 90 years of advancing the physical sciences (Physics Today, perspective by Skye Haynes, et al.)
- UNESCO pushes equality in international deal on open science (Research Professional)
- Science community steps up to reform open access (Nature, perspective by Geoffrey Boulton)
- Want research integrity? Stop the blame game (Nature, perspective by Malcolm Macleod)
- Semiannual report to Congress (NSF IG)
- Doing science with everyone at the table (Issues in Science and Technology, interview with Lindy Elkins-Tanton)
- Record number of first-time observers get Hubble telescope time (Nature)
- CERN’s balancing act between unity and disunity: The ‘sister experiments’ UA1 and UA2 and CERN’s first Nobel Prize (Physics in Perspective, paper by Grigoris Panoutsopoulos and Theodore Arabatzis)
Labs and Facilities
- Staff strike over conditions at EU fusion research body (Research Professional)
- Readout of 29th ITER Council meeting (ITER)
- Hanford becomes latest DOE site targeted in vax order litigation (Exchange Monitor)
- Energy Secretary Granholm tours ORNL’s world-class science facilities (ORNL)
- Data center refresh at US Antarctic base pushed back to 2023 (Data Center Dynamics)
- US-ELTP Director and former NOAO Director Sidney Wolff retires (NORILab)
- Green Bank Observatory’s future ‘extraordinarily bright’ according to new director (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
Computing and Communications
- Samsung plans to build $17 billion chip factory in Texas (Washington Post)
- Statement on Samsung announcement by National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (White House)
- Samsung’s $17 billion bet on Texas mirrors large spending increases in Asia and elsewhere (Wall Street Journal)
- Texas lawmakers urge commerce secretary to site National Semiconductor Technology Center and National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program in Texas (Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX))
- US will miss electric-vehicle targets without big investments in semiconductor manufacturing, commerce secretary warns (Washington Post)
- Raimondo: Commerce ‘war room’ seeing improvements on supply-chain woes (Politico)
- South Korea’s SK Hynix caught in US-China semiconductor battle (Financial Times)
- Three Chinese exascale systems detailed at SC21: Two operational and one delayed (HPCwire)
- White paper on China’s computing power development index (CSET, translation)
- Report: China may steal encrypted government data now to decrypt with quantum computers later (Nextgov)
- Students rescue quantum computer from late-night disaster, but China’s extreme work culture raises questions (South China Morning Post)
- Defense Innovation Unit publishes ethical AI guidelines (C4ISRNET)
Space
- JWST undamaged from payload processing incident (SpaceNews)
- Testing confirms Webb telescope on track for targeted Dec. 22 launch (NASA)
- With DART launch, NASA starts getting serious about planetary defense (Ars Technica)
- NASA’s DART mission will move an asteroid and change our relationship with the Solar System (Space.com, perspective by Meghan Bartels)
- After another ASAT test, will governments finally take action? (Space Review)
- On the Russian anti-satellite test (AAS, perspective by Paula Szkody)
- China’s space program will go nuclear to power future missions to the Moon and Mars (South China Morning Post)
- US astronomy has ambitious plans — but it needs global partners (Nature, editorial)
- Space law hasn’t been changed since 1967, but the UN aims to update laws and keep space peaceful (The Conversation, perspective by Michelle Hanlon and Greg Autry)
Weather, Climate, and Environment
- US statement for GEO Week 2021 (Group on Earth Observations)
- Climate pledges still not enough to keep warming below 2-degree limit (E&E News)
- Can Earth’s digital twins help us navigate the climate crisis? (IEEE Spectrum)
- The latest farm product: carbon credits (New York Times)
- Review and comment of NOAA Tribal consultation policy and procedures (NOAA)
- Here’s what it takes to transport a NOAA satellite from Colorado to Florida (Click Orlando)
Energy
- Biggest-ever carbon capture project facing Midwest opposition (Bloomberg Law)
- Carbon capture won’t save oil and gas (Barron’s, perspective by Ian Palmer)
- Hunt for the ‘blood diamond of batteries’ impedes green energy push (New York Times)
- RFI on energy sector supply chain review (DOE)
- Nuclear fusion: why the race to harness the power of the sun just sped up (Financial Times)
- California needs to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant open to meet its climate goals (Los Angeles Times, perspective by Steven Chu and Ernest Moniz)
Defense
- US Air Force adds scientific research office in Australia (SIGNAL)
- China’s mysterious hypersonic test may take a page from DARPA’s past (Breaking Defense)
- Why wind tunnels are key in China’s race for hypersonic weapon supremacy (South China Morning Post)
- The Pentagon thinks Beijing may build 1,000 or more weapons by 2030. But it’s the new technologies that worry strategists (New York Times)
- Lessons from the Cold War on preventing a US–China arms race (Politico, perspective by Rose Gottemoeller)
- The Pentagon’s new UFO office has a specific job: tracking ‘phenomena’ trespassing over training ranges (Defense One)
- Aerospace companies suggest possible 5G interference with military radars (Aviation Today)
- Analysis: DOD ‘pivot to LEO’ a win for commercial satellite industry (SpaceNews)
- The US faces pressure to do more to address its nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands (Honolulu Civil Beat)
Biomedical
- WHO reaches draft consensus on future pandemic treaty (Reuters)
- Why WHO skipped ‘nu,’ ‘xi’ for new COVID variant (AP)
- Inside the CDC’s pandemic ‘weather service’ (New York Times)
- You should be afraid of the next ‘lab leak’ (New York Times)
- Fauci fires back at Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) over COVID claims about Chinese lab (AP)
- Former DARPA director says ARPA–H should be independent, not an NIH office (STAT)
- The biotech startup that became an FBI target (Wall Street Journal)
- Can synthetic biology save us? This scientist thinks so (New York Times)
- China’s unexpected advantage in the global competition over brain-computer interfaces (Slate, perspective by Lucille Nalbach Tournas and Nicholas Shadid)
- CIA director warns Russian spies of ‘consequences’ if they are behind ‘Havana Syndrome’ incidents (Washington Post)
International Affairs
- US–China tech war: Beijing draws up three-year plan to revamp state technology system (South China Morning Post)
- Putin shines spotlight on Russian, Chinese scientific cooperation (TASS)
- Russia ready to support China in lunar station project, says top senator (TASS)
- European Commission sets up innovation policy forum with member states (Science|Business)
- The pandemic may disrupt Europe’s supply of scientific talent (Science|Business, interview with Jean-Pierre Bourguignon)
- Resigning president says Germany needs academic career master plan (Times Higher Education)
- Call for Swedish universities to push to decouple from the state (University World News)
- UK ‘hungry’ for green R&D cooperation under Horizon Europe, minister says (Science|Business)
- UK visa scheme for prize-winning scientists receives no applications (New Scientist)
- AstraZeneca opens research center as UK builds science hub (AP)
- Researchers at risk in Afghanistan need better tools to find help (Nature, editorial)