Government Sponsored Research

It takes money to do scientific research. A lot of it. Here are the 2005 figures for a few US agencies that sponsor research. NIH has the largest budget with $28.6 billion (2.6 % increase), NASA comes in at $16.45 billion (2.5% increase). This is compared to the NSF, with an annual budget of $5.7 billion (2.5% increase). Where do the governments priorities lie? I think that is fairly obvious. However, these increases hardly even keep up with inflation.

I wanted to compare this to the budget for a few different agencies. The DEA gets $2.14 billion. The social security administration takes up $557 billion. Medicare and Medicaide get $572 billion. The department of defense does very well at $402 billion. This is out of a total budget of $2.4 trillion. What do these numbers even mean? I have no idea. With a $2.4 trillion budget, it seems the US should be able to keep a balanced budget, hell, I can do it with a $19, 000 salary - but that is a post for another day.

The US government actually does very well if you compared to other goverments around the world. We drarf everyone elses budget (even when normalized to GDP, we still come out OK, with ~2.7% of GDP going to science and technology, putting us in 3rd behind Sweden and Japan). But look at the numbers involved - they are mind blowing. It seems there is always room for improvemnt, and more efficient use of research money. I am glad I can get a Ph.D., and have a modest salary while doing it.

I hope the US can keep being a world leader in funding federal research. Now, private organizations are starting to have a larger impact. Even California is funing it's own research. Good for Cali' - I have always believed in the rights of states to govern themselves.

The Central Science

Chemistry has long been known an "The Central Science." However, many people are saying it is dead. In Europe many instituions of "higher learning" are closing their doors to chemistry students. There are not enough of them, they say, and the curriculum is too outdated. Some believe chemistry is an irrelevant subject in this modern age. I could not disagree more. Chemistry is still the central science, and is pertentent to all of our lives. Look around you - almost everything you see has been made possible through chemistry. From letting us live better, heatheir lives, to the materials this keyboard is made of. People must understand this.

We need to recruit more students into chemistry. What I fear is that chemistry will be twisted into a servant of biology. I do not think this is true now, I believe there are many challenges in biological systems that chemists can solve - but we must not forget our identity. Answer the following question: why did you pick the field you of study you are in? I picked chemistry because I want to be able to explain how the world around me functions. That is still true, and I needed to be reminded of that.

This is a prosuct of chemistry.

Jane Goodall

One of the advantages of being at Cambridge is the chance that you will see world-class scientists all the time. I was sitting in lab at 7:30, and someone asked me if I wanted to go see Jane Goodall give a talk at St. Catherine’s. I said sure, and we went. She was here to push a group she sponsors “Roots and Shoots” a word-wide group of young people dedicated to doing their part to help the earth. The point is one person can make a difference, though their individual contributions may be small, together they are strong.

Dr. Goodall began by talking about her work with chimpanzees in Africa, and her best teacher, her dog "Rusty." She has a wonderful legacy with her studies of chimpanzees, and a center named after her. She has observed chimpanzees for years, and learned to love them. She can make the most realistic monkey sounds, as she demonstrated many times. She says at first she thought chimpanzees as very similar to us, just with none of the bad qualities (this view changed quickly). She reminded me of am elementary school teacher I once had that told me “man was only animal cruel enough to kill his own kind.” The similarity ends very abruptly, as Dr. Goodall has witnessed chimps kill each other, skin each other, and drink their slain enemy’s blood. This was not just because they feel threatened, either. They will kill a neighboring group off, and take their adolescent females for their own use.

This background was just to give the audience her credentials; she has been an activist since 1984, spreading her message to the world. Her talk was titled “Hope,” and its theme was “Love and Peace.” She railed against consumerism, vanity, corporate greed, mass marketing, stereotypes, and environmental transgressions - all good things to be against. The environment was her main thrust - she thinks all use of pesticides is evil, along with anything that might harm the environment. She talked about global warming, deforestation, water and air pollution. I am not sure if I believe all of the facts she stated – it seems all environmentalists have to paint the gloomiest picture possible, otherwise they become irrelevant. I will say she did an excellent job doing something that many environmentalists ignore – addressing human needs, along with those of the striped bass (insert random animal here). She also talked about a few environmental successes (most rivers are much cleaner than they were 50 years ago, the California Condor is doing much better). However, there are many people in the world that are hungry, have no access to education, and no future. Africans are actually worse off now than they were 25 years ago. I am thankful for living in America – where I have more opportunities that I deserve.

She had some good lines, she thinks that the solutions to modern problems lie in innovation – the ideas are there, they just need to be implemented. She also feels people need to have their head in touch with their heart a little more. This part was directed at scientists. The idea was just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Look at all of the consequences.

She also believes in the power of the human intellect to overcome our “human nature” – something I totally agree with. We are intelligent; we do not need to accept excuses from individuals for stupid behavior. We can use our intellect to not kill each other, but be civilized, and help the world.

The part of the talk I did not like was when she brought a giant dove made of crap on stage. Her idea is for everyone to make one on World Peace Day (September 21), so that you could see these doves stretching across the world from space. Kind of like “Hands Across America” with doves. She even had a lame song to go with it already!

The question and answer period made me laugh – her talk was on Love and Peace, and the first two questions were about monkies killing each other. The second question involved “monkey genocide” (not poaching mind you, we are still talking about monkey-on-monkey violence. I would have laughed if Dr. Goodall were not there. Some questions were a little revealing – when asked what her “Deepest wish” was, she replied “That the election in the US could be repeated.” (I though this wish still might not have the result she wanted, if she doesn’t want Bush to be president she should go ahead and wish that Ghandi were the president of the United States, not wish for another election).

Some fool also formulated what I took to be a question on the "Prime Directive." He asked if it was difficult not to intervene when she sees a hurt chimpanzee, because it would interfere with the "natural progression." He obviously was not paying attention to her talk, or her life. Her center is dedicated to helping hurt chimpanzees. She described interacting with them many times - from giving them food to being accepted by them. A different question was about her faith. I will admit I was wondering the same thing – her talk has a lot of religious overtones. She answered by saying she believed in a “higher being,” she talked about souls a lot, but she did not believe in a particular organized religion. Afterwords, there was a reception where you could buy her books and stuffed animals.

She still has hope for the future, which is why her talk was titled “Hope.” It was a good evening, at times I felt like I was among the apes myself.

An American in Cambridge

I hate Americans in Europe. They are all jerks. I know what you are thinking – that I am referring to those that think they are the best, with no regard for the local customs. I have heard about those Americans, but I have not met any of them yet. These Americans manage to make themselves the focus of any conversation. How do they do this? They put America down at every opportunity.

Give America a break, people. She’s not perfect, but you don’t have to put her down just to score points with your European friends. America has gotten a lot of things right over the past 229 years. The Bill of Rights for one. I also like the media in America more (you can find all sorts of media pertaining to your political leanings, and it better than having to listen to state-sponsored media). I would put America’s record next to that of any European nation – I think we will come out ahead. Why all the hate people? Some guy in the pub mentioned that Americans had slaves until the 1860s. I said, yea, and a lot of Americans died to end that practice. Europe would benefit a lot if they realized many modern problem stems from their colonization era. Africa. Ditto. Middle-east. Ditto. Global warming. Ditto (England started the industrial revolution, remember?). It is because of Europe’s bloody past that Israel exists in the first place. I think Europeans should have a sense of responsibility to ensure she can exist peacefully.

So, next time you’re in Europe, represent! Take a second out of your America bashing to say something good about America like, “Yea, America sucks, but we did invent the Caesar salad.”

England!

I have been in Cambridge, England for 3 days now. The trip over was rather uneventful - although the train from London to Cambridge was a little slow. I will be here until March 23, which will be here very soon.

I am staying in graduate houding at Pembroke College. The college is very nice, and has the first building designed by Christopher Wren, Wren Chapel. This location is very convienent, I am 5 minutes from work, downtown, and the backs. My room is very spartan (which I love)! My only complaint is that the internet connection in my room is bad! There are 5 "apartments" in building, everyone elses works, but my port is dead, and according to the college, it is live. Oh well.

This is my second time staying at Cambridge, I was also here last summer. If you can pick when to come to England, don't pick the winter - it is cold, gray, and just plain depressing. It snowed today (but not really), and I saw kids buying "sledges" at the store today. Lab work is going well, we are on schedule, and I am excited about being here.

Keep in touch, I plan to do this nightly.

Carolina Basketball

Carolina played Duke last night at Cameron Indoor. The score was Duke 71, Carolina 70. This leaves 1 sad Tar Heel Nation. Carolina has only beat Duke twice in my 5 years at Chapel Hill. When Carolina won in 2001, there was a riot on Franklin St., cars were turned over, fires were set; it was sweet. Carolina could have won the game tonight, but they were unable to get a shot off in the last 18 seconds of the game. Totally lame. Duke basically controlled the whole game, it was amazing that Carolina had a chance to win.

I am proud of the Tar Heels, even though they lost. Carolina and Duke play here in Chapel Hill March 6th. Revenge will be sweet.

ACS Nobel Laureate Signature Award

Christ L. Haynes and Richard Van Duyne are receiving the 2005 ACS Nobel Laureate Signature Award for Graduate Education in Chemistry. This is pretty much given out for the best doctoral dissertation in Chemistry. You can read about this award here, and here. She is an excellent scientist, and has a great career ahead of her. She will join the faculty at University of Minnesota this year.

The coolest thing about the award is the plaque Christy receives containing signatures of Nobel Laureates. Sweet. Congratulations Christy!

Twixters?

I read an article in the News and Observer today about twixters (aslo featued in Time last month). What the hell is a twixster? From the article, I had a hard time pinning that down, but the Urban Dictionary helped out with this definition:

A person who is between the age of 18 to 25 and even beyond, who have become a part of a distinct and separate life stage, a strange, transitional never-never land between adolescence and adulthood in which people stall for a few extra years, putting off the iron cage of adult responsibility that constantly threatens to crash down on them.

Basically, I see it as a group of kids who float through life (at least their 20s) like pieces of crap. They live with their parents, have no steady job, and no aspirations. They also rely on their parents for support (i.e. $$$). We all know people like this. These articles point to the fact that the number of 20 somethings living at home has doubled since the 80s. Apparently, this represents a "permanent shift" in the way people live their lives, "that whatever cultural machinery used to turn kids into grownups has broken down." I am not sure I buy any of this, especially the fact that this is some kind of permanent shift.

What I do believe is young people rely on their parents for too much, especially $$$. It can be tough when you are young, but that is why you lower your standard of living. Young people typically spend the first 7 years of "adulthood" trying to obtain the same standard of living as their parents (it took your parents their whole life to attain that standard of living). If your 25, and don't know how to get your own car insurance, there is something wrong. Everyone that graduates from high school should know how to ballance a checkbook and stick to a budget. Being an adult is simply part of life.

Suck it up, buttercup.

Hubble space telescope

It was announced today (again) that the Hubble space telescope is going to bite it. NASA has decided to bring it down (after the 2005 budget was released) and it seems more money cannot save it. Hubble is probably the best mission NASA has ever carried out since 1969. It was launched in 1990 at a cost of about $2 billion, and has given us many scientific discoveries. But more importantly, it has yielded many breathtaking pictures (10-15 Gbytes of data/day), which makes the mission vissible to the public. Visit the Hubble web page, where you can learn all about the project, and browse through pictures. The universe is so beautiful, I don't think these things can be faked. My favorite discovery is the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), which the deepest image of the universe ever taken in visible light, looking back in time more than 13 billion years (the total exposure time was 11.3 days). This image contains 10, 000 galaxies!

I will not list all of Hubble's accomplishments here, you can research that for yourself. It was designed to last 15 years, and has done a great job. Current earth-based telescopes (Keck in Hawai) can do as good as Hubble and cost a fraction of the price (remember Hubble was designed in the 70s, and the earth-based telescopes are only now approaching it). The next generation of space-based telescopes (2010) will be awesome, implementing the technology present in the current earth-based telescopes, with the advantage of having no atmosphere.

If you like Hubble, write your congressman, and tell them to support more missions like this one. NASA has a huge budget (~$16 billion), and could use its money more efficiently. The space station is a floating joke, and the shuttle program has been a huge dissapointment. I think the only reason the space station exists is so the shuttle has a place to go. Conversely, the only reason the shuttle exists is so it can service the space station. Each launch of the shuttle cost $500 million! In 1970 they said it would cost ~$20 million. Yeah, right.

I am at peace with the decision to scrap Hubble, it has been a memorable 15 years.

Welcome

I am new to blogging, so this site does not have a theme - yet. I hope, through my personal experiences to give you an impression of the current life in academics. It should prove interesting. I am leaving on a trip to Cambridge, England in 10 days. I am pretty excited, and plan to keep this up. Thanks for stopping in!