6,729 research outputs found
The Limits of Government Regulation of Science
The recent controversy over the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity’s (NSABB) request that Science and Nature redact key parts of two papers on transmissible avian (H5N1) influenza reveal a troubled relationship between science and security. While NSABB’s request does not violate the First Amendment, efforts to censor the scientific press by force of law would usually be an unconstitutional prior restraint of the press absent a compelling state interest. The constitutional validity of conditions on grant funding to require pre-publication review of unclassified research is unclear but also arguably unconstitutional.
The clearest case where government may restrict publication is when research has been properly classified as a security risk. It is less clear whether government may suppress the publication of “controlled unclassified information” (CUI). The key inquiry is whether the information poses a genuine security risk and the restraint is the least restrictive alternative.
At the same time, the federal government has fairly broad latitude to protect sensitive data in its sole possession from disclosure under FOIA.
We propose that future decisions on dual-use research should be taken through a fair and transparent institutional review process, likely best modeled on the institutional biosafety committees required for recombinant DNA research
Science, Politics, and Values: The Politicization of Professional Practice Guidelines
The Connecticut Attorney General’s recent allegations that the Infectious Disease Society of America violated antitrust law through its treatment guidelines for Lyme disease were neither based in sound science or appropriate legal judgment. Strong scientific evidence favors IDSA’s position that chronic infection with the etiologic agent of Lyme disease does not occur in the absence of objective signs of ongoing infection and that long-term antibiotic use to treat dubious infection, recommended in the quasi-scientific guidelines put forth by the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS), are of no benefit. In siding with ILADS and other chronic Lyme disease advocates, ultimately forcing IDSA to settle lest it expend exorbitant legal costs, the attorney general abused science and his public trust. This case exemplifies the politicization of health policy and confuses the relative spheres inhabited by normative discourse and scientific inquiry. Science should provide the evidentiary base for normative discussions, and values and politics will always be important in deciding how science is applied for human benefit. But a wall of separation is needed between science, values, and politics, as medical science, and the patients who depend on it, is too important for political distortion
Resolved Spectroscopy of the Narrow-Line Region in NGC 1068: Kinematics of the Ionized Gas
We have determined the radial velocities of the [O III] emitting gas in the
inner narrow-line region (NLR) of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068, along a slit
at position angle of 202 degrees, from STIS observations at a spatial
resolution of 0.1 arcsec and a spectral resolving power of approximately 1000.
We use these data to investigate the kinematics of the NLR within 6 arcsec (430
pc) of the nucleus. The emission-line knots show evidence for radial
acceleration, to a projected angular distance of 1.7 arcsec in most cases,
followed by deceleration that approaches the systemic velocity at a projected
distance of about 4 arcsec. We find that a simple kinematic model of biconical
radial outflow can match the general trend of observed radial velocities. In
this model, the emitting material is evacuated along the bicone axis, and the
axis is inclined 5 degrees out of the plane of the sky. The acceleration of the
emission-line clouds provides support for dynamical models that invoke
radiation and/or wind pressure. We suggest that the deceleration of the clouds
is due to their collision with a patchy and anistropically distributed ambient
medium.Comment: 18 pages, Latex, includes 3 figures in postscript, to appear in the
Astrophysical Journal Letter
Observations of Outflowing UV Absorbers in NGC 4051 with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph
We present new Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph
observations of the Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4051. These data were
obtained as part of a coordinated observing program including X-ray
observations with the Chandra/High Energy Transmission Grating (HETG)
Spectrometer and Suzaku. We detected nine kinematic components of UV
absorption, which were previously identified using the HST/Space Telescope
Imaging Spectrograph. None of the absorption components showed evidence for
changes in column density or profile within the \sim 10 yr between the STIS and
COS observations, which we interpret as evidence of 1) saturation, for the
stronger components, or 2) very low densities, i.e., n_H < 1 cm^-3, for the
weaker components. After applying a +200 km s^-1 offset to the HETG spectrum,
we found that the radial velocities of the UV absorbers lay within the O VII
profile. Based on photoionization models, we suggest that, while UV components
2, 5 and 7 produce significant O VII absorption, the bulk of the X-ray
absorption detected in the HETG analysis occurs in more highly ionized gas.
Moreover, the mass loss rate is dominated by high ionization gas which lacks a
significant UV footprint.Comment: 41 pages, 10 Figures; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
New Physics at the International Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) Next to GSI
The project of the international Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research
(FAIR), co-located to the GSI facility in Darmstadt, has been officially
started on November 7, 2007. The current plans of the facility and the planned
research program will be described. An investment of about 1 billion euro will
permit new physics programs in the areas of low and medium energy antiproton
research, heavy ion physics complementary to LHC, as well as in nuclear
structure and astrophysics. The facility will comprise about a dozen
accelerators and storage rings, which will enable simultaneous operations of up
to four different beams.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure. Invited Talk presented at the "Fourth
International Conference on Fission and Properties of Neutron-Rich nuclei",
held at Sanibel Island, Florida, November 11-17, 200
Freer Expression or Greater Repression - UNESCO and the Licensing of Journalists
Political unrest in many regions of the world presents dangers to journalists, and thereby threatens the free flow of information. UNESCO\u27s proposal to license international correspondents in order to help insure their safe conduct has met with strong criticism from the American press. This commentary examines several human rights instruments and their limited enforceability and suggests that there may be other viable options, including treaties and internal codes of ethics, that would stem the trend of violence against reporters
Dynamics of the Narrow-Line Region in the Seyfert 2 Galaxy NGC 1068
We present dynamical models based on a study of high-resolution long-slit
spectra of the narrow-line region (NLR) in NGC 1068 obtained with the Space
Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) aboard The Hubble Space Telescope (HST).
The dynamical models consider the radiative force due to the active galactic
nucleus (AGN), gravitational forces from the supermassive black hole (SMBH),
nuclear stellar cluster, and galactic bulge, and a drag force due to the NLR
clouds interacting with a hot ambient medium. The derived velocity profile of
the NLR gas is compared to that obtained from our previous kinematic models of
the NLR using a simple biconical geometry for the outflowing NLR clouds. The
results show that the acceleration profile due to radiative line driving is too
steep to fit the data and that gravitational forces along cannot slow the
clouds down, but with drag forces included, the clouds can slow down to the
systemic velocity over the range 100--400 pc, as observed. However, we are not
able to match the gradual acceleration of the NLR clouds from ~0 to ~100 pc,
indicating the need for additional dynamical studies.Comment: Paper prepared by emulateapj version 10/09/06 and accepted for print
in Ap
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