Biden Team Pledges Aggressive Steps To Address Chip Shortage

The Biden administration is working to address the global semiconductor shortage that has caused production halts in U.S. industries including autos, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. From a report: The administration is identifying choke points in supply chains and discussing an immediate path forward with businesses and trading partners, Psaki told reporters at the White House on Thursday. In…

NASA appoints climate advisor to prioritize Earth science in Biden administration

Tackling the climate crisis is one of President Joe Biden’s top priorities, and NASA has created a new role to match. Source: https://www.livescience.com/nasa-appoints-climate-science-advisor-biden-administration.html

Biden DOJ Halts Trump Admin Lawsuit Against California Net Neutrality Rules

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Biden administration has abandoned a Trump-era lawsuit that sought to block California’s net neutrality law. In a court filing today, the US Department of Justice said it “hereby gives notice of its voluntary dismissal of this case.” Shortly after, the court announced that the case is “dismissed in its entirety” and…

Despite Funny Name Ideas, US Space Force Has a Serious Mission

Friday the U.S. military released 400 other names it considered for Space Force’s soliders (before settling on the word “guardians.”) Politico writes that the names were “crowdsourced” from the U.S. military’s space workforce, and “Troops clearly had fun with their submissions, which included Space Cadet, Spacies, Anti-Gravity Gang, Homo Spaciens and Spacefolk.” But the Space Force had more science fiction-inspired names…

Biden Commerce Pick Sees ‘No Reason’ To Lift Huawei Curbs

President Joe Biden’s nominee for Commerce secretary, Gina Raimondo, said she knows of “no reason” why Huawei and other Chinese companies shouldn’t remain on a restricted trade list. From a report: Raimondo, in written questions from Senate Republicans, was asked about the company, as well as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. and others. They are on a…

NASA creates new senior climate advisor role

NASA announced Wednesday it was creating a new position of senior climate advisor as part of the administration of President Joe Biden’s climate science objectives for the agency. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-nasa-senior-climate-advisor-role.html…

The US Government’s Entire 645,000-Vehicle Fleet Will Go All-Electric

Jalopnik reports:
The United States government operates a fleet of about 645,000 vehicles, from mail delivery trucks to military vehicles and passenger cars. On Monday, President Joe Biden announced that his administration intends to replace them all with American-made, electric alternatives… In 2015, the government operated 357,610 gasoline vehicles and 3,896 electric ones; in 2019, those numbers grew to 368,807 and 4,475,…

Biden Orders Sweeping Review of Government Science Integrity Policies

sciencehabit shares a report from Science Magazine: President Joe Biden today created a task force that will conduct a 120-day review of scientific integrity policies across the U.S. government, including documenting instances in which “improper political interference” interfered with research or led to the suppression or distortion of data. The review is part of a lengthy memorandum from Biden on his…

GM Will Sell Only Zero-Emission Vehicles By 2035

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: General Motors said Thursday it would phase out petroleum-powered cars and trucks and sell only vehicles that have zero tailpipe emissions by 2035, a seismic shift by one of the world’s largest automakers that makes billions of dollars today from gas-guzzling pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles. The announcement could put…

Personal Experiences Bridge Moral and Political Divides Better Than Facts, Research Finds

AmiMoJo shares a report from Live Science: In his inaugural address last week, President Joe Biden called for unity. But how can Americans come together, given what seems to be growing political contention and deep divides? New research suggests the answer can be found in stories, not statistics. People respect those they disagree with more when their position comes from a…