News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
It has been 1 month since Alondra Nelson became acting head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) following the 7 February resignation of Eric Lander, who admitted to “disrespectful and demeaning” treatment of employees at the low-profile policy shop. Nelson, a sociologist who has written extensively about the impact of … Read more
A judge’s order blocking the Biden administration’s application of an interim climate metric will cause sweeping delays in agency rulemaking and stall planned projects requiring new environmental reviews, a White House official said this weekend. Dominic Mancini, the deputy administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, said a recent preliminary injunction … Read more
President Joe Biden’s decision to appoint two people to temporarily fill the White House’s top science advice position—a job typically held by one appointee—is drawing mixed reactions from the U.S. research community, including opposing takes from two former presidential science advisers. The Biden administration said yesterday it is “doubling down on science” by appointing geneticist … Read more
The United States still owes the world details about how it plans to meet President Biden’s pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of this decade. The White House promised last year that those would come in the form of a comprehensive “U.S. National Climate Strategy.” That term was used more … Read more
The Biden administration will roll out a $5 billion program today to help states build a national network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations by decade’s end. The newly dubbed National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program was established by President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law, which Congress passed last November. The administration announced the program … Read more
Remember when your mother said you might choke if you crammed too much food into your mouth? In the weeks to come, Democrats in the U.S. Congress will find out whether that warning also applies to their ability to finalize sweeping legislation that promises to double the budgets of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and … Read more
President Joe Biden’s top science adviser, geneticist Eric Lander, has been reprimanded for bullying and demeaning women on his staff, according to a scathing piece this morning in Politico. A 2-month White House investigation found “credible evidence” that Lander bullied one of his attorneys and disrespected and demeaned members of his 140-person staff in the … Read more
As it’s the foundation for all life on Earth, discovering carbon on other planets always gets scientists excited – and the Curiosity Rover on Mars has found an unusual mix of the chemical element that could hypothetically point to the existence of alien life. That’s by no means certain, but it’s a possibility. It’s … Read more
President Joe Biden’s administration last week ordered federal agencies to draft uniform policies describing the outside sources of funding that scientists must disclose when they apply for federal grants, and the penalties for failing to do so. Research groups welcome the directive, but wish it had also specified what kinds of foreign collaborations might get … Read more
The White House has given NASA a New Year’s Eve “go” to continue operations on board the International Space Station through 2030, granting the orbital outpost a six-year life extension. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson was directed by the Biden-Harris administration to work with the agency’s partners, including the European Space Agency (ESA), Canadian Space Agency, … Read more