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What’s Ahead
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| (Image credit – Sara Gemeny Wilkinson / U.S. State Department) |
Spectrum Debate Unresolved as Global Telecom Summit Begins
As the monthlong World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19) begins this week in Egypt, a critical moment is arriving in the ongoing dispute over the potential threat to weather forecasts posed by 5G telecommunications equipment. According to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Federal Communications Commission has set out-of-band emission limits on equipment operating in newly opened parts of the electromagnetic spectrum that would not prevent interference with satellites’ measurements of natural emissions from water vapor. FCC denies there will be any significant interference. These emissions limits will be an important point to resolve as the U.S. negotiates with other nations over what standards regulators will impose on 5G equipment worldwide. House Science Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) has been pressing FCC to justify its position, most recently in an Oct. 23 letter to FCC Chair Ajit Pai protesting that she has not received a response to her previous inquiries. “Going into WRC-19, it is vital that the U.S. delegation respect the equities of federal spectrum users and allow well-documented science to direct the U.S. negotiating position,” she wrote.
As Senate Moves on Science Spending, a Final Deal Remains Elusive
The Senate is expected to vote this week on an uncontroversial spending package that includes funding for NASA, the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and U.S. Geological Survey, among other agencies. Although floor amendments could adjust some spending proposals, the levels appropriators advanced earlier this fall are unlikely to be significantly altered. See the FYI Federal Science Budget Tracker for details on proposals for individual agencies. Once the Senate passes the package, it plans to turn next to defense spending legislation. Despite this progress, negotiations with the House over a final, comprehensive spending package appear moribund. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Richard Shelby (R-AL) told reporters last week it would take a “miracle” for an agreement to be reached before the current stopgap spending measure expires on Nov. 21. He said a follow-on measure will likely cover all agencies and extend into the new year, potentially lasting until February or March.
Top Officials to Discuss Efforts to Curb Tech Transfer to China
On Tuesday, officials from the Departments of Defense, Commerce, and the Treasury are headlining an event titled “Managing the Risk of Tech Transfer to China,” hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The event comes as the Commerce Department is preparing to advance new export controls on “emerging” and “foundational” technologies, as required by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019. The process has reportedly been delayed due to debate within the Trump administration over how broadly or narrowly the new controls should be crafted. The Treasury Department has also been implementing enhanced review procedures for proposed foreign investments in sensitive areas, which was also mandated in the NDAA. Among the speakers is Michael Brown, director of DOD’s Defense Innovation Unit and author of an influential paper on China’s technology acquisition strategy. Brown has advocated for increasing federal support for R&D to stay ahead of competitors and at an event last week he aired concern that his paper has been “used too much as a justification for protectionist ideas and not enough for stimulus for further investment.”
NIST Detailing Priority Initiatives to Advisory Panel
The primary advisory panel for the National Institute of Standards and Technology is meeting this week, with an agenda focused on how the agency is adapting to changes in the global research and technology landscape. Sessions include updates on NIST’s strategic plan for laboratory programs, international engagement activities, and its role in developing standards for emerging technologies. NIST officials will also describe the agency’s participation in each of the four subcommittees of the National Science and Technology Council’s Joint Committee on Research Environments.
Moniz Making Case for Carbon Removal RD&D
On Thursday, the Bipartisan Policy Center will host a discussion on the commercial scalability of technologies that remove carbon from the atmosphere, such as direct air capture. Former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will start the meeting by reviewing the recommendations of an $11 billion plan prepared by his organization, the Energy Futures Initiative, that would support carbon dioxide removal R&D and demonstration projects over the next ten years. A panel of experts from the private sector will then discuss how the energy sector can support such work, featuring highlights from a new report from the Institute of Clean Air Companies on emerging technologies for managing carbon emissions.
Science Policy Symposium for Early-Career Scientists Begins
The second annual Science Policy Symposium kicks off this weekend at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Supported by the National Science Policy Network, a coalition of student-led science policy groups, the symposium focuses on bringing together early career scientists who are interested in policy and advocacy. This year’s theme is “Leveraging Science and Technology to Benefit Marginalized Populations,” featuring sessions focused on advocating for diversity and inclusion in STEM and exploring the connections between science, identity, and social change. The event also includes workshops on effective science communication and a “crash course” on writing policy memoranda.
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In Case You Missed It
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| Rendering of NASA’s mission concept for a rover that will search for water deposits at the Moon’s south pole. (Image credit – Daniel Rutter / NASA Ames) |
NASA Aims to Launch Lunar Rover Mission in Late 2022
On Oct. 25, NASA announced it has greenlit a robotic lunar mission called the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER). VIPER is slated for launch in December 2022 to map water deposits in the Moon’s south pole region in advance of the planned crewed landing there in 2024. Similar to the Resource Prospector that NASA cancelled in April 2018, VIPER will carry equipment capable of detecting subsurface water and drilling up to one meter down to obtain samples. However, whereas the earlier mission was only intended to last up to 14 Earth days, the new rover will be built to endure for 100 days and operate through periods of lunar darkness. NASA’s Ames Research Center will lead VIPER’s development, which is expected to cost about $250 million, and it is to be delivered to the Moon through the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. India unsuccessfully attempted to land its own lunar rover near the south pole in September, raising concerns about how private companies will fare as they begin making their own landing attempts in 2021. This week, the VIPER mission is certain to be a subject of extensive discussion during the annual meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group, a panel that provides NASA with input from the lunar science community.
Trump Revives Presidential S&T Advisory Panel
After laying dormant since the end of the Obama administration, the President’s Council of Advisors of Science and Technology (PCAST) was reconstituted last week through an executive order issued by President Trump. The council comprises eminent volunteer experts from outside the federal government and conducts studies at the request of the president or the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. OSTP has announced the president’s first seven appointees to the council and indicated that it will have 16 members in total. The initial appointees predominately have backgrounds in industrial research, though OSTP said “several” members of a second group of appointees will be from academia. In reestablishing PCAST, Trump is following a precedent set by all of his predecessors going back to President George H. W. Bush, who appointed the first PCAST in 1990. Before then, most other recent presidents employed analogous bodies, beginning with President Dwight Eisenhower’s creation of the President’s Science Advisory Committee in 1957.
Date Set for ‘Snowmass’ Particle Physics Planning Meeting
The American Physical Society’s Division of Particles and Fields has announced the next High Energy Physics Community Planning Exercise will be held from July 11 to July 20, 2021. APS is currently seeking a host location for the meeting, which is known as “Snowmass” after the Colorado resort where its first iteration was held in 2001. It is expected to draw about 1,000 attendees who will identify promising research opportunities and articulate a vision for the field that will inform the next Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) exercise. Following the loss of domestic experimental research capabilities in the highest energy regimes, the U.S. particle physics community has used the P5 process to guide it into new specializations such as neutrino physics. Glen Crawford, a senior high energy physics official at the Department of Energy, also recently credited P5 with giving Congress the confidence needed to provide the field with major budget increases. A series of workshops will precede Snowmass to develop ideas that will feed into the discussions at the meeting.
Three Energy R&D Bills Introduced in Senate
Interest in spurring R&D across energy sources remains high in the Senate, with bills introduced last week focused on geothermal, wind, and solar energy. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Ranking Member Joe Manchin (D-WV) introduced the Advanced Geothermal Innovation Leadership (AGILE) Act, which would direct the Department of Energy to expand its geothermal R&D program and would define geothermal energy as counting toward federal renewable energy purchasing requirements. The bill is part of a wide-ranging energy policy push by the committee, which has already advanced legislation to boost support for nuclear energy, fossil energy, and energy storage R&D. Separately last week, senators who are not members of the committee introduced companions to wind and solar energy R&D legislation that the House Science Committee advanced in July. Sens. Tina Smith (D-MN) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Wind Energy R&D Act, which would update policy for DOE’s wind energy technology program, and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) introduced the Solar Energy R&D Act, which would provide new direction to the department’s solar energy program.
Berkeley Lab Shuttered by Second Power Outage
For the second time in a month, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s main campus has been forced to close as California’s primary electric utility company, PG&E, uses emergency power outages to reduce the risk of its equipment sparking wildfires. PG&E shut off power to the lab late on Oct. 26, and as of Monday morning the lab was still without power. The lab has spent months planning for such outages, which are unprecedented in the lab’s history. A previous outage closed the lab from Oct. 9 to 14. Activities at the University of California, Berkeley, have also been affected by the disruptions.
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Events This Week
All times are Eastern Daylight Time and all congressional hearings are webcast, unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement.
Monday, October 28
Tuesday, October 29
National Academies: “Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space Fall Meeting” (continues through Thursday) Beckman Center (Irvine, CA) National Academies: “Astro2020 Panel on Optical and Infrared Observations from the Ground,” kickoff meeting (continues through Thursday) Keck Center (500 5th St. NW, DC) NIST: Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology meeting (continues Wednesday) NIST headquarters (Gaithersburg, MD) NASA: Technology, Innovation, and Engineering Committee meeting 8:30 am - 5:00 pm, Kennedy Space Center Webcast available NSF: Education and Human Resources Advisory Committee meeting 8:30 am - 5:00 pm, Holiday Inn Alexandria (Alexandria, VA) House: “Future of Defense Task Force Hearing: Theories of Victory” 10:00 am, Armed Services Committee (2118 Rayburn Office Building) House: “Creating the Clean Energy Workforce” 10:00 am, Small Business Committee (2360 Rayburn Office Building) House: Markup of Higher Education Act Reauthorization 10:15 am, Education and Labor Committee (2175 Rayburn Office Building) NASA: STEM Engagement Committee teleconference 12:00 - 4:30 pm CSIS: “Managing the Risk of Tech Transfer to China” 2:00 - 4:00 pm, CSIS headquarters (1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW, DC) Webcast available
Wednesday, October 30
NSF: Polar Program Advisory Committee meeting (continues Thursday) NSF headquarters (Alexandria, VA) CSIS: “A Conversation on Energy Policy with Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Joe Manchin (D-WV)” 9:00 - 10:00 am, CSIS headquarters (1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW, DC) Webcast available House: “Sexual Harassment at the Interior Department” 10:00 am, Natural Resources Committee (1324 Longworth Office Building) ITIF: “China’s Impact on the Solar Industry: Lessons for the Future of Clean Energy” 10:00 - 11:30 am, ITIF headquarters (700 K St. NW, DC) Webcast available House: “Building a 100% Clean Economy: Solutions for the U.S. Power Sector” 10:30 am, Energy and Commerce Committee (2322 Rayburn Office Building) Stimson Center: “ A Conversation on Nuclear Nonproliferation with Assistant Secretary of State Chris Ford” 10:30 - 11:30 am, Stimson Center headquarters (1211 Connecticut Ave. NW, DC) Webcast available National Academies: “The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM,” report release 1:00 - 3:00 pm House: “Jump-Starting America! How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream” 2:00 - 3:00 pm, House R&D Caucus (2325 Rayburn Office Building) Senate: “Promoting the Useful Arts: How Can Congress Prevent the Issuance of Poor Quality Patents?” 2:30 pm, Judiciary Committee (226 Dirksen Office Building) New York Academy of Science: “Science Beyond Borders — How to Get Involved in International Science Policy” 3:00 - 4:30 pm, Webinar AAU: “Promoting Excellence in Undergraduate STEM Education” 5:00 pm, Association of American Universities (1200 New York Ave. NW, DC) Resources for the Future: “Taking the Pulse of a Changing Planet” 5:30 - 7:00 pm, Resources and Conservation Center (1400 16th St. NW, DC) Webcast available
Thursday, October 31
NASA: Advisory Council meeting (continues Friday) Kennedy Space Center University of Chicago: “When Technology Transforms Society: Considering the Societal and Ethical Impacts of Quantum Computing and AI” (continues Friday) Chicago, IL DOD: Defense Innovation Board meeting 9:30 am - 12:00 pm, Georgetown University (3700 O St. NW, DC) Senate: “Supply Chain Security, Global Competitiveness, and 5G” 9:30 am, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (342 Dirksen Office Building) Bipartisan Policy Center: “Scaling Carbon Removal: From Public Innovation to Commercial Opportunity” 10:00 - 11:30 am, Bipartisan Policy Center headquarters (1125 Eye St. NW, DC) Webcast available National Academies: Teleconference on lessons learned from previous decadal surveys 12:00 - 1:00 pm Potomac Institute: “The Future of Computing” 12:00 - 3:00 pm, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies (Arlington, VA) Wilson Center: “Research and Policy Findings for Sustainable Arctic Communities and Economies” 1:00 - 4:00 pm, Wilson Center headquarters (1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, DC) Webcast available Smithsonian: “Spaceflight as Soft Power: The Chinese, Russian, and American Space Programs in Contrast” 4:00 - 5:30 pm, Science and Technology Policy Institute (1701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, DC)
Friday, November 1
National Science Policy Network: 2nd Annual Science Policy Symposium (continues through Sunday) Madison, WI National Academy of Sciences: TED@NAS 12:00 - 7:00 pm, National Academy of Sciences (2101 Constitution Ave. NW, DC)
Monday, November 4
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Opportunities NSF Updating Cyberinfrastructure Strategy
The National Science Foundation is seeking input from individuals and organizations to inform its cyberinfrastructure investment strategy and future grant opportunities. NSF is particularly interested in comments that identify current or emerging data-driven research challenges that will “drive requirements for cross-disciplinary and disciplinary-agnostic data-related cyberinfrastructure.” Comments are due Dec. 16.
USGCRP Hiring International Science Coordinator
The United States Global Change Research Program, which coordinates climate change research across 13 federal agencies, is hiring an International Science Coordinator. Responsibilities include representing the program at international meetings and integrating international information into the U.S. National Climate Assessment, among other duties. Applicants must have an advanced degree in a relevant field.
Wilson Center S&T Internship Application Closes Soon
The Wilson Center is accepting applications for spring undergraduate and graduate research internship positions in its Science and Technology Innovation Program. Interns will conduct research and write articles related to special project areas in S&T policy, such as open science, artificial intelligence, and science communication. Applications are due Nov. 15.
Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
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