What's New Friday, 28 May 09 Washington, DC

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 28 May 09   Washington, DC 

1.  NASA: FORMER ASTRONAUGHT PICKED TO HEAD SPACE AGENCY.
It should be the easiest confirmation in history; President Obama has 
chosen Charles Bolden, a retired Marine general and former space shuttle 
pilot, to be NASA administrator. The agency is overdue for a major change. 
The Cold War triumph of Apollo was followed by the public relations scam of 
the space shuttle. Sold as a reusable spacecraft that would reduce the cost 
of transporting men and materials into space, it turned out to be the most 
expensive and dangerous delivery mechanism ever devised. It split NASA into 
those who explore the universe with telescopes and probes, and those who 
endlessly circle Earth just above the cloud tops. The shuttle at last is 
history, but it's not clear what comes next.  Bolden takes over as a new 
Augustine panel examines the appropriate role of human spaceflight, 
http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN09/wn050809.html , if any.  Also named was 
Lori Garver, who served on the NASA transition team, to be Bolden’s 
deputy.  I have debated Lori on the Lehrer news hour and elsewhere. She has 
no technical background, but she’s smart and knows NASA. Unfortunately, she 
also has ties to the aerospace industry.  

2.  ENERGY: REVOLUTIONARY CHANGES ARE COMING TO DOE.
Spending money is hard work, and Energy Secretary Steven Chu, 1997 Nobel 
Prize in physics and former director of Lawrence Berkeley National 
Laboratory, has a lot of stimulus money to spend.  He is up to the job.  
Whether or not global warming is a problem, it is clear that oil 
consumption must wind down.  Energy conservation and efficiency will help, 
but Chu points out that solar power is still much too expensive to compete 
with other sources; there must be an increase in nuclear power.  In an 
interview with Kevin Bullis, energy editor of Technology Review, Chu noted 
that, “Yucca Mountain is off the table.”  Instead, DOE is looking at fast 
neutron reactors that will burn down long-lived actinide waste.  There will 
be a generic plant design to speed up license approval. Chu also said that 
the hydrogen fuel cell, a major program in the Bush administration, is 
being terminated.  As WN has repeatedly pointed out, hydrogen is 
impractical as fuel for automobiles or trucks.

3.  POPULATION: BILLIONAIRES GO TO THE HEART OF THE PROBLEM.
In New York last week, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal and 
the Times of London, a group of millionaires that included Bill Gates, 
Warren Buffet, George Soros, Oprah Winfrey, David Rockefeller, Eli Broad, 
Ted Turner, and Michael Bloomberg met to discuss the best uses of their 
vast wealth.  Over drinks and dinner they agreed that overpopulation is the 
highest priority.  It is the root cause of the world’s most devastating 
problems.  The historic goal of war is the need to expand. Hunger, poverty, 
pollution of air and water, the spread of disease, the destruction of 
habitat of other species, would all be reduced if the Earth were less 
crowded.  

4.  NOTICE: I DON’T DO ADDRESSES.
I no longer have a secretary or assistants, and not a lot of time.  The 
University of Maryland sought to make up for this by automating 
everything.  I’m told it works fine.  To get on the what's new list, or off 
if you’re pissed off, or to change the address, go to http://bobpark.org 
and click on subscribe/unsubscribe.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
---
Archives of What's New can be found at http://www.bobpark.org
What's New is moving to a different listserver and our
subscription process has changed. To change your subscription
status please visit this link:
http://listserv.umd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=bobparks-whatsnew&A=1