ITRINEWs

An Electronic Newsletter
for the International S&T Community

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*ITRInews*	May 2002, No. 43

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Free newsletter on international S&T from WTEC, Inc.

To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit http://www.wtec.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/itrinews

Click on this link to see the present and past newsletters in color http://itri2.org/ITRInews/

A mini editorial
I support the NSF doubling effort in the lead story, but one problem with this goal is that its supporters have no convincing argument for it. Last year the Senate staffers who drafted the "Dear Colleague" letter that gave the motivation for NSF doubling were reduced to saying that NSF deserves funding because it helps NIH, which is what the Congress really cares about. NSF data shows that the public does have a good image of science and is not adverse to making more investments in it, but so what? There is really no significant organized lobby to convince Congress and the Administration of merits of this investment. President Bush in particular has proposed two annual budgets for NSF that did not keep pace with inflation -- much less making any real increase in investment.

To make this work, there needs to be a politically powerful advocacy group that asks the Congress and Administration to do it. Forget about asking scientists to write letters to their representatives; they don't and no one would care anyway. It's political clout that gets things done in DC, and that means big money. The only group with the necessary clout that might be convinced to get behind this doubling scheme is the big business community.

With some effort, corporate America could be convinced that physical science in the U.S. needs more investment in order to supply them with the discoveries from basic research that keeps their companies profitable. And they would much prefer that Government spend its money than themselves. However painful it might be to the scientific establishment, it would be helpful in making this case to admit that U.S. physical science is in trouble, that it is not maintaining its world leadership, as the Government goals demand (particularly in physical sciences), and that others, notably the EU and Japan, are determined to take that leadership away and are succeeding in many fields.

R. D. Shelton, Editor: rds@wtec.org
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In This Issue of ITRInews
Double-Double in U.S. S&T Investments?
AAAS Analysis of the President's FY2003 S&T Budget
U.S. and China to Stengthen S&T Cooperation
U. S. Export Controls No Longer Keep High Technologies from Chinese
WTEC To Conduct Worldwide Study of Biosensing

Featured Organizations in International S&T:
Clearinghouse on Specialized Search Engines on S&T--Continued (Physics and Electrical Engineering)

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Double-Double U. S. S&T Investments? Assuming that the President's request for NIH in FY2003 is funded, the 1998 goal for doubling the NIH budget to $27 billion in 2003 has been achieved. What next? More of the same investment in healthcare research or a shift to investments in physical science? Some (mostly physical scientists) feel that the balance between the two fields has got out of balance, when the annual increases in NIH exceed the the entire NSF budget. For the last two years, a bill has been introduced in the Senate to set a goal of doubling the NSF budget in five years. This year the House Science Committee has taken up this campaign with the introduction of the bipartisan HR4664 by chair Sherwood Boehlert and others. Those who aren't so familar with U.S. congressional process should know that authorization bills from committees like Science don't amount to much, unless the all-powerful appropriations committees agree with them. But they do make for good press. http://www.house.gov/science/press/107/hr4664sum.htm A recent paper by David Korn et al. analyzed the effect of lower budget increases on the grant making process at NIH ( The NIH Budget in the "Postdoubling" Era, Science 24 May 2002 pp. 1401-1402).

AAAS Analysis of the President's FY2003 S&T Budget The AAAS 27th annual report on R&D in the federal budget is now available on line for free. The full text of the 306-page report, including nearly 40 tables, is available in HTML and PDF formats. This reference work provides a comprehensive analysis of R&D in the President's budget for FY 2003, including specialized analyses by theme, major agency, and discipline. A 14-page summary containing highlights from this book is available as a Preview Report for AAAS Report XXVII. For more information on R&D in the FY 2003 budget as Congress reacts to the President's proposed budget, see the FY 2003 R&D page. http://www.aaas.org/spp/dspp/rd/pubs.htm

As was the case last year, the proposed increases for DOD ($5.2 billion) and NIH ($3.7 billion) would make up the entire $8.9 billion increase, leaving all other R&D funding agencies combined with barely the same amount as FY 2002.

U. S. and China to Stengthen S&T Cooperation The 10th U. S.-China Science and Technology Joint Commission Meeting (JCM), convened in Beijing April 25-26 chaired by White House Science Advisor John Marburger and Chinese Science and Technology Minister Xu Guanhua. Policymakers agreed to further strengthen bilateral exchanges and cooperation on S&T -- with emphasis on agriculture, clean energy, nanotechnology, global change, genomics, science education, and information technology. Nanotechnology came up repeatedly, and the U. S. side invited Chinese scientists to participate in research at nanotechnology centers being established in the U.S. Other members of the U. S. delegation included Rita Colwell (NSF Director), Raymond Orbach (Director of the DOE Office of Science), Norman Neureiter (Science Advisor to the Secretary of State), and representatives from several other U. S. Cabinet-level departments. A special issue of the e-letter on environment, science, and technology from the U. S. Bejing embassy reports on the JCM and other bilateral S&T activities. http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/sandt/estnews042602.htm

Fig. 1. Minimum feature size for best integrated circuit fabrication plant in China and the U. S. The Chinese figure is the top of the bar, and the U. S. figure is the bottom of the bar. The abstract of the report states in part:

Since 1986, China has narrowed the gap between the U.S. and Chinese semiconductor manufacturing technology from between seven to 10 years to two years or less. China's success in acquiring manufacturing technology from abroad has improved its semiconductor manufacturing facilities for more capable weapons systems and advanced consumer electronics...U.S. agencies have not done the analyses, such as assessing foreign availability of this technology or the cumulative effects of such exports on U.S. national security interests, necessary to justify such a practice or serve as the basis for licensing decisions. Consequently, the executive branch lacks a sound, well-documented basis for making export-licensing decisions to China.
U. S. Export Controls No Longer Keep High Technologies from Chinese Since WWII the U. S. has depended on counterintelligence and export controls to prevent potential adversaries from obtaining the highest technologies that have given the U. S. military its superiority. This regime worked fairly well when the U. S. itself had the world's leading technologies, enabling the U. S. to maintain a technological edge over the much more numerous Soviet armed forces. Now that other nations, particularly Japan and European countries, have technologies equal or superior to those in the U. S., potential enemies can simply purchase them, little deterred by a voluntary system of restraint under the multinational Wassenaar Arrangement. An April 20 report from the General Accounting Office concludes that "U. S. export regulations contain inherent inconsistencies and are based on outdated Government assessments of availability of technology from non-U. S. sources. " [emphasis added, i.e. maybe a WTEC assessment is needed] Report No. GAO-02-620, "Rapid Advances in China's Semiconductor Industry Underscore Need for Fundamental U. S. Policy Review." http://www.gao.gov/
We did do a study of Chinese electronic manufacturing in 1999, which also pointed out that the Chinese now have access to the world's best technologies in chip making, in neighboring countries if not in the PRC, http://itri2.org/ttec/aemu/report/index.htm

WTEC To Conduct Worldwide Study of Biosensing On May 28 the WTEC organized an expert panel for assessment of research and development in biological and chemical sensors for health. The study will be chaired by Jerry Schultz of the Universitity of Pittsburgh, and Milan Mrksich of the University of Chicago will be vice chair. Sponsors include the new National Institute for Bio Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) of the National Institutes of Health and several offices of the National Science Foundation. The study will start with a workshop in the fall to gather information on the state of the art in the United States. Later the panel will visit leading labs in Europe and Japan. Information on the study will be posted at http://www.wtec.org/biosensing/ in about one week.

Fig. 1. Minimum feature size for best integrated circuit fabrication plant in China and the U. S. The Chinese figure is the top of the bar, and the U. S. figure is the bottom of the bar. The abstract of the report states in part: Since 1986, China has narrowed the gap between the U.S. and Chinese semiconductor manufacturing technology from between seven to 10 years to two years or less. China's success in acquiring manufacturing technology from abroad has improved its semiconductor manufacturing facilities for more capable weapons systems and advanced consumer electronics...U.S. agencies have not done the analyses, such as assessing foreign availability of this technology or the cumulative effects of such exports on U.S. national security interests, necessary to justify such a practice or serve as the basis for licensing decisions. Consequently, the executive branch lacks a sound, well-documented basis for making export-licensing decisions to China.	U. S. Export Controls No Longer Keep High Technologies from Chinese Since WWII the U. S. has depended on counterintelligence and export controls to prevent potential adversaries from obtaining the highest technologies that have given the U. S. military its superiority. This regime worked fairly well when the U. S. itself had the world's leading technologies, enabling the U. S. to maintain a technological edge over the much more numerous Soviet armed forces. Now that other nations, particularly Japan and European countries, have technologies equal or superior to those in the U. S., potential enemies can simply purchase them, little deterred by a voluntary system of restraint under the multinational Wassenaar Arrangement. An April 20 report from the General Accounting Office concludes that "U. S. export regulations contain inherent inconsistencies and are based on outdated Government assessments of availability of technology from non-U. S. sources. " [emphasis added, i.e. maybe a WTEC assessment is needed] Report No. GAO-02-620, "Rapid Advances in China's Semiconductor Industry Underscore Need for Fundamental U. S. Policy Review." http://www.gao.gov/ We did do a study of Chinese electronic manufacturing in 1999, which also pointed out that the Chinese now have access to the world's best technologies in chip making, in neighboring countries if not in the PRC, http://itri2.org/ttec/aemu/report/index.htm

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FEATURED ORGANIZATIONS THIS MONTH

Clearinghouse on Specialized Search Engines on S&T--Continued The last issue introduced specialized search engines for S&T. Here are some more from http://invisibleweb.com ( the "search engine for search engines"), http://www.searchengineguide.com, and in the subject tree of sites like http://www.yahoo.com . In the last issue I had some search engines on chemistry and science in general. More later.

Physics

American Institute of Physics http://www.aip.org/site_search.html

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists http://www.bullatomsci.org/research.html

High Energy Physics http://www.hep.net/search/global.html

Institute for Physics http://www.iop.org/find.html

Optics SPIE http://spie.org/app/Publications/

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab http://search.lbl.gov/

Photonics http://www.photonicsspectra.com/

PhysicsWeb http://physicsweb.org/search/ (Search of IOP news, etc.) http://www.physicsweb.org/resources/dsearch.phtml (search for institutes or research groups in particular fields)

PhysLink http://www.physlink.com/search.cfm

Electrical Engineering

Engineering E-Journal Search Engine http://www.eevl.ac.uk/eese/

EETimes http://www.eet.com/

ElectricNet http://www.electricnet.com/content/homepage/ (Electric power industry)

ElectronicBusiness http://www.e-insite.net/eb-mag/

ElectronicNews http://www.e-insite.net/electronicnews/

IEEE http://www.ieee.org/web/search/

Semiconductor News http://www.e-insite.net/semiconductor/

Electronics Design Technology and News Network http://www.edtn.com/
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WTEC, Inc.
Canton, Tindeco Wharf, Harborside
2809 Boston St., #441
Baltimore, MD 21224
410.276.7797
410.276.7085 Fax

DATE FEATURE ARTICLE URL

May 02 Double-Double in U.S. S&T Investments http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N43.html

Apr 02 Japanese Lap the U.S. in the Supercomputer Race http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N42.html

Mar 02 Criteria for Basic Research Performance http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N41.html

Feb 02 Internet Growth Slows http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N40.html

Dec 01 /Jan 02 Japan Ups S&T Paper Quality and Quantity as U. S. Declines http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N39.html

Nov 01 Marburger Shakes Up OSTP http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N38.html

Oct 01 Impact of Terrorism on R&D http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N37.html

Sep 01 US Technologies Lead;
US Technologists Lag http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N36.html

Aug 01 Doctors of Economic Warfare http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N35.html

Jul 01 Marburger to be OSTP Director http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N34.html

Jun 01 Nano is Huge, and Getting Bigger http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N33.html

May 01 R&D Budget Crash http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N32.html

Apr 01 As DotComs Wilt, Internet Sprouts http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N31.html

Mar 01 Research Famines: FY2002 Budgets http://itri2.org/ITRInews/ITRInews30.html

Feb 01 Sherwood Boehlert:
New Science Committee Chair http://itri2.org/ITRInews/ITRInews29.html

Jan 01 Andreessen's Law for the Internet http://itri2.org/ITRInews/ITRInews28.html

Dec 00 S&T Policy of the Bush Administration http://itri2.org/ITRInews/ITRInews27.html

Nov 00 Research Feasts: FY2001 Budgets http://itri2.org/ITRInews/ITRInews26.html

Oct 00 Gingrich Praises Clinton http://itri2.org/ITRInews/ITRInews25.html

Sep 00 Industry Leads U.S. R&D http://itri2.org/ITRInews/ITRInews24.html

Aug 00
(Extra) Americans Like Being No. 1
and Want to Keep It That Way http://itri2.org/ITRInews/ITRInews23.html

Aug 00 Pale Green Manufacturing:
US is 3rd out of 3 http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews22.html

Jul 00 Science and Engineering Indicators 2000 Released by NSF http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews21.html

Jun 00 American Leadership of S&T: Reality or Myth? http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews20.html

May 00 Think That Government is Investing More in Research? Think Again. http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews19.html

Apr 00 Who's Getting U.S. Patents? http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews18.html

Mar 00 Bottom Line II: Trade Deficit Skyrocket Explodes http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews17.html

Feb 00 S&T: Ready for Prime Time? http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews16.htm l

Jan 00 /
Dec 99 New Technology Czar(ina) http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews15.html

Nov 99 Output in Papers: We're Number One? http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews14.html

Oct 99 Is International S&T Assessment Needed? http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews13.html

Sep 99 200GB Disk: 40 Films on One CD http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews12.html

Aug 99 Rep. George Brown Adjourns http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews11.html

Jul 99 More Good News / Bad News
from the Academy http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews10.html

Jun 99 /
May 99 Teraflops Computers Meet Gates' Law http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews9.html

Apr 99 GPRA Metastasizes Abroad http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews8.html

Mar 99 Who's On First?
(US, But Not for Long) http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews7.html

Feb 99 Who's the Bear, and Who's the Bull? Japan Doubles R&D; The US Cuts It http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews6.html

Jan 99 /
Dec 98 The Bottom Line:
US Trade Deficit Skyrockets http://itri.loyola.edu/NEWS/ITRInews5.htm

Nov 98 NRC to State:
Ignoring S&T is Ignorant http://itri.loyola.edu/NEWS/ITRInews4.htm

Oct 98 Is S&T to Blame for the Asian Financial Crisis? http://itri.loyola.edu/NEWS/ITRInews3.htm

Sep 98 The Y1.998K Problem: Y2K Arrives 0.002K Early. Markets Crash, PMs Fired, Orioles 31 Games Behind http://itri.loyola.edu/NEWS/ITRInews2.htm

Aug 98 Left Hand/Right Hand: NSF and NAS Both Assess US Math Research http://itri.loyola.edu/NEWS/ITRInews1.htm

DATE	FEATURE ARTICLE	URL
May 02	Double-Double in U.S. S&T Investments	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N43.html
Apr 02	Japanese Lap the U.S. in the Supercomputer Race	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N42.html
Mar 02	Criteria for Basic Research Performance	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N41.html
Feb 02	Internet Growth Slows	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N40.html
Dec 01 /Jan 02	Japan Ups S&T Paper Quality and Quantity as U. S. Declines	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N39.html
Nov 01	Marburger Shakes Up OSTP	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N38.html
Oct 01	Impact of Terrorism on R&D	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N37.html
Sep 01	US Technologies Lead; US Technologists Lag	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N36.html
Aug 01	Doctors of Economic Warfare	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N35.html
Jul 01	Marburger to be OSTP Director	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N34.html
Jun 01	Nano is Huge, and Getting Bigger	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N33.html
May 01	R&D Budget Crash	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N32.html
Apr 01	As DotComs Wilt, Internet Sprouts	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/N31.html
Mar 01	Research Famines: FY2002 Budgets	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/ITRInews30.html
Feb 01	Sherwood Boehlert: New Science Committee Chair	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/ITRInews29.html
Jan 01	Andreessen's Law for the Internet	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/ITRInews28.html
Dec 00	S&T Policy of the Bush Administration	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/ITRInews27.html
Nov 00	Research Feasts: FY2001 Budgets	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/ITRInews26.html
Oct 00	Gingrich Praises Clinton	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/ITRInews25.html
Sep 00	Industry Leads U.S. R&D	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/ITRInews24.html
Aug 00 (Extra)	Americans Like Being No. 1 and Want to Keep It That Way	http://itri2.org/ITRInews/ITRInews23.html
Aug 00	Pale Green Manufacturing: US is 3rd out of 3	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews22.html
Jul 00	Science and Engineering Indicators 2000 Released by NSF	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews21.html
Jun 00	American Leadership of S&T: Reality or Myth?	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews20.html
May 00	Think That Government is Investing More in Research? Think Again.	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews19.html
Apr 00	Who's Getting U.S. Patents?	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews18.html
Mar 00	Bottom Line II: Trade Deficit Skyrocket Explodes	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews17.html
Feb 00	S&T: Ready for Prime Time?	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews16.htm l
Jan 00 / Dec 99	New Technology Czar(ina)	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews15.html
Nov 99	Output in Papers: We're Number One?	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews14.html
Oct 99	Is International S&T Assessment Needed?	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews13.html
Sep 99	200GB Disk: 40 Films on One CD	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews12.html
Aug 99	Rep. George Brown Adjourns	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews11.html
Jul 99	More Good News / Bad News from the Academy	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews10.html
Jun 99 / May 99	Teraflops Computers Meet Gates' Law	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews9.html
Apr 99	GPRA Metastasizes Abroad	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews8.html
Mar 99	Who's On First? (US, But Not for Long)	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews7.html
Feb 99	Who's the Bear, and Who's the Bull? Japan Doubles R&D; The US Cuts It	http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/ITRInews6.html
Jan 99 / Dec 98	The Bottom Line: US Trade Deficit Skyrockets	http://itri.loyola.edu/NEWS/ITRInews5.htm
Nov 98	NRC to State: Ignoring S&T is Ignorant	http://itri.loyola.edu/NEWS/ITRInews4.htm
Oct 98	Is S&T to Blame for the Asian Financial Crisis?	http://itri.loyola.edu/NEWS/ITRInews3.htm
Sep 98	The Y1.998K Problem: Y2K Arrives 0.002K Early. Markets Crash, PMs Fired, Orioles 31 Games Behind	http://itri.loyola.edu/NEWS/ITRInews2.htm
Aug 98	Left Hand/Right Hand: NSF and NAS Both Assess US Math Research	http://itri.loyola.edu/NEWS/ITRInews1.htm

An Electronic Newsletter for the International S&T Community

An Electronic Newsletter
for the International S&T Community