Forecasts of U.S. Science Policy

Another, interesting letter by SIM was received by me today. It concerns a meeting, discussing U.S. Science Policy:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     SEPTEMBER 25, 2008 

Presidential candidates invited to discuss science policy at the National Press Club; DC think tank convenes election forum 

National leaders on science and technology policy will meet Friday in Washington to discuss the #1 issue facing America. Senator McCain will be represented by longtime adviser and policy expert Floyd DesChamps. Senator Obama has yet to respond to the invitation.  

Science and technology drive the economy and are the keys to our security. Every facet of the future will be shaped by the options they offer. The Center for Policy on Emerging Technologies, lead sponsor of the forum, has been established with wide bipartisan support and participation from corporate, policy and civil society sectors - to raise the profile of S and T policy and especially the long-term transformational significance of “emerging technologies” such as biotechnology and nanotechnology, and applications such as artificial intelligence and robotics. 

One panel will address the federal role in S and T policy. It will be led by David Goldston (former staff director of the House Science Committee) and include Phillip Bond (former Undersecretary of Commerce and currently president of a lead technology trade group) and Reece Rushing (Center for American Progress).  

Space policy experts include NASA’s Planetary Protection Officer Cassie Conley and former Chief Medical Officer Arnauld Nicogossian. 

The Emerging Technologies panel brings together bio and nano experts including former CEO of AVANTI Immunotherapeutics Una Ryan and Intellectual Property lawyer Jennifer Camacho. 

“We face two huge issues, both of them neglected by leaders of all parties,” says Nigel Cameron, C-PET President and Illinois Institute of Technology Research Professor; “the general state of US science, technology and engineering is worrisome as our spending needs to be more intentional and the long-term prospects of trends in education are dire for American leadership. Side by side, the implications of tomorrow’s technologies for every aspect of our society have yet to be taken seriously. Science needs a much higher profile in the policy community. That’s why we have started a new think tank – and invited the presidential candidates to lay out their wares for us at Friday’s National Press Club forum.”  

Co-chairing the forum with with Nigel Cameron will be Jonathan Moreno (University of Pennsylvania and Center for American Progress), and University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute President Jennie Hunter-Cevera.  “It is very timely to have our leaders in the country discuss the current needs and gaps in education, science and technology to keep our country competitive at the global level. Science on the front end of discovery is  moving ahead very fast while the back end on regulatory and policy issues are still catching up and presenting barriers to moving the technology out to end users.’, state Jennie Hunter-Cevera, president of UMBI and past-president of SIM. 

The forum is co-sponsored by the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and the Society for Industrial Microbiology. 

National Press Club, Washington, DC Friday 9/26, 9.30-5.00

Inquiries: Nigel Cameron 847 452 8144

www.c-pet.org

WIREC USA and Finnish Biofuel collaboration

Minister Mauri Pekkarinen participated in the WIREC 2008 conference in Washington, March 2008. The blog post below was posted March 5, 2008. Pekkarinen spoke about R&D collaboration between USA and Finland. Finland is taking steps towards increased production of Biodiesel from non-food biomass. Neste Oil is a leading company in this field with projects in Finland, Singapore, and Central Europe.

Stora Enso and Neste Oil are building a pilot plant for cellulosic biodiesel production from forestry residuals and waste wood. Full scale operations will start in Finland in the time bracket of 2010 to 2015. UPM has a somewhat different approach. The newest sign for that is the pleriminary announcement about a bio-oil production from low value wood in Kajaani.

We'll learn more about the Kajaani project in the near future. Below is information from the Wirec conference.

Update from WIREC 2008 | reegle Blog: "WIREC 2008 is underway, and it’s off to a great start. United States Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte welcomed the participants and gave a call to action for the three conference days ahead. He was followed by United States Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer, who laid out the opportunities presented by renewable energy and the challenges ahead.

WIREC 2008 is enjoying exceptionally high attendance, with nearly 3000 participants registering for the ministerial conference. More than 100 official country delegations sent over 600 official party delegates, including more than 100 Ministers.

In conjunction with the ministerial-level plenary sessions and discussions, ACORE’s business conference also began today. The trade show opened this morning to over 5000 registered participants. CEOs and other high level executives from every renewable energy sector were in attendance, mingling with official government delegations from the ministerial conference.

The night will close with a reception sponsored by BP, bringing the first night of the conference to a successful end. Tomorrow the breakout sessions on each of the focal points begin, and conference participants are excited to have a chance to discuss the specific challenges they see ahead."

Team Ethanol Journy Sponsors

Team Ethanol: "Jane's Blog. As the Team packs up this morning and flies and drives off in their various directions, our journey through the outback and our participation in the World Solar Challenge would not be complete without a few worthy 'thank you's'

This is no ordinary challenge, and this is no ordinary car. From 21 to 28 October, 2007, follow Team Ethanol as we journey 3,500 km (2,200 miles) from Darwin to Adelaide through the Australian outback in the World Solar Challenge.

THANK YOU to all our sponsors (see their links on the right hand side) for their belief in our Team. We mentioned you at all and every opportunity and hope you will stick with us for Team Ethanol 2009. We will be in touch with you when we return to Mackay, Queensland for individual feedback."

Helge: How could we get sponsors for the Biotouch project? Here is one example.

Peak Energy blog about the soil

Peak Energy: "Terra Preta: Biochar And The MEGO Effect. This month's edition of National Geographic has a feature article on 'Soil', which looks at the steady degradation of agricultural land and the problem this poses in world where the population is heading for 9+ billion people - effectively calling attention to the 'peak dirt' problem (however soil is renewable, so any 'peak' should be able to be reversed if sufficient time and effort is put into doing so).

The article uses an acronym I've never come across before to describe the problem faced by those trying to draw attention to the issue: MEGO (My Eyes Glaze Over) - a phenomenon which should be familiar to anyone who has ever talked about peak oil, global warming or any of the other 'limits to growth'."

Health, Wellness, Nutrition, Biotouch and Microbiology

Health, Wellness & Nutrition: "Health, Wellness & Nutrition Passion. Back in 1987 I was listening to a health, wellness and nutrition doctor on the radio," writes Barbie Perkins.

Barbie_Perkins, aka Barbie Perkins, has been a member since August 26 2008, has rated 0 lenses, favorited 0, and has created 1 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "Health, Wellness & Nutrition".

I learned about her this morning through Twitter and decided to post it on this blog. Below is more about her thoughts. What do our biotech and microbiology experts to say about Barbie Perkins comments?

"The health, wellness and nutrition doctor was talking about the effects of soda pop and sugar on our health. The doctor said that the phosphoric acid in Pepsi and other soda pop products took the calcium out of bones. The doctor spoke of one of her patients who was a young wife and mother of three (ages 9, 7, and 2 years). The bones in her feet were soft and deteriorating. When The doctor asked the young woman what her other doctor thought caused her problem, the young woman said. 'I'm a Doctor Pepper freak. I have one on the hour every hour I am awake.' The health, wellness and nutrition doctor said that if this young woman continues her soft-drink habit, it wouldn't be long till she was wheel chair bound. By the way, this young woman was only 37 years old.

That scared me because I was almost 37 years old, the mother of two (ages 12 and 10) and had been consuming a minimum of three - sixteen ounce bottles of Pepsi cola a day for about the past 17 years. I didn' t want to wind up in a wheel chair from over consumption of soft drinks. The health, wellness and nutrition doctor spoke of a Green Drink so I ordered the Green Drink and Book and started taking the Green Drink on a daily basis."

There is a flair of network marketing in the blog. I've seen that among others GNLD is profiling itself as a wellness and nutrition company. How much is actually happening in the field of nutrition? What about the role of Finnish, Nordic, European scientists?