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Big Science has a Twenty-Year Plan
Earlier this week, Energy Secretary Spence Abraham laid out the Office of Science's 20-year plan for building and upgrading the U.S.'s "Big Science" facilities. Twenty-eight programs got the nod, in all. The top priorities -- fusion, and a massive supercomputer. Other goals on the wish list include studying dark energy, high-speed atomic-scale imaging with an electron laser, and fulfilling several particle-physics dreams, including a collider to rival CERN's LHC. Here's the press release and the full list (PDF). Your grandchildren may write school papers on the discoveries these tools will make...
The fusion powered supercomputer can take care of everything else by itself.
....something like 13 or 14 years ago, when Japan was starting to make a technological comeback in the world from an industrial society, they came out with a plan that almost parallels this....on a much different scale. Japan had plans to buid many, I think in fact 20-something, "science cities", which rapidly accelerated them into the 21st century.
What's happening here is important, because the U.S. could use a serious technological R&D upgrade, in my opinion. Moving to Linux is one thing, and I suppose, particle-physics and dark energy, along with a "massive supercomputer" are another. So long as they stay within the budget...
What happens if Democrats assume power in 2005?
We had one of those projects going: the Superconducting Supercollider. That went tango uniform as quick as you can say "policy shift".
All kinds of things can be announced for all kinds of reasons. Mostly the announcements are so you can hear the politicians make announcements and see what forward thinking people they are.
I don't even believe it when I'm told I've gotten my own grants -- not until I see the check has cleared the bank.
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
Here's the article:
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham Announces Department of Energy 20-Year Science Facility Plan
Sets Priorities for 28 New, Major Science Research Facilities
WASHINGTON, DC - In a speech at the National Press Club today, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham outlined the Department of Energy's Office of Science 20-year science facility plan, a roadmap for future scientific facilities to support the department's basic science and research missions. The plan prioritizes new, major scientific facilities and upgrades to current facilities.
The 28 facilities cover the range of science supported by the DOE's Office of Science, including fusion energy, materials science, biological and environmental science, high energy physics, nuclear physics and advanced scientific computation.
"This plan will be the cornerstone for the future of critical fields of science in America. These facilities will revolutionize science - and society," said Abraham. "With this plan our goal is to keep the United States at the scientific forefront.
"These facilities are needed to extend the frontiers of science, to pursue opportunities of enormous importance, and to maintain U.S. science primacy in the world. Investment in these facilities will yield extraordinary scientific breakthroughs - and vital societal and economic benefits."
The Office of Science priority list for new facilities will help the department plan its potential future scientific investments. The list identifies 12 facilities as near-term priorities. Priority one is ITER, an international collaboration to build the first fusion science experiment capable of producing a self-sustaining fusion reaction, called a "burning plasma." Priority two is an UltraScale Scientific Computing Capability, to be located at multiple sites, that would increase by a factor of 100 the computing capability available to support open scientific research.
Four facilities tied for Priority three: the Joint Dark Energy Mission, a space-based probe, being considered in partnership with NASA, designed to understand "dark energy" which makes up more than 70 percent of the universe; the Linac Coherent Light Source that would provide laser-like radiation 10 billion times greater in power and brightness than any existing x-ray light source; a Protein Production and Tags Facility that would mass produce and characterize tens of thousands of proteins per year; and the Rare Isotope Accelerator that would be the world's most powerful research facility dedicated to producing and exploring new rare isotopes not found naturally on earth.
Six other facilities complete the near-term priorities. Eight facilities are identified as midterm priorities and eight as far-term priorities.
"This list of 28 facilities outlines to an important extent the future of science in America - and indeed the world," Abraham said. "These facilities cover the critical areas where discoveries can transform our energy future, boost economic productivity, transform our understanding of biology, and provide revolutionary new tools to deal with disease.
"They can make major and necessary contributions to national security - and give us the ability to understand matter at its most fundamental level."
"At each stage along the process of discovery, America's economy grows stronger, with new tools to improve human health, generate new industries, improve our everyday lives, or boost efficiency - the things that help give our nation its competitive edge," he added. "And we need science to maintain that competitive edge - especially in high technology, which every day becomes more central to our economy."
DOE's Office of Science prepared the list over the last year with input from the scientific community, DOE laboratories and advisory committees. In brief, Office of Science program managers first identified 46 facilities they believed are required for world scientific leadership over the next 20 years. Six independent advisory committees re
"When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail." - Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
There haven't been that many "ties" since the running of the 100 meters in the special olympics.
Hmm, maybe we shouldn't have killed off the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC), after 14 miles of tunneling were already completed and two billion dollars were spent.
The eco-dumbasses talk about it alternatively as an unnecessary geek-scientist's playground, or as a wasteful front for the military-industrial complex.
What it would have been is a window into the most fundamental building blocks of the Universe. And now apparently we want to try again, even though we should have finished it the first time around...
Congress voted Monday to cut federal funding for the superconducting monkey collider, a controversial experiment which has cost taxpayers an estimated $7.6 billion a year since its creation in 1983.
The collider, which was to be built within a 45-mile-long circular tunnel, would accelerate monkeys to near-light speeds before smashing them together. Scientists insist the collider is an important step toward understanding the universe, because no one can yet say for certain what kind of noises monkeys would make if collided at those high speeds.
"It could be a thump, a splat, or maybe even a sound that hasn't yet been heard by human ears," said project head Dr. Eric Reed Friday, in an impassioned plea to Congress. "How are we supposed to understand things like the atom or the nature of gravity if we don't even know what colliding monkeys sound like?"
But Congress, under heavy pressure from the powerful monkey rights lobby, decided that money being spent on the monkey collider would be put to better use in other areas of government. Now, with funding cut off, the future of our nation's monkey collision program looks bleak.
Congress began funding the monkey collider in 1983, after Reed convinced lawmakers that the U.S. was lagging behind the Soviet Union in monkey-colliding technology. Funds were quickly allocated so that Reed could spend a week procuring monkeys on Florida's beautiful Captiva Island. Though Reed returned with a great tan and a beautiful young fiancee, he reported that there were no monkeys to be found on the sunny Gulf Coast island. Congress funded subsequent trips to the Cayman Islands, Bora Bora and Cancun, but these searches also yielded negative results.
Two years passed without a single monkey being procured, and Congress was close to cutting the project's funding. It was then that Reed got the idea to utilize monkeys already being bred in captivity. The Congressional Subcommittee for Scientific Investigation was enthralled by the idea of watching caged monkeys copulate, and increased funding by 40 percent.
With a steady supply of monkeys ensured, construction of the monkey collider began on a scenic Colorado site. Despite environmental pressure, a mountain was levelled to facilitate construction of the seven-mile-wide complex. Huge underground tunnels were dug, at a cost of billions of dollars and 17 lives. Money left over was used to build resort homes, spas and video arcades for Reed, his colleagues and several Congressmen.
Construction of the collider's acceleration mechanism was delayed for years, as scientists couldn't decide how to get the monkeys up to smashing speed. Last month, it was finally decided that the collider would employ a system in which the monkeys run through the tunnels chasing holographic projections of bananas. "Monkeys love bananas," Reed said, "and they're willing to run extremely fast to get them."
But now it seems the acceleration mechanism may never be built. With the monkey collider placed on indefinite hold, the huge research facility in Colorado lies dormant. To keep the space from going to waste, Congress Monday voted to convert the empty underground tunnel into a federally funded drag-racing track. The track is expected to create hundreds of jobs in the form of pit crews and concessions workers, and will allow President Clinton to impress important foreign dignitaries with America's wheelie technology.
Despite this promising alternate plan, most involved with the monkey collider project feel the sudden cuts in funding are inexcusable. "It is a travesty of science," Reed said. "I remember the joy I felt in college when I would launch monkeys at one another with big rubber bands, and this project would have been even more enlightening."
The top priorities -- fusion, and a massive supercomputer.
Whatever. I'm still waiting on the flying cars.
The coolest voice ever.
It's heartening to note that the report gives so much importance to fundamental research unlike most of the research that happens today which is so geared towards creating marketable products or intellectual property. While the latter is also good for all, science will stagnate in the absence of fundamental research . This 20 year outlook is definitely a pat in the back for schools all around the country.
"When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail." - Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
...is Spencer Abraham.
No Battlemechs on the list?
Granted, most of this stuff is beyond me, but one item that I didn't see on the list was Terahertz Imaging. Out of all this technology, that is one thing that I see some extremely practical applications for in the next few years, especially for things like homeland security.
On the other hand, I suppose that it's hard to argue with something like "Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) Second Target Station"... I mean, *what is that*? Sounds like an appropriate label for one of the levers that the imperial guy pulls down to fire the big Death Star laser...
-JT
Same with supercomputers. Supercomputers are so 80s/90s. Decentralization is the thing of today, but, say, creating a grid network of 10,000 computers is not so easy to compare to some Japanese mega-thingie.
I sometimes wonder, if you took just 0.1% of that money and gave it to a random bunch of OSS developers, how much progress would come out of that.
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It's nice to see that the US government cares about supporting future technology and 'science facilities'.
In France our government is doing major cut in funding of many science labs and projects and that means that we will soon be unable to keep up with America's technology.
Anyway I wonder why building a new collider where the US government could have helped funding the construction of the LHC (allowing it to be even larger) ?
I would also like to know if you think that these fundings are military related. I mean do you think the US government is putting money in because most of these technologies could have military use ?
Unfortunately it seems nothing goes to the space elevator...
Iraq: war to save the U
Tie for 7 the CEBAF upgrade. Hopefully we will be able to get higher resolution and decern the nature of the Nucleon, w00t
Sorry, every one here at UVa is pretty excited since CEBAF, or JLab, is one of our primary projects, along with conributions to the D0 experiment at Fermi Lab, and the PI-Beta experiment at SLACK.
Did Glenn Beck rape and kill a girl in 1990? gb1990.com
I'm really disappointed that this wasn't on their list. . .
Terrestrial Planet Finder
If this thing finds Earth-like planets in our nearby galactic neighborhood, it could change the whole way we view our places in the cosmos.
I don't really keep up with politics like I should, but I've been hearing the Bush pretty much raided the piggy bank. Where's the money going to come from for all of these projects? The senate just spent $87B USD for that Iraq thing. I know Congress will spend lots of money they don't have, but will they actually do that for something useful, like advancing science?
Don't get me wrong. As a budding scientist, I'm excited by all these plans. I just don't want to get my hopes up and then crushed.
No silly. They right hand books has an entry for particle accellerator. The left hand book has the same entry as "Particle Projection Canon". Don't you know the art of ambidextrous accounting?
"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
--Dr.W.Edwards Deming
Very original.
Score (+1 Troll)
I used to live in one of those science cities (Tsukuba - home to KEK, mentioned in the PDF), which was mostly constructed in the early '70s. Japan hasn't put forward a big-money scientific program in ages, mainly because they have a high risk of no return.
A good example of this is the Fifth-Generation Computing project that the Japanese government launched years ago - it cost big bucks but produced very little.
Why they would ignore such a field, I can only speculate: perhaps there is too much of a stigma of "mind altering" to neuroscience (though I do recall Bush senior declaring the 1990's to be the decade of the brain). Or perhaps the present administration has a vested interest in keeping the populous away from mind improving developments. Or perhaps they just don't think it's necessary; after all, you don't have to be a genius to become president these days.
will be nude. all the time.
Well, here's hoping that something like CERN's black holes will eventually help us build a time machine.
*fingers crossed*
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
I like this proposal, however I'm not putting much stock into it ever being completed. It's real easy to trot out these kinds of "wish lists", the real trick is getting funding. The release even notes that these projects are their priorities, not neccessarily the President's. With a rapidly balloning deficit, I would be very surprised if more than a couple of these projects got any serious kind of funding.
expirementing with dark energy will only anger the tree goddess!
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
You must be new here, it's proven fact Slashdotters can't get a date, much less trick a woman into accepting their sperm.
Not likely. I'm all for research, but most of the stuff on this list is "big science" only in terms of the money that will be spent, not the knowledge that will be gained. There's tons of biotech, materials-science, computing, optics, and other research that would be more rewarding. The most appalling omission is that the Department of Energy doesn't seem to think that battery technology - the thing holding back deployment of many other technologies - deserves even one project. Nothing on portable fuel cells, microturbines, biodiesel, wave power, or other energy-related technologies either, except fusion. What is the Department of Energy thinking?
There might be a few things in there to write papers about, but if we spend all of the money to fund these projects there won't be any left over for schools...or paper, for that matter. The only way my grandchildren will be writing papers on this stuff is if I or my children move somewhere with a sane science policy.
Slashdot - News for Herds. Stuff that Splatters.
We're sick of you frogs, it's time for that nice nuclear winter. You guys are so backwards, you don't even have a word for entepreneur!!!
Your grandchildren may write school papers on the discoveries these tools will make...
Hello?!? This is Slashdot, the chances of readers being able to find a 'mate', let alone produce offspring is a 'Big Science' matter that really needs to be funded IMHO.
What the FUCK did you just say?!?!? English. Do you SPEAK IT, motherfucker?
I wonder how much of this new science research is going to get relocated to India. Seems that just about every other technical or engineering position is going that way.
"The top priorities -- fusion, and a massive supercomputer. " maybe they can design a supercomputer with a big enough pipe on it to keep from being ./'ed
its the undo button.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
We need those Battlemechs to maintain our military suppereority.
Nasa is going to be pissed to discover warp drive isn't on the list.
And if we don't get transporters SOON the traffic is going to get worse.
Protocal droids. We SOOO need protocal droids. Everyone should have a protocal droid.
But it should be of no supprise Ecella isn't on that list. Maybe the black market can work on that one.
And we need to bug Apple about making a Navi.
On the positive side we've made great strides twords the universal translater and nanites are already here.
As for cloning.. It appears I have been a clone for a very long time now.
It was scrapped because of budget deficits back in the early 90's.
Do we have more budget deficits ? yes.
We could also build a distributed network supercomputer using plain regular desktops. It might rival the BLUE GENE.
A 20 year plan? If the Communists couldn't get their 5 year plans to work, how much success will a 20 year plan have? It is much more plausible that an independent college, research center or corporation will come up with such discoveries, not because it's interesting, but because they actually have a vested interest, and have to pay the bills. A 20 year plan will either fizzle out into nothing, or just grow into a larger and larger government bureaucracy while achieving less and less. Let's leave billions of dollars back with the people who earned them, the taxpayers, and there is no limit to what they may do.
Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
YOU FUCKING HIPPY.
We should have been going balls to the wall on fusion since the energy crisis... of the SEVENTIES! Maybe we wouldn't have had it by now, but maybe it would be a lot closer.
Academics in the 50's (!!!) were writing about how US dependence on foreign oil (specifically Persian Gulf/Arabian oil) was just asking for trouble. Then OPEC bites us in the ass. We freak out a bit (price controls, wear more sweaters), but when the "crisis" (largely self-inflicted; read some economics books) abates, we go back to business as usual, just waiting for our dependence on foreign oil to bite us in the ass again... as it has several times to varying degrees.
The short answer:- not as much as you think, as a matter of fact.
While I have no first-hand idea of how things work in the US, let me give you an Indian example of science-policy continuity (guessing from your nick that you are Indian, of course):- India's nuclear effort.
Broadly speaking, I understand the events before the blasts went along these lines:- as soon as it was apparent that the BJP would assume power in the aftermath of the 1996 elections, the then PM, PV Narasimha Rao, apparently sent a note to Vajpayee simply saying "Talk to Dr Kalam. He will tell you about it", or something to that effect. He was, of course, referring to India's botched attempt at conducting a nuclear test in 1995, about which the American spooks, apparently, found out (through their spy satellites) and promptly leaked to the Washington Post to put pressure on the Government, and stop it from proceeding. Which it did in the next three days actually; the Ministry of External Affairs (if I remember correctly) promptly issued a denial and the matter was "explained" as a wild-eyed conspiracy theory.
The then BJP cabinet met and apparently did talk to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam (who was then the then Scientific Advisor to the Cabinet) and found out that the nuke fraternity needed a 15 day notice to conduct a comprehensive nuclear test, preferably a thermonuclear thing (or whatever the test for the Hydrogen Bomb is).
As fate would have it, the government collapsed in 13 days, and the new United Front government had too many coalition partners and too little consensus to show leadership on such issues (remember, nuke blasts need vision in foreign policy terms as well)
The rest of the tale should be pretty obvious to Indian observers by now of course; the United Front government fell, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP vaulted back to power, and presto, one of the first directives by the new government was to actually conduct the tests. Not that they thought over it thoroughly of course; most dis-interested observers agree that the foreign policy response was astoundingly poor (while the actual technical, and moreso, operational, details were brilliant:- the Indian Army actually studied sand dune patterns around the blast site, and "simulated" artificial dunes to hoodwink American spy satellites into complacency)
Three points to note in this narrative:-
a) The actual nuclear policy was actually a core Congress initiative; remember, the initial enthusiasm and support came from Ms Indira Gandhi, one of the last "real" leaders of the (now opposition) Congress party. Despite his government's support of economic liberalisation and free market reforms, Mr PV Narasimha Rao was, all said and done, belonged to the Indira Gandhi School of Thought. It is, therefore, very interesting to note how he collaborated with Mr Vajpayee, his core enemy in a sense (and certainly, the core ideologies of their respective parties are poles apart), to give continuity to the nuclear effort.
b) Despite the obvious patriotic spin, India's nuclear policy was actually almost a failure in systemic terms, mainly because there was no continuity between 1974 (or whenever Pokharan I took place) and 1998 (when Pokharan II took place). Political support waxed and waned throughout the period, often in contradicting terms.
c) We're a nuclear power now despite all that (which is not to wave flags in support of nuclearisation, but merely to assert the fact that we have da bomb).
That is to say, while politics did, or does, play a part in science, scientists have, over the years, gotten around it even in over-politicised nations such as India, occassionally by convincing some politically-significant individuals from all parts of the political spectrum. I don't know if it's applicable to the US as well,
More than mere navel gazing.
Slashdot has killed the Department of Energy's website! Does this constitute terrorism?
If you don't know anything about U.S. science policy (which is the subject at hand), why the fuck are you unloading paragraphs from some history essay?
But this PDF file from the "Office of Science" seems to be something straight of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. Just weird Big Science apparently mostly driven by the need to Spend a Lot of Other People's Money.
Then, on page 5, there is a picture of the Secretary of Energy, and if he is not a dead ringer for Cuffy Meigs in the book, I can't think of a better candidate.
Plus, the spell Feynman's name wrong. Death is too good for them.
thad
I love Mondays. On a Monday, anything is possible.
Here's my moderately-educated opinion on a few of the items. They're a bit tongue-in-cheek but I think I make a point or two. Please feel free to rip any of them to shreds with your verbal wit and superior knowledge of the facts. I post to learn!
1) ITER - Fusion. Yay. A bit late but it would be nice.
2) USSCC - A big computer for big corporations and the US military...
3) JDEM - Let's break the standard model! Always fun!
4) LCLS - When will I be able to get a free electron laster from Think-Geek? Screw Green! Seriously, this one is good.
5) RIA - "Improve our ability to model the explosion of nuclear weapons." enough said.
6) CEBAF - See 3).
7) ESnet - Didn't I see this in T3?
8) NERSC - "Unclassified research" means not good enough for 2)
9) TEAM - resolution of 50nm sounds useful to me. Could someone tell me how this compares to STM or AFM?
10) BTeV - See 3)
I was disapointed to find that the ALS and APS came in so far behind.
Long live Schrodinger's cat...
This is the Department of Energy's projects list.
If you want giant robots, then you need to talk to DARPA.
But then again, I could be wrong.
Will this new ]_[bur 3133t supercomputer run linux?
Wh47 d1d j00 541, 31337 15n't t3h r0xor5 ne m0r3???
big money has been poured into fusion since I was a kid (that's more than 30 years). It's just a money sewer. We already have a big ol' fusion reactor in the sky that puts out more energy than we could possibly ever use.
The funny thing about making a big-ass computer, is that 10 years later you have the same power on your desk. Look at the performance of a Cray-2 and compare that with a 3GHz Intel box. Enough said, you have pressing need for a heavy number cruncher, instead of spending millions just wait a few years & you can run your sim on your kid's Quake machine.
Simulate nukes? bah, we gots plenty already. Big and small and dial-a-yield. Everything else is ok. 8D
The law is something to be circumvented when it interfere's with my plans. And I cannot think of a "role model" from the self-esteem crowd who'll give the slightest effort to avoid it's circumvention. The law is a mockery and a falsehood, it's morality is based on this societies greatest liars, filled with hypocricy and contradictions. Or in an easier tongue, A The Law is necessary evil gone astray.
Dude, shut up! You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.
Massive Supercomputer?? For what?? Switch to linux?? WTF? Real research doesn't require PC's with linux, just as it doesn't need supercomputers. It needs a grad student with a sharp mind, and perhaps a bunch of microcontrollers. A bunch of vials and mixers. Access to funding. Not another round of IT overhead, and certainly not a website.
I think it's safe to say most people who read this site won't have any grandchildren.
Why build another supercollider when there is one in Europe? What a waste of money!
Little Science could have a much grander impact. Here are some worthwhile projects the DOE could pursue:
1. Microbiology research for dissolving nuclear waste.
2. Fuel Cells
3. Engineering atoms/molecules using a small Linux cluster for the purpose of creating more lightweight, durable materials. The applications range from space travel to camping gear.
4. Building the proton computer and loading an older version of Slackware on it. By the time this is built, you won't want to put Windows on the computer, since the OS will be so bloated it would take too long to download a page with java applets.
What amazes me is that there is no talk of nanoassembly. It is now widely accepted that it would be possible to come up with the first nano self-assembler within about ten years, given enough funding and research. google for primitive nanofactory design study big peer-reviewed (84 pages) white paper that'll blow yer socks off...
I just met her...
I'd say the results from U.S. defense budget spending and foreign policy are pretty tangible. Have you ever wondered why the rest of the world hates us? It's because we're the dumb kid with an inferiority complex and a big honkin' baseball bat. We go around beating people up for their lunch money.
Our "defense" budget is used for making the lives of people around the world miserable in order to increase some filthy rich white guys' net-worth. My family has been at the wrong end of U.S. foreign policy twice in South America. Both of my parents were in living in South American countries when the U.S. backed a military coup. Thousands died. Now, a lot of my parents' contemporaries back in South America hate the U.S. Boy, did that ever make us more secure! Let's not forget that this "defense" budget is what we used to train Bin-ladin in how to terrorize the Soviets. That really did wonders at defending us, didn't it. If we would just get the heck out of other people's countries, we might be able to foster a bit of world-wide good will and save some cash for use on improving our own country instead of messing up someone else's.
t'nera semordnilap
that's right, this stuff is unbreakable, wwworks on several (more than 3) dimensions, & requires no 'BiG scIEnce' FUnDing.
'big science' will have to 'discover' it's conscience before it can tap into this stuff.
Two programs got the nod, so far. The top priorities -- planet/population rescue. Other goals mandated include the permanent disempowerment of unprecedented evile, & assurance that the planet/population is around to enjoy the gnu millennium of open/honest communications/commerce. Your grandchildren will survive to produce additional uses for the powers that are rescuing us from the greed/fear/ego based life0cide, as the lights come up...
consult with/trust in yOUR creator... get ready to see the light. there's never a cover charge/subscription fee. see you there? tell 'em robbIE?
As opposed to the crop of democrats?
Kettle, pot, black?
W. is obviously an idiot (reminds of the VP from "My Fellow Americans"), but most of the democrats leave a lot to be desired as well.
Clearly, time travel has not been invented within my lifetime. Ergo, research in this field, as far as I am concerned, is a waste of time.
"Gee Brain, wadda ya want to do tonight?"
"Same thing we do every night Pinky: work on Big Science's 20 year plan."
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
But I also have a broad view world of the world, and can see, that better communication (helped by technology) can solve much more pressing things than finding that last quark.
Ok maybe "giving it to OSS developers" is over-simplified, but please, I don't have to argue on /. that some useful stuff came out of OSS, right??
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This comment is printed on 100% recycled electrons.
Hey! You just dipped your supercomputer into my fusion reactor!
Visit the best Liberal Blog: DU
First, you don't know what this document MEANS! I work for DOE indirectly, and saw this earlier this week. These are POSSIBLE projects. I doubt
most of these will be funded exactly as shown. My co-workers and I joked about the "long-term goals" section being semi-irrelevant as things change too fast. This document just tells people where they WANT to go! NO MONEY HAS BEEN ALLOCATED!
This describes FACILITIES! It does not say where 100% of the DOE's money goes! They are not talking about their funded programs. Facilities FACILITATE experiments, but DOES NOT DO THEM (normally). They will still give money to fuel programs, but THAT'S NOT A FACILITY!
For instance, it's not OBVIOUS that this helps bilogy and material science, but it DOES. The Advanced Photon Source (where I work) and the National Synchrotron Light Source are MAINLY used for material science and bilogy. Less "pure physics" gets done at these people than people realize.
The DOD spends WAY MORE money on dumb stuff than the DOE get for research, so DON'T BITCH AT THE DOE! If you want more money in the schools, look at how much money goes to the Department of Defense.
"Your grandchildren may write school papers on the discoveries these tools will make..." Tools don't make discoveries, people make discoveries.
Hopefully I wont see Big Science working the grill at Hooters after it steals my girlfriend with that line.
Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.
Wind power will easily serve 100% of our power geeneration needs, and it is already online, paying for its clean renewable self and creating wealth instead of sucking up our grandchildren's tax dollars.
Why should we spend a cent on fusion? We don't need any.
check out the Long Now organization...
-calyxa
Decay! Decay! Decay! -Helium
it's all interesting and i'm happy to see the wide range of research that isn't just focused on short term profits/products... but it's still a business subsidy managed by the state, so it's not surprising to see 'regular science' along with product oriented science. they both make good sense for the population, one simply has shorter term product goals and is therefore much more important to investors... which are focused on reaping profits in their lifetimes. and yeah there may be a few bones for 'pure' research, but who's to say that the dark matter research wont lead to advances that help business? the only thing guaranteed is that investors wont be giving any discounts when they sell us 'mostly' clean energy courtesy of our tax funded research.
All your preview button are belong to Hello Kitty.
Increase the Length of your Plan NOW!
Research shows girls go for longer Plans. They like Science Big!
Moller Sky-Car"
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
This reason for cancellation has been mentioned by one of the SSC "big wheels" several times.
Caltech Streaming Theater
Just to come up with the answer of 42?
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglass
And, many of them use FORTRAN, because they have had one class in programming way back when, or picked up McCracken's book and taught themself.
The clearance system sounds logical. It is not. It is completely arbitrary. -- John Bolton