The Hobby of Energy Secretary Steven Chu 177
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.'"
His equivalent of TV is publishing papers (Score:5, Informative)
Ouch, the feeling of terrible inadequacy, laziness and lack of accomplishment. :P
Re:His equivalent of TV is publishing papers (Score:5, Insightful)
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I recently read an article that pointed out that the best geniuses are terribly lazy. You don't invent an easier way of doing something when you're okay with doing all the old-fashioned hard work. The wheel wasn't invented by someone who thought it was normal to carry heavy loads on his back.
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The wheel wasn't invented by the guy willing to carry loads the hard way; but while he was busy sweating over wheel prototypes, his even lazier counterpart was fanning himself in the shade while his slaves carried the heavy loads....
In this case, Chu is the US Secretary of Energy. That almost certainly means a base salary in the 100k+ range. Not "rich beyond the dreams of avarice"; but not a pos
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I know this is supposed to be an article where we (Score:5, Interesting)
.. 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... ;)
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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... ;)
Be thankful. Here in the UK we sack our scientists for being politcally inconvenient, just look at the recent drugs fiasco.
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It's a problem that he will speak the truth even though it may be politically inconvenient? Seems like a bonus qualification to me.
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You're obviously not a politician.
(For which you may well be truly thankful. Or just casually thankful.)
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Yeah, a friend of mine has worked with him occasionally. She's frighteningly smart (I've known and worked with large numbers of smart people, and she's scary smart in a population of a lot of smart people) and she thinks he's frighteningly smart.
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It's nice anytime a superpower recognises the difference between politics and science, and has leadership with an IQ above room temperature.
This is the first couple of years in a very, very long time where I haven't been afraid of you lot. Not that I shouldn't still be, perhaps, but the current situation is that I'm not.
Good on you, mate.
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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
Re:You would think... (Score:4, Informative)
Yeah, this is slashdot and all, but it wouldn't kill you to RTFA
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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
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I would assume, the intelligent man that he is, that he can pay attention to more than one thing at the same time.
He is not good at handling social conflicts. (Score:2)
No, he isn't. He does not have the social ability to handle the enormous conflicts inside the U.S. Department of Energy. I sent him a long letter before he decided to take the job expressing that opinion.
He doesn't give politics or social conflicts much attention: "Mr. Secretary, I would say I'm worried that you only know what you read in the papers about what's being approved." [foxnews.com]
There is more about my opinions concerning the DOE on my web site [futurepower.net].
Dr. Chu is, however, FAR bet
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From your article:
"The institute to date has launched 68 programs in five research areas: feedstock development, biomass depolymerization, biofuels production, enhanced hydrocarbon recovery and the socio-economic impacts of cellulosic biofuels development. More than 300 researchers are working to develop affordable and renewable sources of energy. And the program has produced a 320-acre energy farm that works as a "living laboratory" for developing promising biofuel feedstocks and studying greenhouse gas emissions. "
And the problem with that is...?
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I hope he still has time to make more soccer/kung fu movies
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This story reminded me of the excellent Onion piece on Bush Jr.'s work in fermilab.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/bush-finds-error-in-fermilab-calculations,1463/ [theonion.com]
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Ouch, the feeling of terrible inadequacy, laziness and lack of accomplishment. :P
My father was a scientist. He had a big production, over 100 papers. During evenings and weekends, he often retired to his study to work on these papers. Subject bubbled up and down as his interest floated from one to another, and sometimes they got to the surface, ready to get published.
After many years I realized I'm operating in the same mode. I develop software. I have various open source and other software projects running, like bubbles waiting to get to the surface. I think a lot of people have a th
bill richardsons hobby (Score:5, Funny)
Right Wing and Moores Law (Score:5, Insightful)
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?
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b) is this viewing technique applicable in reverse for microchip optical etching/lithography?
...and does the US Government now own it?
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That would be perfect because everything produced by the govornment is in the public domain.
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That would be perfect because everything produced by the govornment is in the public domain.
Not even close. The AC who replied covered some of the major points, but it's pretty complex. Basically, the Bayh-Dole act (passed in 1982, I think) allows a great degree of latitude in commercialization of research done with government funding - the idea being to encourage economic development AND turn raw technologies into useful consumer products ("consumer" used in the broadest possible sense, since these techn
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Well I think we just saw how long it takes for someone to politicise this.
Pot, meet kettle.
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Bingo, as a "rightwing nut" I couldn't care as long as he does his job when he's supposed to.
Re:Right Wing and Moores Law (Score:5, Funny)
Bingo, as a "rightwing nut" I couldn't care as long as he does his job when he's supposed to.
That disqualifies you from being a "nut" - at least in this area.
Now if you want to lay claim to believing Obama was born in Kenya and is a secret muslim terrorist, you can have that title back.
Re:Right Wing and Moores Law (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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I know it is bad form to reply to your own post, but I felt this was necessary to say, and you can mod this into oblivion if you want....
Obama has not performed well, IMO, or represented MY interests. However, I do believe that wants what is best for America.
To contrast that with Bush.... If there was somebody acting as a secret agent for another country trying to subvert and destroy America, Bush could have given the man lessons.
Re:Right Wing and Moores Law (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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The wooooshh does not apply. That would mean I missed something, such as obvious sarcasm. I didn't.
You replied to that poster indicating a "rightwing nutjob" might bring up the issue of Obama's place of birth. Politics aside, my question to you, the GP, and anyone else, is why we give any kind of serious consideration to the physical location of somebody's birth on this planet as a qualification for leading a democratic nation?
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No mods, it's not a troll. The guy has essentially picked a totally random point to take the conversation and did so with flame-throwers at max.
What he did was the equivalent of jumping into a conversation about driving from point A to point B and get all excited about why cars have four wheels instead of three or six.
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1) It's not a random point of the conversation. You chose it, and it had some relevance to the main discussion.
2) You imply I steered the direction of the conversation to something irrelevant, which cannot be true. It's not only relevant, but I only took your lead as far as the "direction" of the conversation was considered.
Somebody needs to calm down a little bit, because the only person tha
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Somebody needs to calm down a little bit, because the only person that thinks flame-throwers were at max, or even on in the first place is you.
I. Don't. Fucking. Care
You're the one that brought it up, and I responded to it, how can it be pedantic?
Except I didn't bring it up - I brought up foolish obsession, you brought up tertiary issues with one specific obsession - forest and trees.
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I know why, being that it is the law, and that is part of the Constitution. What I am asking is what is the rational basis of why we should consider it when choosing our President? What bearing does it have in any way on his ability to perform? Why the exclusivity?
I am neither a Republic, Democrat, TeaBagger, etc. What confounds me is when Obama's place of birth is thrown around like a weapon in an argument over politics. I just don't get why it would ever be important in the first place.
In my mind it i
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Now if you want to lay claim to believing Obama was born in Kenya and is a secret muslim terrorist, you can have that title back.
I don't think that Obama being a Muslim terrorist is a secret. :D
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That disqualifies you from being a "nut" - at least in this area.
Now if you want to lay claim to believing Obama was born in Kenya and is a secret muslim terrorist, you can have that title back.
Secret muslim terrorist? So you have to actually invent conspiracies to make the right sound nutty?
The birthers are basically claiming that Obama's paperwork is screwed up. Similar claims were made about McCain, and investigated. The extent of this conspiracy is the belief that Obama falsified his paperwork and is lying. It would be a major scandal if it were true, but hardly earth-shattering.
True insanity is liberal: the belief that 9/11 was an inside job. In 2006, [url=http://www.scrippsnews.com/911poll]o
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Would be amusing to have people worrying that the Chinese even own positions in our government now :P
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I know I am walking into your trap - but I know from my own personal career as an engineer that I have sought outside diversions (consulting, projects etc..) when I have had jobs where I was:
a. Bored into oblivion / no challenges
b. Couldn't get anything done at work because of process (one job I had as a government contractor)
c. Felt my skills would wither and die if I did not actively pursue them myself
So definitely I look at this as evidence of someone who is preparing for when this job is just a bad memo
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and I'll add that when I have jobs that I find challenging, rewarding, interesting etc.. I have NO time or desire for outside distractions - just an observation from a proclaimed "Right Winger"
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My current job is multitasking to the max ! Its one of those jobs that is so cool and fun you cannot believe you are getting paid to do it !
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In any job there is going to be some tedious stuff. During those times, even when away from work, don't you ever get ideas that just pop into your head (e.g. something cool might be possible if I do x,y, and z) and you just have to get the nearest back of an envelope and start designing? Usually that is more fun than doing the routine part of a once interesting job. During those times I think it's good to reward your muse and make a rough design there and then, otherwise you might lose the idea forever.
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Speaking as a DOE contractor and a fairly liberal guy, I can say... Crap. Not much of anything. I'm wondering if Obama, should he get a second term, will experience the typical attrition of cabinet members.
And hoping, in at least one case, he will.
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Not too surprising (Score:5, Interesting)
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)
He's Qualified Because He's a Nerd? (Score:2)
I've schmoozed with plenty of PhDs and post-PhDs, and I haven't met a one whom I'd like to see in a position of any political power or federal-level responsibility. Does this guy Chu sound like he'd be an interesting fellow with whom to have to have a beer? Sure. But you could have described him as a self-taught banjo impresario or the CFO of a large alliance in Eve Online and he'd sound just as interesting, and just as qualified for a cabinet-level job.
Re:He's Qualified Because He's a Nerd? (Score:4, Interesting)
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,
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Scientists are just people. The geekverse needs to let go of this scientist worship.
Putting aside the fact that some geeks are the scientists you describe, the public perception of scientists as white coat-wearing boffins with pipes and tweed jackets is more the fault of the media than the scientists themselves.
I'm proud of the Beeb bringing Prof. Cox into the limelight - though I'm not a fan myself - but unfortunately there are many who will publically applaud the idea of our impartial, dedicated and modest whitecoat. They only do so to decry a real one.* Geeks aren't the problem because
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the public perception of scientists as white coat-wearing boffins with pipes and tweed jackets is more the fault of the media than the scientists themselves.
Well, they used to be in the days of flubber. Now they are depicted as remote and cold academics who inadvertently release one apocalypse or another upon the Earth. ;-) I cringed at the beginning of I am Legend where anti-cancer research via repurposed viruses was blamed. In the book the virus was a natural event.
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Here's what Chu really brings to the table as Secretary of Energy: He knows wtf he's talking about, and more importantly wtf the various people who come to him are talking about.
And don't think that's not a critical ability to have. If, for instance, you're the head of a software company, and you don't understand software, then it's very likely that you'll make poor decisions because one of your subordinates misleads you for their own gain, and you'll allow incompetent people to remain in their jobs because
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last author (Score:2)
Yes, last authors are traditionally the older scientist who runs the laboratory, i.e. the guy who paid most everybody else. All the middle authors could be anything from other primary researchers or other grant holders or lab techs or just buddies of the author.
Imho, the first authorship system doesn't work very well because often two people put equal work into a paper but you cannot have two first authors.
In mathematics, we assume that all authors contribute significantly to the research, and all authors
Get used to it (Score:2)
which way is it? (Score:2)
The gravity abstract says:
I thought it was the other way around, that is, gravity results in space-time curvature. How does matter warp space-time if it isn't using gravity (whatever that is) to do it?
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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.)
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NO! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:NO! (Score:5, Funny)
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How do magnets work? [tumblr.com]
HTH. HAND.
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How do magnets work? [tumblr.com]
HTH. HAND.
BS! It's the leprechauns, dancing on the spot, spinning around and joining hands! It's leprechauns, I tell you!
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It's really not even worth asking that with regards to slashdot moderation, unfortunately.
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Lyrics. (Score:2)
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/f-cking-magnets-how-do-they-work [knowyourmeme.com]
Bottles Preserves (Score:4, Funny)
Brains and ambition (Score:2)
Since that combination of high intelligence and ambition is so often NOT socially beneficial, it's a damned good thing that this one wound up becoming a nerd and distracted with science....
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I know what you mean. I watched Pinky & The Brain too.
He reminds me of GW Bush (Score:5, Funny)
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.
Not true, nothing new here (Score:2, Interesting)
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) [azonano.com] has been an active area of research for over 25 years, and sub-nanometer aperture instruments have been on the market [nanonics.co.il] 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.
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Ah, here is Chu's paper: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature09163.html [nature.com]
So this is conventional far-field microscopy. There is a hard physical limit to the resolution in far-field microscopes, about 250nm. Chu is demonstrating a way to leverage existing knowledge about the sample to coax out more information, e.g., the distance between what is already known to be two distinct fluorescent dots.
A far cry from "seeing objects" at that scale using far-field microscopy, as claimed by MS
Chu and Minsky (Score:2)
Chu's leap in optical resolution using existing technology almost mirrors Marvin Minsky's first major invention, the confocal microscope (1957).
We got ourselves a good one kids.
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Re:Easier to get published (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Easier to get published (Score:5, Funny)
Oh, and get a grip, wanker.
I think that's pretty much the definition of a wanker.
Grant funding? (Score:2)
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.
True...but I hope there are some ethical safeguards in place between him and funding decisions for DoE grants. Having someone scientifically qualified in government is great, having them actively pursuing their research program while in an office that decides which research to fund is potentially dangerous. Presumably he can set budgets for the different research areas and influence those who adjudicate grants?
Just to be very clear - I am not in any way at all suggesting that he has acted inappropriatel
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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%
Re:He should continue doing useful work... (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
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But one has to wonder What would the population be today had there been no One Child Policy?
A bigger question is: what would the standard of living be? And what would the balance of males to females be?
If the Chinese weren't so busy slaughtering (mostly) their female children and its future workforce, they might be wealthy enough that their population growth would have gone down due to economic pressures.
But, no, one of the most horrendous human rights abuses of the 20th century is a great fucking idea, really it is.
Re:He should continue doing useful work... (Score:5, Informative)
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.
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Oh? Why not read the DoE's charter from 1977? You might well read it's mission statement from today, but that doesn't change the validity of my statement!
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Re:Beats him whinging about Americans being spoile (Score:5, Informative)
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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.
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It's pretty easy to demand other people change their ways ways. Almost teenager-like, in fact. What has he done to change his ways to behave the way he should with respect to climate change?
Glad to be of (Score:2, Offtopic)
service.
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BP had better be doing a good job with the cleanup, cause now we have a way to be REALLY sure it gets cleaned up.
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The oil spill is larger than 0.5 nm so there shouldn't be a problem.
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Can you name anything that Obama's cabinet, personally or collectively, can do that will in any way get the relief wells drilled sooner?
Oh, there is a lot more to be done, like figuring out how to reduce the oil spilling from the current well, figuring out how to reduce the ecological impact of the oil that has already spilled, drafting legislation preventing such problems in the future, figuring out a better energy strategy for the US, supervising BP on their current efforts to drill the relief wells so th
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I just checked, and I have a crowbar handy. Carry on.
Re:Public Information (Score:4, Insightful)
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?
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At least now your trip to the proctologist is covered.
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Eh, you're being a little quick to dismiss things. A third author typically had, at the very least, some meaningful role in the research that was done, and is a full member of whatever collaboration did it. (And probably has a Ph.D., or is working on one.)
I'm an associate member [in2p3.fr] of a collaboration, and as such I make it onto the authors list for various little announcements they put out [harvard.edu], but although I take a lot of the data, I'm not as involved in analyzing what it all means (I'm still shy of a M.Sc) so