During his trip to New York City yesterday, and between interviews with three network news anchors and a speech dedicating a new building to late-Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown, President Obama made an unexpected detour. The President dropped in on the New York City Science Fair—a venue that pretty much sums up the meaning of “win the future." And the reason why? “Whenever I get a chance to go to a science fair, I go," the President said.
Incidentally, there's an upcoming Delaware science fair that I would have liked to volunteer for, but it conflicted with an astronomy panel I'm serving on. Yes, scientists end up spending their time judging each other's proposals. It's the best way to allocate scarce resources like grant money and telescope time. So Science Fairs may be pretty realistic.
Both Heads of State highlighted the effective collaboration in the fields of astronomy and astro-engineering which will allow the operation of the LSST and ALMA telescopes in the northern Chile, involving an investment of 1.5 billion dollars, with a close collaboration between public and private academic and research institutions in both countries.
“If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you're a young person and you produce the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too,” the President said in November.
The White House Science Fair kicks off a week that culminates with the USA Science and Engineering Festival on the National Mall and in 50 satellite locations, poised to engage more than a million people nationwide.
The part on the use of a college education is important:
So, allowing you to compete in the global economy is the first way your education can prepare you. But it can also prepare you as citizens. With so many voices clamoring for attention on blogs, on cable, on talk radio, it can be difficult, at times, to sift through it all; to know what to believe; to figure out who's telling the truth and who's not. Let's face it, even some of the craziest claims can quickly gain traction. I've had some experience with that myself.
Fortunately, you will be well positioned to navigate this terrain. Your education has honed your research abilities, sharpened your analytical powers, and given you a context for understanding the world. Those skills will come in handy.
But the goal was always to teach you something more. Over the past four years, you've argued both sides of a debate. You've read novels and histories that take different cuts at life. You've discovered interests you didn't know you had, and made friends who didn't grow up the same way you did. And you've tried things you'd never done before, including some things we won't talk about in front of your parents.
All of it, I hope, has had the effect of opening your minds; of helping you understand what it's like to walk in someone else's shoes. But now that your minds have been opened, it's up to you to keep them that way. And it will be up to you to open minds that remain closed that you meet along the way. That, after all, is the elemental test of any democracy: whether people with differing points of view can learn from each other, work with each other, and find a way forward together.
to the White House to honor their 27th World Series title:
[F]or the millions of Yankees fans in New York and around the world who bleed blue, nothing beats that Yankee tradition: 27 World Series titles; 48 Hall of Famers -- a couple, I expect, standing behind me right now. From Ruth to Gehrig, Mantle to DiMaggio, it’s hard to imagine baseball without the long line of legends who’ve worn the pinstripes. Last season, this team continued that legacy, winning 103 games and leaving no doubt who was the best team in baseball.
But what people tend to forget -– especially after watching their teams lose -– is that being a Yankee is as much about character as it is about performance; as much about who you are as what you do. Being successful in New York doesn’t come easy, and it’s not for everybody. It takes a certain kind of player to thrive in the pressure cooker of Yankee Stadium -– somebody who is poised and professional, and knows what it takes to wear the pinstripes. It takes somebody who appreciates how lucky he is, and who feels a responsibility for those who are less fortunate.
As for me, I have now seen seven World Series victories under Presidents Carter, Clinton and Obama and four losses under Presidents Ford, Reagan, and Bush. It's very fortunate and I thank all the Yankees and George Steinbrenner for valuing victories over profits.
Imagine seeing the Jets visit the White House. I hope to someday.
More here. I think an asteroid mission makes a lot more sense than returning to the Moon. The space station will be continued which also makes a lot of sense. More thoughts later.
The President welcomed a group of school children to the White House and held a conversation with the astronauts on board the Space Station. The astronauts explained the importance of the Space Station as a scientific research laboratory, the President discussed NASA's goals, and the students asked great questions.
Nice to see that the White House blog on this conversation also mentions WISE. 's first images. We "professionals" may sometime feel manned vs unmanned space programs are rivals, but to the public it is one joint enterprise, and we must stand or fall together.
Also at youtube.
You know, it's funny to hear him say you may discover a star, because it really is real for me. There's a picture of a "star" (or at least a "brown dwarf") I discovered in the textbook I'm using in class. In fact, it has a wikipedia page.
President Obama, having spent much of the day pondering Afghanistan, spent a few seconds Wednesday night looking through a telescope at a double-star system roughly one quadrillion miles away...
It was 400 years ago, the president told the students, that Galileo built his first telescope and began probing the universe.
"Galileo changed the world when he pointed his telescope to the sky. Now it's your turn," Obama said. "Don't let anyone tell ya that there isn't more to discover.
These comments are my own personal opinions only and do not necessarily reflect the positions or opinions of my employer. All comments are based upon my current knowledge and my own personal experiences.
Image credit
The image of the red dwarf (M dwarf) at the top of the blog was created by Robert Hurt.
