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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.'"
Ouch, the feeling of terrible inadequacy, laziness and lack of accomplishment. :P
was doing fred flintstone impersonations
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?
Theoretical principles come before implementation.
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.
There are people around with amazing personalities, definitely not all top level academics are this dedicated, but they exist. Anyone who's done a PhD and postdoc(s) at top tier research universities will have spent time schmoozing with several.
Obama got this guy largely because he asked. If a president doesn't get high level people, he's very likely got a reason he doesn't want them. Bush (cough)
The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
Yeah, don't they know energy is always conserved? How could we ever run out?
What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
An object's mass warps space-time. Gravity is the after-effect. (Of course there are issues with that theory but it's a good start.)
Oh, and get a grip, wanker.
I think that's pretty much the definition of a wanker.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
It's disgusting that we allow this person to be in office. His pro-science methods are incompatible with energy policy, pure and simple.
Americans aren't spoiled compared to most other Westerners? If you actually read the article, he said "The American public ... just like your teenage kids, aren't acting in a way that they should act" with respect to climate change. He seems correct, and I would say that it's a welcome change from PR spinning and political doublespeak.
Signatures are the new names.
Question: Why was the department of energy created?
Answer: Out of the oil crisis of the 1970's, it was formed to attempt to free us from dependence on foreign oil.
Percentage of imported oil in 1977 (when the department was formed): ~35%
Percentage of imported oil in 2010: ~64%
Question: What is the purpose of China's One Child Policy is to decrease the Chinese population?
Answer: To decrease the Chinese population.
The Chinese population has nearly doubled since the One Child Policy started.
But one has to wonder What would the population be today had there been no One Child Policy?
Critical thinking: It's more that a knee-jerk reaction based on a sound bite.
What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
I work with people who have titles like "Chief Scientist". Some of them, sure, I'd vote for them for some office or another because I've seen them handle things like management and budget (this is the private sector after all) and how it pertains to pushing the edges of R&D. Concepts like "We can afford *this* cool breakthrough this year. Put *that* even cooler idea in your top drawer, and we'll explore it next year when we'll have more budget, but put hooks into your current design here and here for it so we can leverage the hardware we build this year."
Others, if they were in charge, well, let's just say I'm not a violent person, but I'd personally lead the rebel army that took them down.
Scientists are just people. The geekverse needs to let go of this scientist worship. Yes, this country needs to appreciate math and science more and yada yada and all that. I grok that and support it wholeheartedly. I'm ever considering writing a book to reach segments of our society previously written off for such things. But this idea that some here and elsewhere have that scientists are automatically these cool people dedicated to truth, justice and unbiased world views is pure fantasy. I can't even figure out where it came from other than as a reaction to all the religious loonery,
He makes his own Chu Jelly. The blue's okay, but don't eat the purple.
He seems correct, and I would say that it's a welcome change from PR spinning and political doublespeak.
I'm just amazed that someone as smart as Chu would think that you can effectively slow down the locust-like consumption of resources that humans are so good at. I won't begrudge people for TRYING to stop global warming, but really we should be trying to plan for the consequences... this thing is going to happen.
.. make fun of Chu, but I am such a Chu groupie. A surefire way to draw me to a conference is to announce that he'll be speaking there. ;) I just loved him during his confirmation hearing, how he perked up when finally asked a question that was even remotely technical. "Now we're getting to Science! I love this!" I had read some of his papers before he was even tapped for the position; I was so thrilled to hear he was picked. He really knows his stuff.
His big weakness is that he's no politician, and he sometimes has trouble keeping is mouth shut from speaking politically inconvenient things. For example, dealing with the hydrogen people... ;)
Trump's plan to get rid of Mueller appears to be 'be so guilty of so many things that Mueller works himself to death.'
http://www.theonion.com/articles/bush-finds-error-in-fermilab-calculations,1463/
Funny, but the fact that it's funny is also sad (sad that it's so ridiculous to think he'd be interested in science). Glad that what was parody is now sorta true.
The oil spill is larger than 0.5 nm so there shouldn't be a problem.
Fran
:):):)
1st 1st Poster of the new Millennium!
Except the Dept was really created to control nuclear applications, both for reactors and bombmaking. It wouldn't have become a Cabinet level post with armed agent personnel without the Nuclear side.
Here's their mission statement. I've highlighted the Nukestuff:
The Department of Energy's overarching mission is to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States; to promote scientific and technological innovation in support of that mission; and to ensure the environmental cleanup of the national nuclear weapons complex. The Department's strategic goals to achieve the mission are designed to deliver results along five strategic themes:
Energy Security: Promoting America's energy security through reliable, clean, and affordable energy
Nuclear Security: Ensuring America's nuclear security
Scientific Discovery and Innovation: Strengthening U.S. scientific discovery, economic competitiveness, and improving quality of life through innovations in science and technology
Environmental Responsibility: Protecting the environment by providing a responsible resolution to the environmental legacy of nuclear weapons production
Management Excellence: Enabling the mission through sound management
You'll notice that Nuclear related technologies are explicitly mentioned three times, and that, while energy security is about 'reliable, clean and affordable energy', and presumably economic security is referenced again by that 'affordable' bit, there's also the phrase national security as a separable clause.
Who is John Cabal?
Yeah he is, that's why he's continuing to do things that contribute to America staying on top of the technical bar rather than sinking into further MBAness (which is what got us in this mess in the first place. Too many MBAs, Lawyers, and Politicians, and not enough legal/technical ways to get rid of them :D
Yeah, this is slashdot and all, but it wouldn't kill you to RTFA
Yeah, that all makes sense, but lets remember that Steven Chu has very little to do with any of the stuff that's going wrong. The DoE is essentially a laboratory, pushing research into new forms of energy generation and transport. Steven Chu knows the limits of his power and expertise and stays well away from fields where he doesn't have the necessary expertise and could do more harm than good. Heck, if more politicians followed his lead and STFU about things they know nothing about, the world would be a lot less fucked up at the moment.
We all know what to do, but we don't know how to get re-elected once we have done it
I would assume, the intelligent man that he is, that he can pay attention to more than one thing at the same time.
It doesn't hurt to be nice.
Are you one of those people that think companies should own every creative output of their employees, even ones done at home on their own time on an unrelated topic?
It doesn't hurt to be nice.
TFA states:
Instead of objects measuring 10 nanometers — thought to be the about the smallest scientists could see using such microscopes — Chu came up with a system using existing technology to see objects... as small as half a nanometer.
Near-field Scanning Optical Microscopy (NSOM) has been an active area of research for over 25 years, and sub-nanometer aperture instruments have been on the market for over 20 years.
Unfortunately, neither the poster nor TFA linked Chu's paper, or any other source of real information about Chu's claims. It could very well be that he has done something new and useful, but it sure doesn't sound like it from this article.