The Hobby of Energy Secretary Steven Chu

quanminoan writes "Nobel Laureate and US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu has continued to publish even while in federal office. While previous research topics include gravitational redshift, Chu has coauthored a paper entitled 'Subnanometre single-molecule localization registration and distance measurements' which discusses a way to optically image objects as small as 0.5 nm — a major step down from the previous limit of 10 nm. Chu does this in his free time, claiming 'I just consider it my equivalent of ... vegging out in front of the TV.'"

Comments

Right Wing and Moores Law

[OldSoldier]

Two comments...

a) how long before right wing pundits claim that this is proof Chu isn't doing the job he was hired for?
b) is this viewing technique applicable in reverse for microchip optical etching/lithography?

Re:Right Wing and Moores Law

[EdIII]

Obama was born in Kenya

I. Don't. Fucking. Care.

Quite seriously, why is that even important?

I think a requirement that you have been a citizen, naturalized or not, for at least 15-20 years is reasonable. That would indicate you at least have some understanding of our culture and experience. There is already an age requirement, for pretty much the same reasons. That way, the unwashed masses could not get psychotic and vote in some barely 20 something American Idol finalist.

Having to be born within some geographic boundaries as a serious consideration on whether or not I want you as my President? Ridiculous.... It is not much different than having to establish nobility on both sides for 5 generations. Way too much like a birthright to me. Why not call it something like Rule by Divine GPS Coordinates?

We are all immigrants in this land, or children of immigrants. To grant a birthright, IMO, goes against what I consider being an American is. The idea is that WE get to elect our President. Why should our choice be limited on such an irrational basis? No felons? Makes sense. No children, or person under the age of 35? Sure, we want somebody mature. Purple? Uhhhh, what?

I really could care less if Obama turned out to have been somewhere else on this planet. Saying he is secretly a fundamentalist Islamic Terrorist under Deep Cover is just CRAZY. No other words for it.

What I am more concerned with is his piss poor performance so far as a President. Change never occurred, and things are really getting worse. Especially our rights, ACTA, Medical reform, reigning in Wall Street, ridiculous bail outs, etc. The last thing I care about right now is that he was allegedly born in Kenya.

Re:Right Wing and Moores Law

[Anonymous Coward]

Having to be born within some geographic boundaries as a serious consideration on whether or not I want you as my President? Ridiculous.... It is not much different than having to establish nobility on both sides for 5 generations. Way too much like a birthright to me. Why not call it something like Rule by Divine GPS Coordinates?

You're right, that would be silly.

But the Constitution doesn't say anything of the kind. It says, "a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution."

You do know that children born to Americans outside the US are still citizens, right? That pregnant American women overseas are not rushed home in a terrified panic lest their children be foreigners with no right of residence? There's this whole nifty procedure we've got for these scenarios. There's this form you fill out with the local US Embassy to register the birth so that there won't be any problems later on when your child needs to prove their citizenship and their birth certificate is in Farsi or Basque.

It might seem like Rule by Map, but that's really only true when dealing with, say, a non-citizen immigrant family who had one child before immigrating and another after. In that circumstance, yes, the location of the birth made all the difference, and the map won. I think edge cases like that are an acceptable sacrifice to make in the name of preserving our jus soli rather than jus sanguinis system of citizenship.

I think the natural-born thing was a pretty reasonable defense mechanism for a tiny, fledgling group of republics who had just fought off the suzerainty of a king who had never set foot there. A king, indeed, who ruled over a great many lands he'd never set foot in; one amongst many such. Seems like a pretty fool-proof way to ensure that your leader has a vested interest in your nation's welfare, and isn't simply a silver-tongued French provocateur, no?

If you don't like it, lobby to have the Constitution amended. It's a legacy of a bygone era, certainly, but it's not as capricious or asinine as you suggest.

Re:Easier to get published

[Anonymous Coward]

He is a Nobel Laureate. If that does not help him out then the extra boost for being a cabinet secretary is probably not going to be much extra help. Oh, and get a grip, wanker.

Re:His equivalent of TV is publishing papers

[nomadic]

Every year you age, it will get worse.