What's New Friday December 12, 2008

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 12 Dec 08   Washington, DC

1.  ENERGY TRANSITION: OBAMA MAKES A PERFECT CALL.
Steven Chu has been selected to be Secretary of Energy in the Obama 
Cabinet.  Physicists in particular are elated; at last a genuine scientist 
will head the agency that funds the majority of physics research in the 
US.  The position had usually been filled by political insiders.  Chu 
shared the 1997 Nobel Prize with Bill Phillips for laser-cooling of atoms, 
and is currently the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National 
Laboratory.  Under Chu the lab is a center of research into biofuels and 
solar energy.  He is a member of the Copenhagen Climate Council.  Alas, 
there will be pressure worldwide to abandon carbon reduction to ameliorate 
the economic downturn.

2. ENERGY FROM WATER: IS CNN FLACKING FOR BLACKLIGHT?
Yesterday, in the middle of the afternoon, I turned on CNN to see if there 
was any news.  Two heads were talking about BlackLight Power, which had 
found "a way to extract all the energy we need from water."  There was a 
picture of Randy Mills in the background holding something technical.  
The "she" head said "it sounds like a great idea."  The "he" head agreed.  
(So do I, if you can make it work.)  He said big companies have invested 
$60 million, so it must work.   I tried to find yesterday’s exchange on 
Google just now.  No luck, but I found other CNN reports from last summer 
that sounded just like it.  CNN should talk to Steven Chu; In 2000, Chu, 
along with other Nobel Prize winning physicists, was asked by a reporter  
about people investing in BlackLight.  Chu’s response was not as colorful 
as some.  "I feel sorry for them," he said softly.

3.  NASA REGRESSION: THE TRANSITION IS NOT GOING SMOOTHLY.
NASA is a thorny problem for Obama.  NASA administrator Mike Griffin is 
focused on the Constellation program, the much delayed, way-over-budget 
and thoroughly useless moon rocket, which seems to be the U.S. entry in a 
space-race with emerging nations.  The Orlando Sentinel reports a squabble 
between Griffin and Lori Garver, a former NASA associate administrator for 
policy, who heads the Obama NASA-transition-team.  Griffin says she’s 
unqualified.   She has no background in science or technology.   It’s past 
time for a complete restructuring of NASA focusing on the future, not the 
past.  Cede the Moon to China and the ISS to India.  Space ships, along 
with sailing ships and covered wagons, are relics of bygone eras.  There’s 
a universe out there to learn about, let’s get on with it.  

4.  POPULATION: "THE ELEPHANT IN THE LIVING ROOM."
It’s never mentioned, but the elephant is there when we talk about the 
Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a sea of discarded plastic trash the size of 
Texas that floats inside the North Pacific Gyre.  The garbage patch grows 
exponentially.  We try not to notice the elephant.  It’s an 
embarrassment.  I hope Barack Obama and Al Gore noticed it when they met 
this week to talk about energy and the environment.  

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
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