Comments on: A new day indeed

By: Slawomir Piatek

Slawomir Piatek — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:08:50 +0000

Hi Risa,

Can you give us some examples how your personal research (or those that you know) was adversely
affected in the last eight years?

Slawomir Piatek

By: Clerk

Clerk — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:45:24 +0000

“Science will prevail!” When all of this comes to fruition science will prevail, they may give Obama the credit in the future but we will all know who adapted and overcame. It will be the men and women out there doing the jobs, not those bureaucrats. The ideas are out there, the challenge is the same; (No Money) to pay for these ideas to come to life! If Obama’s empty words don’t help, maybe just maybe him bringing attention of the issues regardless of content to the masses might help the arguous plight of science (thinking without knowing). Fear not fellow hero’s! And to echo Optimist, lighten up! It could be worse. . . I mean the LHC could be broken or something, now that would be bad!

By: Optimist

Optimist — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:16:19 +0000

I hope the rest of the nation doesn’t feel the way most of the posters on this page seem to feel. We’re not going to get anywhere with such negative attitudes. I’m not one to blindly follow political leaders, but at least Obama’s trying to motivate the people a little. Damn, people, give the guy a break.

By: Martin Gale

Martin Gale — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:13:36 +0000

I guess replacing a legitimate physicist (past President of SUNY Stony Brook and head of BNL) as science advisor with a lefty, enviro freak ideologue is just the first step in this brave new world of scientific integrity. Egads.

By: Elliot

Elliot — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:54:08 +0000

I hope he follows this advice when making an “informed” decision on Nuclear Missile Defense.

By: alex

alex — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:03:14 +0000

It’s nice to have a change in tone from previous years, but it’s only potential if he can’t follow through. Not that he won’t try to follow through, but he seems to be unwilling at this point to shoulder his way past the people that would block progress. It looks like a little too much optimism in people and belief in good will to me.

By: mike

mike — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:16:24 +0000

I wonder though.. will this hold true if science were to find things that are politically unacceptable, say an over estimation of global warming or findings that the current models are less than what their proponents claim? Can it work in reverse once things have become deeply political?

I pick global warming as its arguably the most politicized ‘result’ of science out there today. Beyond the academic world (which has seen huge increases in funding), there are many in industry and finance licking their chop$ to get in on a piece of the action. Right now its in virtualy nobody’s interest (that is in any power) to have climate change by man caused global warming proven less than apocolyptic.

Science is a process, not an absolute. As time goes by we refine theories as new information comes to us. Sometimes this even invalidates what were previously widely held views that were based on experimental data (ie, weak neutral currents) when new techniques and theory give shocking evidence that, no we were wrong!

By: The AstroDyke

The AstroDyke — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:50:06 +0000

Thanks for posting the link to the whole memo, Risa.

Reality-based thinkers are back in charge.

By: Not an american

Not an american — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:18:46 +0000

I think it’s time that America’s (I guess Obama meant the USA) place is restored to one of the backwards overly religious country that it is, after the brief episode where it got rich after coming out of WWII unscathed while reaping all the benefits. It’s real shame that such a barbaric place as the USA still tries to keep the lead in science, just because it has so much money that not all of it can be spent on sports and hamburgers. You can keep the junk food and the movies, but please, let’s give science back to the progressive countries, shall we?

By: Spring

Spring — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:05:49 +0000

I don’t understand why president always only indulge himself with daydreams and fine words. Enough! Tommorrow only lies in working hard little by little, not in someone’s lofty aspirations. The whole task can’t be accomplished at one stroke. Maybe he only cares about his fame on the throne, and he bets his success at the cost of our state.

Also, I feel the new era is coming, when our nation doesn’t have to be, and can’t be the leader of the world. We are not the supremacy, but indeed the cooperator and sharer in this planet for the sake of human’s better future.