PCA1953
@pca1953.bsky.social
Retired as of 7/2024. Pretty well known national security analyst; one of the founders of DHS; former Director of LLNL; former CEO of HRL Laboratories. Worked with and been part of sr leadership of DoD, IC, DOE, DHS, WH.
These are fine examples but the real point is that all those research efforts, whatever the outcome, provide the pipeline of scientists and engineers that (mostly) move in to industry and government labs doing applied science and engineering. Post-Sputnik this was understood, not so much now.
🧪🧵 There are a quite a few examples of how federal funding has helped launch technologies that have enriched our daily lives.
1. GPS- concept was born in 1957, w/federal $$ given to John's Hopkins
2. Diabetes drugs (GLP-1 receptor agonists)- in 1980 through research on insect/reptile venoms.
1. GPS- concept was born in 1957, w/federal $$ given to John's Hopkins
2. Diabetes drugs (GLP-1 receptor agonists)- in 1980 through research on insect/reptile venoms.
May 19, 2025 at 1:02 AM
These are fine examples but the real point is that all those research efforts, whatever the outcome, provide the pipeline of scientists and engineers that (mostly) move in to industry and government labs doing applied science and engineering. Post-Sputnik this was understood, not so much now.
Reposted by PCA1953
Laser-powered fusion experiment more than doubles its power output
Exclusive: Laser-powered fusion experiment more than doubles its power output | TechCrunch
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Ignition Facility increased the yield of the experiment in recent attempts.
techcrunch.com
May 17, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Laser-powered fusion experiment more than doubles its power output
Reposted by PCA1953
Keep this in mind next time you hear Trump discuss (nonexistent) trade protectionist measures.
Tariff-free access if their intelligence agency reveals who shot the esteemed US industrialist JR Ewing
April 27, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Keep this in mind next time you hear Trump discuss (nonexistent) trade protectionist measures.
Reposted by PCA1953
You know times are bad when a case is captioned Massachusetts v. Kennedy
New filing: "Massachusetts v. Kennedy, Jr. (NIH Grant Terminations)"
Doc #75: Amended Complaint
Download PDF | View Full Case
#CL69843493
Doc #75: Amended Complaint
Download PDF | View Full Case
#CL69843493
Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Kennedy, Jr., 1:25-cv-10814 - CourtListener.com
Docket for Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Kennedy, Jr., 1:25-cv-10814 — Brought to you by Free Law Project, a non-profit dedicated to creating high quality open legal information.
www.courtlistener.com
April 15, 2025 at 2:18 AM
You know times are bad when a case is captioned Massachusetts v. Kennedy
Reposted by PCA1953
Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service claimed this week to have saved an estimated $55 billion through a combination of layoffs, canceled contracts, lease renegotiations and other actions. But a list that it posted of contracts and leases suggests that number is inflated.
Musk’s DOGE says it has saved $55 billion. Not so fast.
A Washington Post analysis found that hundreds of the canceled contracts DOGE listed represent savings of $0 each.
wapo.st
February 22, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service claimed this week to have saved an estimated $55 billion through a combination of layoffs, canceled contracts, lease renegotiations and other actions. But a list that it posted of contracts and leases suggests that number is inflated.
Question: what chemical systems *require* quantum simulation to make progress? That is, are likely to not be tractable even with exascale+ classical computers. I'll start: Haber reaction for synthesizing ammonia (if you believe that will eventually fall to a classical calculation I'm open).
February 1, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Question: what chemical systems *require* quantum simulation to make progress? That is, are likely to not be tractable even with exascale+ classical computers. I'll start: Haber reaction for synthesizing ammonia (if you believe that will eventually fall to a classical calculation I'm open).
Reposted by PCA1953
So after all the hoo-hah in the 70s, a strong genetics argument can be made that the snail darter is not a separate species but rather a population of the more common stargazer darter. Tom Near's lab at Yale lead the work, with lead author Ava Ghezelayagh joined by a dozen others. 🧪🌍🌿 #Naturalist
Fish at center of key conservation fight not a distinct species after all
A new study shows that the snail darter, a tiny fish that was the focus of a legal battle that gave teeth to the Endangered Species Act, is not a distinct species.
news.yale.edu
January 3, 2025 at 10:29 PM
So after all the hoo-hah in the 70s, a strong genetics argument can be made that the snail darter is not a separate species but rather a population of the more common stargazer darter. Tom Near's lab at Yale lead the work, with lead author Ava Ghezelayagh joined by a dozen others. 🧪🌍🌿 #Naturalist
Question: a few years back a bunch of States entered into a compact where they would award their electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote regardless of who carried their state. I always thought it was an awful idea that wouldn't survive first contact with reality, but what happened?
December 10, 2024 at 5:47 PM
Question: a few years back a bunch of States entered into a compact where they would award their electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote regardless of who carried their state. I always thought it was an awful idea that wouldn't survive first contact with reality, but what happened?
The fact that they are letting him, a nominee, out there for stuff like this tells me he is toast
Have we really reached a point where you can deny you said something when it’s literally on camera and only last month?
Pete Hegseth now claims he didn't say the thing he said on camera a month ago
December 10, 2024 at 3:21 AM
The fact that they are letting him, a nominee, out there for stuff like this tells me he is toast
Reposted by PCA1953
Pete Hegseth now claims he didn't say the thing he said on camera a month ago
December 10, 2024 at 2:33 AM
Pete Hegseth now claims he didn't say the thing he said on camera a month ago
I stopped the LA Times a long while back. It's not a very good newspaper
Scoop: After the LA Times published a piece about Elon Musk that carried a headline owner Patrick Soon-Shiong didn't like, a new rule was implemented: Prior to publishing opinion stories, headlines must be emailed to Soon-Shiong, where he can then choose to weigh in. www.status.news/p/los-angele...
December 5, 2024 at 11:17 PM
I stopped the LA Times a long while back. It's not a very good newspaper
Reposted by PCA1953
I’ll give Trump this much; when he issues a pardon, it’s for someone who actually committed crimes that most any prosecutor would have indicted on. Real dirt bags.
December 2, 2024 at 8:14 PM
I’ll give Trump this much; when he issues a pardon, it’s for someone who actually committed crimes that most any prosecutor would have indicted on. Real dirt bags.
As Musk will find out
December 2, 2024 at 4:46 PM
As Musk will find out
There's zero doubt that Hunter Biden is scum; the receipts are too numerous to list. That being said, any dad would do this for his son if he could, and has President he can. And the idea that this will somehow "unleash" Trump is comical.
December 2, 2024 at 2:09 AM
There's zero doubt that Hunter Biden is scum; the receipts are too numerous to list. That being said, any dad would do this for his son if he could, and has President he can. And the idea that this will somehow "unleash" Trump is comical.
Reposted by PCA1953
Vivek is literally an unelected federal bureaucrat.
December 1, 2024 at 11:44 PM
Vivek is literally an unelected federal bureaucrat.
Reposted by PCA1953
Fact you will never hear even if you watch America's biggest news channel 24/7:
"The caravans typically only travel a few days before they’re disbanded by Mexican authorities. Not a single big migrant caravan has made it to the US border in at least six years" www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...
"The caravans typically only travel a few days before they’re disbanded by Mexican authorities. Not a single big migrant caravan has made it to the US border in at least six years" www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...
Trump, Mexican president talk border, migrant caravans amid tariff threats
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke to President-elect Donald Trump after he threatened to impose tariffs and she hinted at retaliation in a letter.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2024 at 4:56 PM
Fact you will never hear even if you watch America's biggest news channel 24/7:
"The caravans typically only travel a few days before they’re disbanded by Mexican authorities. Not a single big migrant caravan has made it to the US border in at least six years" www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...
"The caravans typically only travel a few days before they’re disbanded by Mexican authorities. Not a single big migrant caravan has made it to the US border in at least six years" www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...
Reposted by PCA1953
Gift article. "For most of human history, half of all children died before reaching age 15; that number is down to just 4 percent worldwide, and far lower in developed countries, with vaccines one of the major drivers of improved life expectancy." Medsky www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
Here’s How We Know RFK Jr. Is Wrong About Vaccines
Children used to die of diseases far more gruesome and deadly than we remember.
www.theatlantic.com
November 20, 2024 at 3:49 AM
Gift article. "For most of human history, half of all children died before reaching age 15; that number is down to just 4 percent worldwide, and far lower in developed countries, with vaccines one of the major drivers of improved life expectancy." Medsky www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
Reposted by PCA1953
lol
The usual suspects are out there yelling "There are 23 million government workers! Fire most of them!" No awareness that most work for local governments, and most of *them* are schoolteachers. Federal employment hasn't grown since the 1950s
November 23, 2024 at 8:41 PM
lol
Reposted by PCA1953
“So the question is not whether mass deportation will happen. It’s how big Mr. Trump and his administration will go, and how quickly. How many resources — exactly how much, for example, in the way of emergency military funding — are they willing and able to marshal toward the effort?”
I very much appreciate this from @daralind.bsky.social about what Trump's program of mass deportations is likely to look like, given the bureaucratic and logistical hurdles.
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/o...
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/o...
Opinion | Don’t Do Trump’s Work for Him on Mass Deportations
How big will the Trump administration will go, and how quickly?
www.nytimes.com
November 21, 2024 at 11:58 AM
“So the question is not whether mass deportation will happen. It’s how big Mr. Trump and his administration will go, and how quickly. How many resources — exactly how much, for example, in the way of emergency military funding — are they willing and able to marshal toward the effort?”
Reposted by PCA1953
I'm totally OK with being called woke. It just means that I'm showing off my green flags. Happy to follow others with green flags.
#woke
#woke
November 21, 2024 at 1:23 PM
I'm totally OK with being called woke. It just means that I'm showing off my green flags. Happy to follow others with green flags.
#woke
#woke
A question that's been bothering me: a source emits 1um photons. An observer is moving toward the source at sufficient speed to blue shift the photons past 1.02Mev. Hence, after scattering off a particle or via ph-ph interaction, the obs sees pair production. The source does not. What am I missing?
November 21, 2024 at 6:36 PM
A question that's been bothering me: a source emits 1um photons. An observer is moving toward the source at sufficient speed to blue shift the photons past 1.02Mev. Hence, after scattering off a particle or via ph-ph interaction, the obs sees pair production. The source does not. What am I missing?
Funny. Latest update to Threads crashes, and you can't even clear the cache.
November 14, 2024 at 6:09 PM
Funny. Latest update to Threads crashes, and you can't even clear the cache.
Help. I'm a newby to Bluesky. I am having a hard time finding feeds from news orgs (WSJ, NYT, BBC for example). What am I missing?
November 12, 2024 at 5:09 AM
Help. I'm a newby to Bluesky. I am having a hard time finding feeds from news orgs (WSJ, NYT, BBC for example). What am I missing?
Just bailed from Twitter. Retired now. Pretty well known national security analyst; one of the founders of DHS; former Director of Lawrence Livermore National Lab; former CEO of HRL Laboratories. Worked with and been part of sr leadership of DoD, IC, DOE, DHS, WH.
November 12, 2024 at 4:44 AM
Just bailed from Twitter. Retired now. Pretty well known national security analyst; one of the founders of DHS; former Director of Lawrence Livermore National Lab; former CEO of HRL Laboratories. Worked with and been part of sr leadership of DoD, IC, DOE, DHS, WH.