As I discussed in my personal blog [1], Dr. Steven Chu has been picked by President-elect Obama for Secretary of Energy. The Newshour [2] profiled Dr. Chu, repeating an older story on him. We have to manage our expectations about what this means for curiosity-driven research (CDR) and application-driven research (ADR) in the U.S. However, I think I speak for many of us when I say that a physicist is a welcome Secretary of Energy at a time when energy and research policy are more critical than ever.
[1] http://steve.cooleysekula.net/blog/2008/12/11/a-physicist-in-the-inner-circle/
[2] http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/jan-june07/climatechange_05-02.html
