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What’s Ahead
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| A solar flare imaged by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory on Oct. 2, 2014. (Image credit – NASA / SDO) |
Space Weather Preparedness Bill Approaches Finish Line
The House is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill the Senate passed in July delineating federal agency responsibilities for research, forecasting, and preparedness activities related to space weather. The Senate passed a similar bill two years ago, but it stalled when the House advanced a substantially different version. The chambers reached a compromise this year, which included the addition of a House-backed provision authorizing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to create a pilot program for obtaining space weather data from private companies. Congress has previously directed NOAA to create such a pilot program for terrestrial weather data and the agency is now planning to purchase commercial radio occultation data to incorporate into its operational weather forecasts.
House Also Voting on Rural STEM and COVID Racism Measures
Other bills up for a House vote this week include the bipartisan Rural STEM Education Act, which would direct the National Science Foundation to support research on ways to improve STEM instruction in rural schools, and a resolution that denounces anti-Asian sentiment connected to COVID-19. The resolution condemns behavior such as use of the phrase “Chinese Virus” and calls on federal law enforcement officials to quickly investigate related hate crimes. The resolution currently has 147 Democratic cosponsors and 1 Republican cosponsor. A Senate companion resolution is sponsored by vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA). A number of scientific societies, including AIP, have endorsed the resolutions due to reports that individuals of Asian ancestry are “increasingly subject to stigma, physical attack, or suspicion due to the potential origins of the novel coronavirus.”
Senators to Debate Nuclear Weapons Budget
The Senate Armed Services Committee is holding a hearing on Thursday concerning the budget for the National Nuclear Security Administration, the semi-autonomous agency within the Department of Energy that maintains the U.S. stockpile of nuclear warheads. Early this year, Committee Chair Jim Inhofe (R-OK) sided with NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty as she lobbied for a higher funding allocation in the president’s budget request over the objections of Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette. Inhofe later sought to use the annual National Defense Authorization Act to allow the Department of Defense-dominated Nuclear Weapons Council to influence NNSA’s budget submission to the White House, which he insists is crucial to modernizing the U.S. nuclear arsenal. However, opponents argue the move would cut against the nation’s traditional policy of keeping the nuclear weapons complex outside military control. Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced bipartisan legislation to strengthen DOE’s control over NNSA, with Committee Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) arguing the agency has “repeatedly gone rogue” in attempting to undermine the energy secretary’s authority over it. A House-Senate conference committee will determine whether Inhofe’s proposal, a watered-down provision, or any other provision on the subject will be included in the finalized NDAA. The witnesses at this week’s hearing will be Gordon-Hagerty, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord, and the head of U.S. Strategic Command, Adm. Charles Richard.
Congress Checks In With National Security AI Commission
The House Armed Services Committee is holding a subcommittee hearing on Thursday to review the work of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. Four commission members will testify, including its chair, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and vice chair, former Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work. Congress established the commission through the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act to advise the federal government on the implications of AI and related technologies for U.S. national security. The commission has filed two sets of quarterly recommendations to date covering issues such as how to structure R&D efforts and impose appropriate export controls, and it is planning to release a final report in March 2021. This year, the House proposed launching a national AI R&D initiative and is seeking to expedite its enactment by including it in the latest NDAA legislation. The Defense Innovation Board, also chaired by Schmidt, is meeting on Tuesday to discuss various issues, including autonomous systems and DOD competitiveness in technical workforce hiring.
Senate Set to Advance Research Relief Bill
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee is considering 10 bills on Wednesday including the Research Investment to Spark the Economy (RISE) Act, which recommends that Congress include about $25 billion in the next pandemic relief bill to address disruptions to research. The bill proposes Congress distribute the funding across several federal science agencies, with $10 billion for the National Institutes of Health, $5 billion for the Department of Energy, $3 billion each for the National Science Foundation and Department of Defense, $2 billion for NASA, $350 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and $300 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The committee is also considering three other research-focused bills: the Flood Level Observation, Operations, and Decision Support (FLOODS) Act, which would establish a national integrated flood information system at NOAA to bolster flood monitoring, forecasts, and risk communication; a bill mandating a valuation of electromagnetic spectrum allocated to federal entities; and a forthcoming bill titled the Forensic Science Research and Standards Act, sponsored by Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
Nuclear Threat Reduction Colloquium Series Launching
The newly formed Physicists Coalition for Nuclear Threat Reduction is kicking off a colloquium series at universities across the U.S. as part of its effort to rekindle the physical science community’s engagement with arms control issues. On Thursday, Princeton University physicist Frank von Hippel will deliver a talk at Vanderbilt University on “hair triggers, instabilities, and how physicists, acting as citizen-scientists, can help reduce the risks of a new nuclear arms race and nuclear war.” The coalition’s initial focus areas include encouraging the Trump administration to extend the expiring New START nuclear arms limitation treaty between the U.S. and Russia and to urge Congress not to authorize preparations for a potential nuclear test. It is also sponsoring a fellowship program for early-career physicists and engineers interested in nuclear weapons threat reduction. The coalition is supported by the American Physical Society and the Carnegie Corporation. (APS is an AIP Member Society)
NASA and DOE Holding Roundtable on Space Exploration
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Department of Energy Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar will discuss cross-sector opportunities for collaboration on space exploration projects during a roundtable discussion Tuesday at the University of Tulsa. Nicknaming itself the “Department of Exploration,” DOE has increasingly emphasized its role in enabling deep space missions, such as by helping develop nuclear propulsion and surface power technologies. At an event dedicated to the subject last week, DOE indicated it is looking to demonstrate a fission power system on the Moon with NASA by 2028 and plans to release a request for proposals this fall.
Optics Meeting Highlighting COVID Work, Quantum Photonics Roadmap
The Optical Society’s Frontiers in Optics annual meeting is being held as a free virtual event this week and will feature two sessions on how photonics technologies are being used to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Tom Baer, executive director of the Stanford Photonics Research Center, will describe their use in applications such as virus diagnosis and personal protective equipment decontamination, while Kristan Corwin of the National Institute of Standards and Technology is moderating a panel discussion on how optics and photonics researchers around the world have worked to understand the spread of the virus. This year’s meeting also has an emphasis on emerging technologies enabled by quantum information science and is being held in conjunction with the Optical Society’s new Quantum 2.0 conference. Two sessions are dedicated to optical component requirements for quantum communications and sensing applications identified in the society’s recently released Quantum Photonics Roadmap.
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In Case You Missed It
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| Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2018. (Image credit – State Department) |
US Cancels More Than 1,000 Chinese Student and Researcher Visas
A State Department official revealed last week that the U.S. has revoked the visas of more than 1,000 Chinese citizens pursuant to a May 2020 proclamation by President Trump targeting graduate students and researchers with past or present ties to institutions deemed to support China’s “military-civil fusion” strategy. Reuters reported that some Chinese students enrolled in U.S. universities learned their visas were cancelled via emails sent on Sept. 9 by the U.S. embassy in Beijing or consulates in China, and that some undergraduates were affected. About 130,000 Chinese students were enrolled in U.S. graduate programs in 2018, of whom about 85,000 were in science and engineering fields, according to the most recent data published by the National Science Foundation. In a Sept. 9 speech, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said the administration was blocking visas for certain Chinese graduate students and researchers to “prevent them from stealing and otherwise appropriating sensitive research.” Reacting to the cancellations, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry remarked, “It is outright political persecution and racial discrimination, and seriously violated the human rights of Chinese students studying there.”
DOE Implements New Research Security Framework
The Department of Energy issued a directive on Sept. 4 that expands on a 2019 policy prohibiting agency and contractor employees from participating in talent recruitment programs operated by “foreign countries of risk.” Employees are now required to seek approval for current and prospective participation in a range of additional activities involving both monetary and non-monetary research support from entities affiliated with governments of those countries. The directive automatically exempts “users conducting research under a DOE User Facility Agreement,” work conducted through a U.S. or DOE-level international agreement, and “in-kind support under a fundamental research collaboration for the sole purpose of co-authorship to be made publicly available.” The memo assigns responsibility for the country of risk designation to the under secretary for science and does not identify what countries are currently in the list. Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar has previously identified China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea as the main countries of concern for DOE. A DOE official told FYI the policy is separate from the “risk matrix” construct that the department implemented in the lab system last year.
Diversity Training Suspended at National Labs
Following a Sept. 4 White House memorandum ordering federal agencies to cease workforce training sessions focused on concepts such as “white privilege” or the idea the U.S. is an “inherently racist or evil country,” the Department of Energy has apparently put a temporary hold on all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training at its 17 national labs. Berkeley Lab Director Mike Witherell reported the move to lab staff last week in an email excerpted by a recipient and posted to Twitter. “Berkeley Lab is cooperating with this request and is pausing DEI-related training until we can, working with DOE, assess our offerings in light of the current concerns,” Witherell wrote.
Fringe Climatologist Appointed to NOAA Leadership Role
NPR reported on Sept. 12 that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has hired University of Delaware climatologist David Legates as deputy assistant secretary of commerce for observation and prediction. Legates, who was Delaware’s state climatologist from 2005 to 2011, is well known for advocating fringe views on climate change, such as that consensus exercises have vastly overstated its severity and negative impacts, and that carbon dioxide emissions are a relatively minor climate driver. NOAA is one of the principal federal agencies responsible for climate change research. As deputy assistant secretary, Legates reports to Neil Jacobs, the current assistant secretary for observation and prediction, who is awaiting Senate confirmation of his elevation to NOAA administrator, a role he has been performing provisionally since February 2019. Legates’ position does not require Senate confirmation, but if Jacobs is confirmed Legates would be a potential candidate to step temporarily into the assistant secretary job, which requires Senate confirmation. However, the Trump administration has frequently used temporary appointments as a way to install individuals to leadership positions for long periods without securing Senate approval.
Republican Pandemic Relief Bill Fails in Senate
Senate Democrats blocked Republicans’ latest coronavirus relief proposal last week when a vote to end debate on the bill fell short of the required 60 votes, leaving the parties locked in a stalemate over their vastly different pandemic bills. While the bill was not expected to pass, it would have provided about $500 billion for response and recovery measures, including $47 billion for public health interventions such as vaccine distribution and contact tracing as well as $105 million for the Education Stabilization Fund created by the CARES Act, of which $29 million would go to higher education institutions. Unlike previous relief proposals from both parties, the measure did not include emergency appropriations for federal science agencies outside the Department of Health and Human Services, though it retained provisions to support critical minerals R&D featured in a previous Republican proposal.
Universities Brief Science Committee on Pandemic Impacts
At a House Science Committee hearing last week on COVID-19’s impacts on universities, Research and Technology Subcommittee Chair Haley Stevens (D-MI) emphasized that many universities “find themselves in real danger of financial ruin.” David Stone, vice president for research at Oakland University, located in Stevens’ suburban Detroit district, reported his institution has incurred $25 million in direct losses and noted that state funding has decreased 11% in the current year and that “prospects look grim for the next two.” Joseph Walsh, interim vice president for economic development and innovation for the University of Illinois System, testified that about 80% of all research across the U.S. slowed or stopped in the spring due to the pandemic, with disproportionate impacts on researchers with childcare responsibilities and facilities reliant on user fees. As a result, he said, many universities are seeking relief from Congress through the Research Investment to Secure the Economy (RISE) Act.
NASA Looks to Spur Commercial Exploration With Lunar Soil Purchase
NASA announced on Sept. 10 it is seeking bids from commercial vendors for the development and operation of at least one mission to obtain a sample from the lunar surface with a mass of between 50 and 500 grams, which will then be turned over to the agency. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine explained the aim is to flesh out capabilities and policies needed to make commercial partners into key players in future lunar and deep space exploration. The solicitation, which is not limited to U.S. companies, states that vendors should aim to collect the sample “before 2024” with no restrictions placed on the sample’s location or composition. The contractor need not perform any sample analysis and will transfer it to NASA at the collection site. NASA indicates it will develop a means of transfer at a later date and does not state if it plans to return the sample to Earth or make scientific use of it.
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Events This Week Monday, September 14
Tuesday, September 15
Wednesday, September 16
Thursday, September 17
Friday, September 18
Monday, September 21
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Opportunities NSF Seeking Input on COVID Impacts to STEM Education
The National Science Foundation is accepting comments on how the federal government should adjust implementation of its strategic plan for STEM education in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. NSF seeks particular input on opportunities and challenges arising from the shift to remote instruction, among other topics. Comments are due Oct. 19.
Berkeley Lab Hiring Physics Division Director
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is seeking a director for its Physics Division, which has an annual budget of $60 million and a staff of 140 employees and 250 affiliates. The division focuses on particle physics and cosmology research and is organized into five core programs: Energy Frontier (ATLAS), Intensity Frontier (DUNE and Mu2e), Cosmic Frontier (DESI, LZ, CMB-S4), Theory, and Detector R&D. Applicants must have a doctoral degree in particle physics, cosmology, or a related field, and at least 10 years of related experience. Applications are due Oct. 30.
Nominations Sought for Indoor Chemistry Study
The National Academies is seeking individuals to serve on a new committee tasked with examining the state of indoor air chemistry research and recommending where additional inquiry is most critical for understanding adverse exposures, among other areas. The study will focus on non-industrial exposures within buildings. Nominations are due Oct. 2. 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.
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