ScienceInsider

by Eli Kintisch

Google has been an American technological success story if there ever was one, leading to billions of dollars in technological innovation, and, recently, fledgling research in important fields like energy, public health and brain science.

But maybe this high-tech juggernaut might have ended up in Israel, an interview with the mother of Google co-founder Sergey Brin suggests.

by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
Since being established 6 years ago, the Science and Technology Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security has been the black sheep (subs. required) of the federal scientific community, with lawmakers criticizing it from time to time for poor management, shoddy accounting, and cluelessness over the setting of priorities. At a House of Representatives hearing this afternoon on how the directorate is doing, legislators discussed yet another concern: the lack of peer review in funding research projects.

Cindy Williams, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher who chaired a study of the S&T directorate at the behest of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), told the House Science Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation that DHS was awarding "many basic research projects" without "competition or peer review." She suggested that the directorate follow the example of other science agencies like the National Science Foundation in giving out grants, and "that funds be awarded on a competitive basis based on scientific peer review except in cases when that is clearly not feasible."

by Jeffrey Mervis

President Barack Obama spent time yesterday looking at the stars—both real and those in the scientific firmament.

In a formal ceremony in the East Room of the White House, the president honored this year's winners of the National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology. A few hours later he stepped outside into the clean, crisp evening and, dressed more casually, invited some 200 middle school students to join him to look through a sea of telescopes assembled on the White House lawn.

By Eli Kintisch

Might burning coal thousands of feet below the surface be the secret to making coal climate friendly?

That's what fans of underground coal gasification will be saying this week at several sessions and in the keynote speech at the International Pittsburgh Coal Conference, which goes through Wednesday. Momentum is growing worldwide to look closely at the idea, a 150-year-old technique of igniting seams of coal deep under the ground to produce electrical power or chemicals. It's a proven technology: Joseph Stalin launched the first national research program into the idea in 1928 and the Soviets used it for 40 years to produce power. Since then, cheap natural gas and shallow, easy-to-mine coal burned in traditional power plants have prevented the technique from taking off. (graphic courtesy Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

But gasifying coal underground is now a hot topic among power companies and scientists, with at least 10 pilot projects around the world planned or underway. The cost benefits and climate advantages are among the reasons that five countries run national research programs on the technique; is the United States falling behind on the next big fossil fuel technology?

Yes, says the nonprofit Clean Air Task Force, a well-respected public health and environment advocacy group, in a report issued last week.

David Kappos, IBM's former vice president and chief patent attorney, has been approved by the Senate to be the new director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Kappos easily cleared a nomination hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on 29 July and received a final approval today to become Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. He has had extensive experience in international law, having served in Japan for many years as IBM's top intellectual property executive for Asia. Among other challenges, he joins an agency with a growing backlog of applications and declining revenue, as documented recently in the blog Patently-O.

—Eliot Marshall

A $2.5 billion-a-year program to fund research by small businesses received a 2-month extension last week. The move gives the U.S. Congress more time to reconcile differences in how to revamp the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, which would have expired on 31 July without the extension.

The Senate and the House of Representatives have passed different versions of a bill to reauthorize the programs, which are funded by taxing the research budgets of 11 federal agencies. The Senate wants to grow the overall size of the program by raising the SBIR allocation from 2.5% to 3.5% over 10 years and the STTR allocation from 0.3% to 0.6%, while the House would like to see larger individual grants—up to $2 million for Phase II from the current ceiling of $750,000. The two houses also differ in how they would fix a 2002 ruling that limits participation by companies owned by venture capitalists. The Senate would reauthorize the programs until 2023, while the House bill would cover only 2 years.

—Jeffrey Mervis

The Obama Administration should use the U.S. civil space program to help meet a broader array of national goals, says a report released today by the National Academies' National Research Council. The study also calls for the U.S. government to put a higher priority on environmental monitoring from space, urges NASA to create an advanced technology organization, and backs human space flight as a tool for enhancing "U.S. soft power leadership."

America's Future in Space: Aligning the Civil Space Program with National Needs appears just 24 hours before the confirmation hearing of Charles Bolden, the former astronaut that Barack Obama has nominated to lead NASA. But it does not delve into several near-term issues that senators are likely to raise with Bolden, such as cost overruns on satellite projects, retirement of the space shuttle, and an expensive new human launcher now in the works. Bolden may also face tough questions on conflict-of-interest issues, given the time he has spent as a consultant. But there's no indication that these worries could derail his confirmation.

Energy efficiency got a moment to bask in the sun of presidential attention this morning. With the Senate poised to take up climate legislation, President Barack Obama took the opportunity to announce tighter efficiency standards for two widely used light bulbs: long fluorescent tubes and cone-shaped incandescent bulbs that are used in recessed lighting. At the same event, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that the Department of Energy has committed $346 million for research and deployment of energy efficient technologies in all major types of commercial buildings as well as new and existing homes.

The clunky grants database long used by the National Institutes of Health is on its way out. Last week, the agency unveiled a beta version of RePORTER, a snazzy new database that will replace its well-known CRISP in September. CRISP was balky and didn't contain dollar amounts, which could be found only by digging into another part of NIH's Web site. But RePORTER seems to be loaded with useful information, from dollar amounts to the study section that reviewed the grant and links to patents and papers. RePORTER is winning plaudits but also raising concerns that it will make it easier for NIH critics to find studies to bash.

—Jocelyn Kaiser

WASHINGTON, D.C.--A blue-ribbon panel recommended today that the White House intervene in the management of a crucial satellite program that has been plagued by cost overruns and delays, citing an "extraordinarily low probability of success." The panel, which presented its findings at an oversight hearing held by the House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, concluded that the continuity of weather data is "at extreme risk" and suggested that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) be put in charge.