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Science and Technology Medals Awarded

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the tack-it-on dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The Boston Globe is reporting that President Bush awarded science and technology achievement medals today to 15 laureates. The list of medal winners includes those who have done work that has 'revolutionized organ transplants, led to development of global positioning systems, and helped feed millions around the world.' "

12 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. Great! by laughingcoyote · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And since he's so up on the "spirit of discovery" being a part of American culture, he surely wouldn't cut funds for schools...

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    1. Re:Great! by slightlyspacey · · Score: 5, Informative

      Hmmm, do you have any data to support your assertion that President Bush is indeed cutting school funding?

      According to the Budget of the United States Government: Historical Tables Fiscal Year 2007 -- Section 4 -- Federal Government Outlays by Agency that is simply not the case. Spending for the Department of Education is much higher and increased much more sharply under Bush than his predecessor (2006 EST $83 Billion versus 2000 $33 Billion). There is a sharp dropoff at 2007 to EST $64 Billion but this is still above 2004 levels -- perhaps this is the cut that you are talking about?

      These sorts of accusations are of course nothing new. I would like to make a bold proposal that Slashdot posters actually take the time to read the articles, fact-check, and follow up with relevant posts.


  2. And here I was hoping ... by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 5, Funny
    ... to get some recognition for my ungodly half-man-half-ape mutant creation, the prototype of the human-animal hybrid super-army which will set me on the road to world conquest. But Bush pretty much put the kibosh on that a little while back.

    Damn you, inconveniently timed State of the Union address! DAMN YOU!







    Ah, well, no matter. I shall simply toil in obscurity a little while longer -- and then when the day comes, let the planet tremble at my name! You laughed at me! You called me mad! I'll show you! I'LL SHOW YOU ALL!

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  3. vague.... by caffeinemessiah · · Score: 5, Funny
    From the article: Dennis P. Sullivan, City University of New York Graduate Center and State University of New York at Stony Brook, for his work in mathematics, including the creation of entirely new fields of mathematics, and uncovering unexpected connections between seemingly unrelated fields.

    Seems that they're REALLY filtering the science news for the masses these days...

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  4. Maybe it's too much to ask... by fortinbras47 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    ...but it would be nice to see comments on the actual science and prize winners as opposed to ten million uninformative, reflexive Bush bashing posts.

    I'd like to know more about the science. I don't really if an individual poster likes or dislikes Bush.

    1. Re:Maybe it's too much to ask... by PornMaster · · Score: 4, Insightful

      While I'm not a fan of discounting everything the man does, you have to admit that for him to present science awards is a bit like Microsoft handing out awards for open source development.

      This isn't meant to debate the principles, or even take away from the work of those given the awards, but it's rather plain to see that the President has made himself worthy of ridicule when it comes to science.

      Even if it's only symbolic, I'd rather see such things presented as national awards by noted scientists, perhaps with an appearance or a note from W congratulating the winners.

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  5. Blasphemy! by garrett714 · · Score: 4, Funny

    From TFA: "--Robert N. Clayton, The University of Chicago, for his contributions to geochemistry and cosmochemistry that provided insight into the evolution of the solar system."

    Blasphemy! God created the heavens in six days, it was intelligently designed (TM) from the start! Blasphemy!

  6. These are actually... by This+is+outrageous! · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... the 2004 medals of science. Why do the 2004 medals get announced by the President in November 2005, and presented in 2006? Is this a tradition, or a reflection of current priorities...?

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  7. Re:Hrmmm? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's not that bad. Think of it this way:

    If a Democrat had presented the awards, it would just have gone to show that Democrats are all elitist university-educated intellectuals who think they know better than the rest of us. So their career in politics would be over.

    If a non-neocon Republican had presented the awards, they would have had to resign to spend more time with their families like all of the other non-neocons. So their career in politics would be over too.

    If a political independent had presented the awards, nobody would care and the ability of the scientists to get adequate funding would be as low as ever. And the political independent's career in politics would already be over, by definition.

    But because Bush presented the awards, there are more than the normal amount of headlines due to the irony of the awards being presented by an anti-science imbecile--and that's actually good for the scientists' ability to get adequate funding. And Bush's career in politics might be over due to the sweet merciful relief of the 22nd Amendment, should the Constitution still be around for two more years.

    So, you know, look at the bright side.

  8. Good by tsotha · · Score: 4, Funny

    I hope these medals were presented on the basis of some sort of reasonable criteria. Hopefully these awards will be what the Nobel prizes used to be before they became a political joke.

  9. what? by sulli · · Score: 5, Funny

    no pioneers in intelligent design?

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    sulli
    RTFJ.
  10. Congrats, Norman Borlaug... by daVinci1980 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    You don't get nearly the recognition you deserve. Since your research in the 40s, 50s and 60s, you have saved over a billion people. There's pretty much no other person on earth who can claim to have saved a billion people with their discoveries. In fact, arguably Norman Borlaug has saved more people from death than any person in history, past, present or possibly even towards the future.

    Norman E. Borlaug is my hero, and he should be yours, too.

    There was a great episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! that covered Dr. Borlaug's work. I highly recommend it for a watch, if you have the chance.

    From Wikiquote, a quote by Penn Jillette about Norman Borlaug:

    "At a time when doom-sayers were hopping around saying everyone was going to starve, Norman was working. He moved to Mexico and lived among the people there until he figured out how to improve the output of the farmers. So that saved a million lives. Then he packed up his family and moved to India, where in spite of a war with Pakistan, he managed to introduce new wheat strains that quadrupled their food output. So that saved another million. You get it? But he wasn't done. He did the same thing with a new rice in China. He's doing the same thing in Afica -- as much of Africa as he's allowed to visit. When he won the Nobel Prize in 1970, they said he had saved a billion people. That's BILLION! Carl Sagan BILLION with a B! And most of them were a different race from him. Norman is the greatest human being, and you probably never heard of him."

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