What’s Ahead
Lawmakers to Grill Oil Execs on Climate Disinformation
The CEOs of ExxonMobil, BP America, and Chevron, and the president of Shell Oil Company are appearing before the House Oversight Committee on Thursday to answer questions about the oil industry’s support for efforts to sow doubt about climate science. Last month, the committee requested documents from the companies in tandem with the launch of an investigation into the subject. Studies by scholars and journalists have previously uncovered that oil companies were a major funding source for organizations that have run public relations campaigns against mainstream climate science and backed scientists who argue consensus findings are in error. The Oversight Committee last visited the subject in 2019, in the wake of a major journalistic investigation into Exxon’s internal scientific research on climate. The Office of the New York State Attorney General previously obtained documents from the company in association with an unsuccessful lawsuit that alleged it misled investors by failing to disclose climate-related risks that company executives well understood. Now, the Securities and Exchange Commission is pressing businesses to be more forthcoming about climate risks, and activist shareholders are pushing oil companies to mitigate their carbon emissions.
Democrats Push to Finalize Special Spending Bills
Democrats reportedly may reach agreement this week on a slimmed-down version of the $3.5 trillion partisan spending package the House developed in September through Congress’ budget reconciliation process. In addition, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has set an Oct. 31 target for voting on the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure spending bill, which stalled in the House after progressive Democrats insisted an agreement be reached on the partisan package first. Few details have emerged on what science programs may be pared back or dropped from the new version of the partisan package, which is primarily focused on social programs and climate change mitigation and is now expected to have a price tag between $1 trillion and $2 trillion. One exception is that funds for establishing an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health have reportedly been removed due to procedural issues. Meanwhile, backers of the Senate’s U.S. Innovation and Competition Act are pushing for the House to act on the legislation, which includes $52 billion in funding for semiconductor manufacturing subsidies and R&D. Some lawmakers have also raised the idea of passing the semiconductor funding through a different legislative vehicle, such as a standalone bill or the National Defense Authorization Act.
NIST Detailing Plans for Reactor Restart, Climate Science
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s primary advisory committee is meeting on Tuesday to hear updates on agency activities, including efforts to recover from a radiation incident that has kept its research reactor offline since Feb. 3. Earlier this month, the agency sent a report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission tracing the incident to mistakes made during a routine refueling operation by its staff, which has suffered from a loss of experience following several years of increased turnover. According to slides that will be presented at the meeting, NIST now estimates the earliest the reactor can restart is April 2022, contingent on NRC approval. The reactor, which supports nearly half of all U.S.-based neutron scattering research, is then scheduled to begin another extended shutdown in early 2023 to accommodate a long-expected upgrade project. Also on this week’s meeting agenda, the committee will hear from several NIST offices about the agency’s climate research portfolio, which spans greenhouse gas monitoring and measurements, energy efficiency technologies, carbon capture and sequestration, and disaster-resilient infrastructure.
OSTP Offering Update on Research Security Guidance
On Friday, the National Science, Technology, and Security Roundtable is holding a meeting to hear an update on a presidential policy known as NSPM-33, which sets minimum standards for research security policies across federal agencies. Among the speakers is Linda Lourie, who is leading the development of implementation guidance for NSPM-33 in her role as assistant director for research and technology security at the White House Office and Science and Technology Policy. Lourie joined the office in June from the Department of Defense, where she served in roles including general counsel of the Defense Innovation Unit and associate general counsel for acquisition and logistics. In August, OSTP Director Eric Lander announced that within 90 days the office would issue implementation guidance for NSPM-33 focused on three areas: disclosure policy, oversight and enforcement of disclosure policies, and the requirement from NSPM-33 that research organizations receiving more than $50 million annually in federal R&D funds maintain research security programs. Also speaking at this Friday’s meeting are Rebecca Keiser, chief of research security strategy and policy at the National Science Foundation, and Mike Lauer, deputy director for extramural research at the National Institutes of Health.
In Case You Missed It
Senate Appropriators Release Remaining Spending Proposals
Senate appropriators finished releasing their fiscal year 2022 spending bills and accompanying committee reports last week. Similar to counterpart legislation passed by the House earlier this year, their proposals would provide significant boosts across science programs , including double-digit percentage increases for the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and National Institute of Standards and Technology, among other agencies. Nonetheless, final budget outcomes remain clouded, as Congress still needs to iron out differences between the bills and reach an agreement on overall federal spending limits for the year to avoid a Republican filibuster in the Senate. Under a stopgap measure Congress passed in September, Federal science funding has been frozen near its fiscal year 2021 level since the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1.
The Senate and House both support the Biden administration’s proposal to create a technology-focused directorate within the National Science Foundation, with the Senate directing NSF to allocate up to the requested level of $865 million for its first year. In addition, the Senate’s bill for the National Institutes of Health would provide $2.4 billion to establish an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, just under the $3 billion proposed by the House but well below the $6.5 billion the administration proposed. Among the major differences between the proposals, Senate appropriators seek to increase funding for early-stage defense R&D, whereas the House and administration have proposed cuts. Conversely, proposed increases on the Senate side for the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy and U.S. Geological Survey are considerably smaller than the ones proposed in the House. Detailed figures from the Senate and House proposals are available in FYI’s Federal Science Budget Tracker .
GAO and CRS Highlight Expansion of S&T Policy Staff
At a House hearing last week, the heads of the Government Accountability Office and Congressional Research Service testified on their efforts to address lawmakers’ interest in bolstering the advice they receive on science and technology issues. CRS Director Mary Mazanec reported that CRS has created 12 new positions focused on S&T policy, while Comptroller General Gene Dodaro noted that the Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics (STAA) team created by GAO in 2019 has nearly doubled in size to 120 staff members. Dodaro’s testimony also details the range of the STAA team’s analytic products, the most recent of which is an assessment of quantum technologies . GAO’s efforts have dampened a push by some lawmakers to revive Congress’ Office of Technology Assessment, which had around 150 staff members when it was defunded in 1995. Reports accompanying House and Senate appropriations legislation for fiscal year 2022 applaud actions by GAO and CRS to expand their S&T expertise as an alternative to Congress reviving OTA. During the hearing, Dodaro also criticized a proposal to import the OTA model into STAA and give the team more independence from GAO, remarking , “To take an old model and put it in an otherwise well-functioning organization, it reminds me of the Hippocratic Oath: ‘First, do no harm.’”
DOE Nuclear Technology Contracting Scrutinized by House Panel
At a hearing last week, the House Science Committee called attention to four technology demonstration contracts that the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy has awarded on a non-competitive basis, with an expected cost to DOE of nearly $2 billion. Most of the funding under scrutiny is for efforts by the company NuScale to demonstrate a small modular reactor technology. The office’s current acting head Katy Huff testified that DOE followed appropriate procedures in awarding the contracts. Committee members did not suggest improprieties were involved, but did raise concerns that non-competitive contracts carry heightened risks. In a written statement, Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) observed that aspects of the contracts resemble those used for demonstrations backed by DOE’s fossil energy office, and noted that only one of nine carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects it supported over the last 15 years was actually built, and that even that project is no longer operating. Johnson indicated a forthcoming Government Accountability Office report cites DOE contracting and project management as factors underlying that poor record. DOE is currently ramping up a multibillion-dollar Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program and it could rapidly expand its technology demonstration portfolio in CCUS and other energy technology areas if Congress’ bipartisan infrastructure spending bill is enacted.
US Charts Strategic Risks of Climate Change Before COP26
Just ahead of the upcoming U.N. COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, the White House released analyses of the national security and strategic risks of climate change prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security. The ODNI report represents the first national intelligence estimate on the subject and forecasts risks through 2040, such as increased conflicts over water resources, changing migration patterns, and the prospect of unilateral geoengineering efforts. At a press briefing , a senior administration official stated, “This is coming at a time when we are just a mere two weeks away from the U.S. attending and participating in the climate conference in Glasgow, known as COP26 ... it’s a really pivotal moment to underscore how the U.S. is thinking about climate security, its risks, and how we’re responding to many of those.” President Biden will attend the conference along with 13 cabinet members and top officials , including the heads of the Department of Energy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Environmental Protection Agency.
PCAST Members Mull Prospects of Fusion Energy
Last week, at the second meeting of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, members considered strategies for meeting the Biden administration’s goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. by 2050. Presenting on the potential contribution of fusion energy, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory physicist Richard Hawryluk discussed the recent National Academies study he chaired on pathways to building an operational pilot fusion power plant before 2040. Some members expressed skepticism about whether fusion energy can be developed in time to contribute to decarbonization targets. For instance, physicist Laura Greene pointed to “serious fundamental physics questions” surrounding whether net energy can be generated. Former defense secretary and physicist Ash Carter said the study committee had a “very odd charge” in that it was not asked to assess the trade-offs of developing a fusion plant versus pursuing other decarbonization methods. Meanwhile, President Biden’s science adviser Eric Lander noted that some in industry are claiming commercial fusion reactors could be ready by 2030. “Is the National Academies committee overly pessimistic? Are the people from industry overly optimistic? … Suppose it was a national priority to have a vibrant commercial fusion industry by the 2030s, not the 2050s. What would you do? Could you do it? Or is this incompressible?” he asked. Hawryluk replied that the first step is to form national teams to flesh out different reactor concepts and technology roadmaps, saying, “As a result of that, some of the concepts may be able to be accelerated faster than when we said; it may also be, as we really dig into it, people will realize that if you want to do all of these things, and in particular demonstrate reliability of operation, it will take a bit longer.”
Astronomers Press to Constrain Satellite Constellations
A group of U.S. astronomy associations released a report this month that summarizes policy options for reducing the impacts of light pollution from satellite megaconstellations. Among them, the report suggests policymakers “must end” the satellite industry’s current lack of review under the National Environmental Policy Act, making the case for the sky to be considered part of the environment. More broadly, the report argues that space is a “global commons” and that changes to the night sky can have widespread ecological and cultural impacts. Accordingly, it urges decision-makers and satellite operators to engage with historically marginalized groups, particularly Indigenous communities, and asserts that coordinated international regulation of the satellite industry is necessary. Arguing that scientific efforts to address growing satellite constellations have been “poorly funded and do not scale effectively,” the report also recommends creating a “SatHub” that would provide data on satellite orbits, software tools, and training and collaboration resources. In addition, it endorses the International Astronomical Union’s proposal to establish a Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference . The recommendations were developed by working groups organized through the SATCON2 workshop held this summer, building on outputs of the SATCON1 workshop held in 2020. (The workshops were co-organized by the American Astronomical Society, an AIP Member Society.)
NASA to Fund Gamma-Ray Telescope
NASA announced last week that its next small-scale astrophysics mission will be a telescope that will observe low-energy gamma rays to study star death and the formation of chemical elements in the Milky Way. Called the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI), the telescope is expected to launch in 2025 and to cost $145 million, excluding launch costs. COSI is led by a team at the University of California, Berkeley and was selected from four concepts that were previously winnowed down from 18 proposals submitted to the Astrophysics Division’s Explorers program. Another small-scale astrophysics mission, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer , is scheduled to launch on Dec. 9.
Events This Week
Monday, October 25
2021 Black in Physics Week
(continues through Saturday)
IAF: International Astronautical Congress
(continues through Friday)
Directed Energy Professional Society: Directed Energy Systems Symposium
(continues through Friday)
NSF: National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Task Force meeting
11:00 am - 5:00 pm
National Academies: “The Strategic Council for Research Excellence, Integrity, and Trust,” kickoff meeting
12:00 - 1:00 pm
Center for American Progress: “Transitioning to a Nature-Centered Global Economy”
12:00 - 1:00 pm
National Academies: “Meeting with Asian High-energy Laser Researchers”
10:30 - 11:30 pm
Tuesday, October 26
NIST: Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology meeting
10:00 am – 5:30 pm
House: “Protecting Lives and Livelihoods: Vaccine Requirements and Employee Accommodations”
10:15 am, Education and Labor Committee
National Academies: “The Role of Disruptive Technologies in Supply Chain Resilience and Sustainability”
11:00 am - 1:00 pm
CSIS: “Inclusive Innovation: Building Opportunities for all Americans”
12:00 - 1:30 pm
Bureau of Industry and Security: Sensors and Instrumentation Technical Advisory Committee meeting
1:00 pm
CompTIA: “Protecting the Higher Ground: Advancing Space Cybersecurity and Next Steps for Space Policy Directive-5”
1:00 pm
Carnegie Mellon University: “NREL’s Research to Enable a Decarbonized Economy by 2050”
1:00 - 2:00 pm
Belfer Center: “Sailing through the Northwest Passage: How Scientific Research and International Diplomacy Made that Possible”
5:00 - 6:00 pm
Wednesday, October 27
National Academies: “Developing a Long Term Strategy for Low Dose Radiation Research in the United States,” meeting five
(continues Thursday)
Bureau of Industry and Security: “Joint U.S.–EU Stakeholders Virtual Outreach on Dual-Use Export Controls”
9:30 - 11:30 am
Senate: Hearing to consider the nomination of Christopher Frey to be EPA assistant administrator for R&D
10:00 am, Environment and Public Works Committee (406 Dirksen Office Building)
House: “Ensuring Equity in Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery”
10:00 am, Homeland Security Committee (310 Cannon Office Building)
House: “United States Global COVID-19 Response: Actions Taken and Future Needs”
10:00 am, Appropriations Committee
Senate: “The State of the State Department and State Department Authorization”
10:00 am, Foreign Relations Committee (G50 Dirksen Office Building)
Senate: “Oversight of the Department of Justice”
10:00 am, Judiciary Committee (106 Dirksen Office Building)
National Academies: Committee on Solid Earth Geophysics fall meeting
12:00 - 5:00 pm
Brookings Institution: “Aligning Technology Governance with Democratic Values”
12:45 - 4:00 pm
House: “The Federal Coal Program: A Bad Deal for Taxpayers and a Threat to Climate”
1:00 pm, Natural Resources Committee
House: “How Data Can Inform and Improve Policy”
1:00 pm, Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress
NASA: Heliophysics Advisory Committee meeting
2:00 - 6:30 pm
Senate: “Strategies For Improving Critical Energy Infrastructure”
2:30 pm, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
National Academies: “Addressing the Impact of the Pandemic on Women in STEMM”
7:00 - 8:30 pm
Thursday, October 28
House: “Fueling the Climate Crisis: Exposing Big Oil’s Disinformation Campaign to Prevent Climate Action”
9:00 am, Oversight and Reform Committee (2154 Rayburn Office Building)
WRI: “State of Climate Action 2021”
9:00 - 10:15 am
House: “International Climate Challenges and Opportunities”
10:30 am, Select Committee on the Climate Crisis (210 Cannon Office Building)
Bureau of Industry and Security: Emerging Technology Technical Advisory Committee meeting
11:00 am
National Academies: Meeting with the French Atomic Energy Commission and the Laser Megajoule Facility
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
CHORUS: “Are We Ready for Data Citation Metrics?”
11:00 am - 1:00pm
NSF: Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering meeting
11:30 - 5:30 pm
ITIF: “How China’s Subsidies Threaten Advanced-Technology Industries”
12:00 - 1:00 pm
Center for American Progress: “Climate Disclosure Standards: Who Should Set Them?”
12:00 - 1:15 pm
SIA/SRC: “Decadal Plan for Semiconductors: New Trajectories for Communication”
12:30 - 2:00 pm
National Academies: Committee on Earth Sciences and Applications from Space fall meeting, part one
12:45 - 5:30 pm
UC San Diego: “A Border in the ‘Endless Frontier’: U.S–China Scientific Exchange”
1:00 pm PDT
DOE: Secretary of Energy Advisory Board meeting
1:00 - 2:30 pm
National Academies: “Supporting Diversity and Excellence in Research Pathways at UC Merced”
1:00 - 3:30 pm
National Academies: “Review of FCC Order 20-48 Authorizing Operation of a Terrestrial Radio Network Near the GPS Frequency Bands”
5:00 - 7:00 pm
Committee of 100: “Racial Profiling Among Scientists of Chinese Descent and Consequences for the U.S. Scientific Community”
8:00 - 9:30 pm
Friday, October 29
National Academies: “Advising NSF on its Efforts to Achieve the Nation’s Vision for the Materials Genome Initiative,” meeting 12
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Day One Project: “Fall Lunch Series on Industrial Policy: New Vehicles to Advance Competitiveness in Strategic Domains”
12:00 pm
Resources for the Future: “Driving Decarbonization: Examining Electric Vehicles and Low-Carbon Fuels in U.S. Reconciliation Efforts”
12:00 - 1:00 pm
National Academies: “National Science Technology and Security Roundtable,” meeting four
12:00 - 2:00 pm
Sunday, October 31
United Nations: UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP) 26
(continues through Nov. 12)
Monday, November 1
OSA: Frontiers in Optics and Laser Science
(continues through Thursday)
DOE: High Energy Physics Advisory Panel meeting
(continues Tuesday)
National Academies: “Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research Program 10th Anniversary Celebration”
10:00 - 11:30 am
National Academies: Committee on Earth Sciences and Applications from Space fall meeting, part two
11:00 am - 2:45 pm
Belfer Center: “Cultivating Climate: U.S.–China Relations and Global Climate Cooperation”
12:00 - 1:00 pm
Opportunities
CSET Seeking Research Fellows
The Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University is accepting applications to fill several roles across its organization, including research fellows and senior fellows in selected areas. These include applications of artificial intelligence, supply chains for key national security technologies, technology diplomacy, and China’s science and technology ecosystem.
New Emerging Technologies Fellowship Seeks Applicants
The Lincoln Network is accepting applications for its inaugural Fellowship on Advancing Critical Emerging Technologies, which will support three fellows to spend January 10, 2022 to December 30, 2022 in Washington, D.C. Fellows will work to “translate academic ideas to actionable policies that advance American innovation,” focusing on “policy questions arising from escalating U.S.–China competition in key technology areas (e.g. artificial intelligence, industrial supply chain, telecommunications, quantum computing).” Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the positions are filled.
‘Progress Studies Accelerator’ Seeks Proposals
The Day One Project and the Institute for Progress are hosting a six-week “Progress Studies Policy Accelerator” that will help individuals craft actionable policy proposals for reshaping public science institutions. Participants will produce proposals around 2,000 to 4,000 words in length. No policy experience is necessary to apply, and applications are due Oct. 28.
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
- ‘Science and technology now sit in the center of every policy and social issue’ (Issues in Science and Technology, interview with Alondra Nelson)
- Staffing, leadership concerns bedevil OMB (E&E News)
Congress
- There’s another big Dem agenda holdup: A stalled China competitiveness bill (Politico)
- Chip subsidies at stake as industry, lawmakers press Pelosi to act (National Journal)
- Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) works to include chip tax credit in reconciliation (National Journal)
- Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) underscores urgency to pass NASA Authorization Bill (Senate Commerce Committee)
- Masto introduces bipartisan legislation to require quadrennial National Science and Technology Strategy (Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV))
- Rosen introduces bipartisan bill to improve wildfire forecasting and detection through NOAA (Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV))
Science, Society, and the Economy
- America on edge: Settling for second place? (Issues in Science and Technology, perspective by Norm Augustine and Neal Lane)
- Experts call for a US national technology strategy as competition heats up with China (Nextgov)
- Successful processes to design and evaluate industrial and innovation policies (STPI, report)
- Report on making Alabama a national hub for innovation (Hoover Institution)
- Engaging with communities (Issues in Science and Technology, editorial)
- FSOC report says climate change is an ‘emerging threat’ to US economic stability (Axios)
- Why COP26 invited a science fiction writer (Bloomberg, perspective by Kim Stanley Robinson)
Education and Workforce
- Crackdown on Chinese spying at American universities backfires (NBC News, video)
- Stanford professors respond to the Review on DOJ’s China Initiative (Stanford Review, perspective by Steven Kivelson and Peter Michelson)
- FBI secretly investigating respected US oceanographer’s China ties (Radio Free Asia)
- Washington should compete for scientific talent, not drive it away (Science|Business, perspective by Al Teich)
- How three refugee scientists kept their research hopes alive (Nature)
- Pentagon’s push to build up technology talent ‘insufficient,’ DIU boss says (Air Force Magazine)
- MIT’s choice of lecturer ignited criticism. So did its decision to cancel (New York Times)
- Leading physicist resigns in protest after speaker invite request denied over George Floyd riot comments (Fox News)
- How ‘diversity’ turned tyrannical (Wall Street Journal, perspective by Lawrence Krauss)
- Welcome to #BlackInPhysics Week 2021 (Physics World)
Research Management
- Nondisclosure agreements, trade secrets, and trademarks considered very important to more US businesses than were patents or copyrights in 2017 (NSF)
- Abolishing the patent system may be tempting but it remains the best way of rewarding inventors and disseminating knowledge (Financial Times, perspective by John Thornhill)
- The science that isn’t seen because it’s not in English (Axios)
- Why the world needs to embrace open science (World Economic Forum, perspective by Wu Zhaohui)
- More data on applications submitted during the pandemic (NIH)
- Nominees for a science award were all white men — nobody won (E&E News)
- Evaluating the role of scientific awards (Physics, perspective by Ching Jin and Brian Uzzi)
- Boulder weather research organization and officers pay over $2 million to resolve investigation into improper use of federal grants for scientific research (DOJ)
Labs and Facilities
- Applied Physics Lab welcomes government and university leaders for opening of newest facility (JHU APL)
- Wheels in motion for ATLAS upgrade (CERN Courier)
- Key magnet installed at sPHENIX detector (Brookhaven Lab)
- LLNL engineers deliver final optical components for the Rubin Observatory (Lawrence Livermore National Lab)
- Congressmen concerned about DOE performance in wake of COVID-19 vaccine rules (Aiken Standard)
- Vaccine mandates ‘will not disrupt’ DOE operations, says spokesperson (Aiken Standard)
- PPPL hit with whistleblower suit over project safety (Law 360)
Computing and Communications
- Quantum computing and communications: Status and prospects (GAO, report)
- Building a ‘quantum ecosystem’ in Europe (Optics and Photonics News)
- NATO plans AI strategy, $1 billion investment fund (Military.com)
- Mapping the AI investment activities of top global defense companies (CSET, report)
- AI education catalog (CSET)
- Micron to expand chip production with $150 billion in capital spending over coming decade (Wall Street Journal)
- China pushes to design its own chips — but can’t do it without foreign tech (CNBC)
- Huawei and SMIC scored billions in US licenses, lawmakers say (Bloomberg)
- Asian universities step up semiconductor programmes (University World News)
- The road to exascale (ORNL)
- An Exascale Day interview with ORNL’s Doug Kothe, director of DOE’s Exascale Computing Project (Exascale Computing Project, audio)
Space
- The Webb Telescope’s latest stumbling block: Its name (New York Times)
- NASA defends decision to retain JWST name (SpaceNews)
- NASA’s laser communications relay demonstration gears up for launch (NASA)
- NASA sets Artemis 1 launch date no earlier than February (SpaceNews)
- Senate committee told US space leadership requires continued presence in low Earth orbit (SpacePolicyOnline)
- NASA gets a third proposal for a new private space station (Bloomberg)
- Senate appropriators frustrated with lack of progress on civil space traffic management (SpaceNews)
- The Artemis Accords after one year of international progress (Space Review, perspective by Paul Stimers and Audrey Jammes)
- The UN Office of Outer Space Affairs is considering issues of light pollution spanning from streetlights to satellites (Sky and Telescope)
- Seeing a future for astronauts with disabilities on a zero-gravity airplane flight (New York Times)
Weather, Climate, and Environment
- Who are the world’s biggest climate polluters? Satellites sweep for culprits (Wall Street Journal)
- New methane-sensing satellites mean trouble for Russia, the world’s second-biggest natural gas producer (Washington Post)
- The 2021 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: code red for a healthy future (The Lancet, paper by Marina Romanello, et al.)
- Document leak reveals nations lobbying to change key climate report (BBC News)
- Physicist-turned-climate adviser says developing countries will be seeking money at UN climate talks (ScienceInsider, interview with Bill Hare)
- Introducing NCEI’s Regional Climate Services Directors (NOAA)
- Who will make sense of all the data? Assessing the impacts of technology on the weather, water, and climate workforce (AMS, report)
- Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) is trying to pony up a billion dollars to put better supercomputers to use for weather forecasting (National Journal)
Energy
- Carbon capture and sequestration in the US (CRS, report)
- The world is banking on giant carbon-sucking fans to clean our climate mess. It’s a big risk (CNN)
- Powering innovation: A strategic approach to America’s advanced battery technology (Hudson Institute, report)
- Automakers step up pace on electric vehicle battery plants (AP)
- The commercial drive for laser fusion power (Physics Today)
- Nuclear energy: Overview of congressional issues (CRS, report)
- US to give nuclear waste plant in Idaho another try (AP)
- Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska announced as site for Air Force micro-reactor pilot (DOD)
Defense
- Emerging military technologies: Background and issues for Congress (CRS, report)
- Questions linger over China’s reported hypersonic space weapon test (Breaking Defense)
- Chinese hypersonic missile test unlikely to trigger arms race, experts say (Defense News)
- If China tested a new orbital weapon, it’s not much of a surprise (New York Times)
- China’s orbital bombardment system is big, bad news — but not a breakthrough (Foreign Policy, perspective by Jeffrey Lewis)
- Alternatives to radioactive materials: A national strategy to support alternative technologies may reduce risks of a dirty bomb (GAO, report)
- Rapid pulse laser weapons could be the Pentagon’s future edge (Breaking Defense)
- DOD developing common standards, interfaces for directed energy weapons (Aviation Week)
Biomedical
- Should the next NIH director hold a medical degree? (ScienceInsider)
- Bat research group failed to submit virus studies promptly, NIH says (New York Times)
- EcoHealth Alliance conducted risky experiments on MERS virus in China (The Intercept)
- Statement on misinformation about SARS-CoV-2 origins (NIH)
- A data sleuth challenged a powerful COVID scientist. Then he came after her (BuzzFeed News)
- FDA moves to make some hearing aids available without a prescription (New York Times)
- NorthStar breaks ground on isotope facility, moves toward doubling domestic Mo-99 supply (Health Imaging)
- NNSA awards SHINE $35 million for Mo-99 production (American Nuclear Society)
- Quantum science concepts in enhancing sensing and imaging technologies: Applications for biology (National Academies, report)
International Affairs
- US officials caution companies about risks of working with Chinese entities in AI and biotech (Washington Post)
- House Republicans call for tougher controls to keep US tech from China (Wall Street Journal)
- How can the US navigate the geopolitics of international technology standards? (Atlantic Council, report)
- How to make the Quad truly quadrilateral (Nikkei Asia, perspective by Husanjot Chahal and Ngor Luong)
- China to create rare-earths giant by joining three state companies (Nikkei Asia)
- Lab blast kills 2 and injures 9 at China’s top aerospace university (South China Morning Post)
- China’s new research evaluation policy: Evidence from economics faculty of Elite Chinese universities (Research Policy, paper by Wenyan Liang, et al.)
- Putin praises Russia’s huge potential for scientific discoveries (Tass)
- ‘Politicians shouldn’t meddle’: New chief of Europe’s major research funder shares priorities (Nature, interview with Maria Leptin)
- Commission completes Horizon negotiations with Israel in rare association success (Science|Business)
- European Parliament clears way for €22 billion Horizon Europe partnerships to go ahead (Science|Business)
- EU and UK ‘breaking promise’ on post-Brexit research ties (Times Higher Education)
- Boris Johnson set to break science funding pledge, officials say (Politico)
- African Union elects new science commissioner (Research Professional)
- Scientists reel as Brazilian government backtracks on research funds (Nature)