What's New: To receive these updates and announcements by email, manage your subscription, or review the mailing list archive, go to the NCSE List User Form. Energy Department Announces Plan for 28 Research Facilities November 10—Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham released a ranked list of 28 major scientific research facilities to be constructed by the Department of Energy (DOE) over the next 20 years.  According to Secretary Abraham, these facilities are "needed to extend the frontiers of science, to purse opportunities of enormous importance, and to maintain U.S. science primacy in the world."  This marks an important event, not only in planning the future of the Department of Energy, but also in prioritizing scientific inquiry across disciplines. The DOE selection process involved input from a wide range of scientists in the initial stages, but the final projects were ultimately selected by Director of the DOE Office of Science, Dr. Ray Orbach.  "This may appear unilateral, but the selection was informed by the best minds in all the affected fields.  And, frankly, the alternative of decision by committee was not acceptable, because committees … despite their best efforts … are notorious for delivering compromise documents that too often settle on the lowest common denominator," said Secretary Abraham.   Orbach chose the final 28 projects from a pool of 53 proposals compiled by groups of experts in different scientific disciplines and modified by an interdisciplinary committee.   The top priority project will be ITER, part of the international effort to produce a self-sustaining fusion reaction.  Developing the fusion reaction as a viable energy source is extremely attractive to DOE because it is "environmentally benign (it produces no carbon dioxide, and does not create long-lived radioactive waste); its fuels are easily extracted from ordinary water and lithium…; and it can be generated on demand and in sufficient capacity to power large cities and industries."   The number two priority project is the UltraScale Scientific Computing Capability facility, which will increase the computing capability available to support unclassified research by a factor of 100.  With computer power of such magnitude, complex simulations of weather and climate systems could be completed in intervals of days, rather than years.   Among the remaining 26 facilities, four are proposed for the Biological and Environmental Research program, as described below.  These facilities will primarily conduct research aimed at harnessing microbial processes for cleaning up toxic waste, reducing CO­2 in the atmosphere, and producing fuels (hydrogen, for example).   Protein Production and Tags facility (tied with 3 other projects for 3rd priority).  This would "use highly automated processes to mass-produce and characterize tens of thousands of proteins per year, create ‘tags' to identify these proteins, and make these products available to researchers nationwide."  Conducting these activities on a large scale would greatly expedite the process of determining the functions of genes that have been identified and finding useful microbial proteins.    Characterization and Imaging of Molecular Machines (tied with 4 other projects for 7th priority).  This facility would "build on capabilities provided by the Protein Production and Tags facility to provide researchers with the ability to isolate, characterize, and create images of the thousands of molecular machines that perform the essential functions inside a cell." Analysis and Modeling of Cellular Systems (tied with 4 other projects for 14th priority).  This would "combine advanced computational, analytical, and experimental capabilities to study how multi-cellular systems, including microbial communities, function at the molecular level."  In nature, microorganisms function as communities, so any use of microbes as biotechnology requires a thorough understanding of how the microbes function together. Whole Proteome Analysis (tied with 4 other projects for 14th priority).  This facility would "provide researchers with the ability to investigate how microbes adapt to changes in their environment by turning certain portions of their genome ‘on' and ‘off'."  "Currently there is no way to determine in a reasonable amount of time what part of a microbe's genome becomes active in different conditions and environments." The Department of Energy's Office of Science is comprised of six disciplinary branches:  Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, and Nuclear Physics.  The Office of Science would have a budget of $3.3 billion in FY 2004, according to legislation that was recently approved by a House-Senate conference committee.  The majority of DOE research is in the physical sciences and engineering, which, combined, make up 72 percent of the department's research budget (not all of which comes through the Office of Science).  However, 6 percent of DOE research is classified as environmental science, and another 6 percent is considered life science, according to National Science Foundation criteria.  The Office of Science's Biological and Environmental Research division would have a budget of $592 million for FY 2004, under the Congress's conference agreement.   Full descriptions of all 28 facilities proposed by DOE are in Facilities for the Future of Science:  A Twenty Year Outlook.  This report, along with Secretary Abraham's speech, can be accessed at:  http://www.sc.doe.gov.

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