Funding to the Sciences and Technology is off to an amazing start

Wow, I went over the transcript of Obama's talk to the National Academy of Science, and I'm blown away. I'm actually surprised this is not bigger news.

I'm really excited about all the massive increase of money going into the Sciences. The budgets of National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institue of Standards and Technology (NIST), and Department of Energy's Department's Office of Science are all doubled.

American Universities have top notch Scientific research and attract the best talents in the world because of their abilities to provide opportunities for researchers to work. More often than not, all this concentration of talents create a network effect that spawn technologies or companies which indirectly or directly benefit Americans. This ensures that we continue to do that....

In addition, Obama created a new program for energy called Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy, or ARPA-E, based on the DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). As a guy who worked on AI stuff for DARPA, yeah, they fund pretty wacky stuff (like da internet). But, crazy, far-out projects is exactly what the energy sector needs....

So, my hats off to John Holdren, the Science Advisor and Obama's other advisors. They done their country a great service!

Concerning Mathematicians and Soothsayers and Kindred Evildoers

The study and teaching of the science of geometry are in the public interest, but whosoever practices the damnable art of mathematical divination, shall be put to the stake.

Corpus Juris Civilis, Codex Justinianus,
Book IX, XVIII, 2, 3 (AD circa 650)

Taken from Jan Gullberg's wonderful Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers.

The Dismal Science was much more dismal back then (tongue firmly planted in cheek).... ;)