Obama Honors Science and Technology
EmailABC News' Sunlen Miller reports: President Obama awarded the nation’s highest honor for scientific and technological achievement – the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation – to thirteen recipients in the East Room this afternoon. The President said that he was glad these innovators at the White House – as his youngest daughter needs a little help with her science fair project. “I must admit that I have an ulterior motive for presenting these awards today. You see, Sasha has a science fair coming up. And I was thinking that you guys could give us a few tips. Michelle and I are a little rusty on our science.” The President thanked the recipients for the discoveries they’ve made – and the resulting benefits to the nation. “We recognize your contributions, but we also celebrate the incredible contributions of the scientific endeavor itself. We see the promise — not just for our economy but for our health and well-being — in the human capacity for creativity and ingenuity. And we are reminded of the power of free and open inquiry, which is not only at the heart of all of your work, but at the heart of this experiment we call America.” The President said that scientific progress offers a chance to achieve prosperity, defend the nation, and boost the economy through new discoveries. “At such a difficult moment, there are those who say we can't afford to invest in science, that it's a luxury at a moment defined by necessities. I could not disagree more. Science is more essential for our prosperity, our security, and our health, and our way of life than it has ever been.” By investing in education, research, and spurring private innovation – the administration will devote 3% of the GDP to research and development, the President said. “That’s more than at any point in recent history,” Mr. Obama said. As part of the effort, the White House today will put a spotlight on science, technology, and investments into math and science – and will have 150 middle school students over after dark for an “astronomy night” at the White House. Students will look though telescopes on the South Lawn with the President and the First Lady. “We need to ensure that we are encouraging the next generation of discoveries — and the next generation of discoverers.” -Sunlen Miller
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I’m sick of partisan bickering, so lets rave about Forrest M. Bird for a moment. He pioneers and in 1955 sold the Bird Mark 7 Respirator, which is still in use. The infant version of this device cut the rate of breathing-related infant mortality from 70% to 10%. He continues to work in the pulmonary field, contributing to the development of devices that continue to save lives. I don’t know what party he belongs to, but as an engineer myself it doesn’t matter – he is one of many Americans who makes me proud of my nation.
Posted by: jhw539 | October 7, 2009, 4:09 pm 4:09 pm
It had the important names.. Sasha and Barack… not sure why Bo wasn’t mentioned.
Posted by: DontGet818OnMeNow | October 7, 2009, 4:33 pm 4:33 pm
Obama was quite serious about the science tips, I’m sure.
Posted by: Rick McDaniel | October 7, 2009, 5:41 pm 5:41 pm
Thank god! Finally we have a president who appreciates science.
Posted by: Brad | October 7, 2009, 7:13 pm 7:13 pm
Not sure why my post listing the recipients names was deleted. Could you at least add a link to the press release from the Whitehouse naming them? This is pathetic.
Posted by: jhw539 | October 7, 2009, 8:35 pm 8:35 pm
The three pictures in this post (Barack, Jake and Sunlen) are lovely, but the news was about the 15 honorees.
Do they have names?
Posted by: beeman | October 7, 2009, 9:03 pm 9:03 pm
I don’t know what party he belongs to, but as an engineer myself it doesn’t matter – he is one of many Americans who makes me proud of my nation.
Posted by: jhw539 | Oct 7, 2009 4:09:52 PM
————–
Well said.
Posted by: Woody | October 7, 2009, 9:54 pm 9:54 pm
We still have a long way to go, but it is nice to have a President who is not encouraging anti-scientific and anti-intellectual tendencies.
Posted by: Flash Override | October 7, 2009, 11:02 pm 11:02 pm
Maybe Obama can start with looking at some ultrasounds and finally admitting the scientific fact that a life begins at conception. Except with a hardline leftist radical partisan hack like Obama, he’ll ignore science to protect the abortion industry. He’ll ignore science to continue the false claim that the child is the ‘woman’s body’.
This would be the first era in the history of science that a woman’s body was given 2 heads, 4 arms, 4 legs, 2 hearts, and, if the child is a male, even a penis – all part of one ‘woman’s body’. This are Obama’s “Scienctific” principles – principles in politics only. He is a politician and he will wield and use science as a cudgel while cherry picking what is politically expedient for his career.
Posted by: EPU | October 7, 2009, 11:30 pm 11:30 pm
I’m thrilled that we once again have a president who appreciates science, education, and intelligence. (I never knew that 8 years could seem like an eternity.) And EPU, I am SICK of all the anti-choice rhetoric that gets thrown into almost every discussion these days — no matter how irrelevant it may be. All it does is make me even more committed to protecting a woman’s right to control her own body!
Posted by: Clay | October 7, 2009, 11:44 pm 11:44 pm
Obama is a bit “rusty in science” if he believes “cap and tax” will have any impact on climate.
He should bring Professor Richard Lindzen of MIT to the rose garden for a beer and discuss the professor’s peer reviewed paper which proves that IPCC models are overstating by 6 times, the relevance of CO2 in Earth’s Atmosphere. Dr. Lindzen has found that heat is radiated out in to space at a far higher rate than any modeling system to date can account for.
But it’s hard for the government to admit that it is wrong, remember our veterans and agent orange!
Posted by: Ed Taylor | October 8, 2009, 1:07 am 1:07 am
protect the abortion industry
Posted by: EPU
I’m sure Dr. Tillman would have appreciated some protection.
let me see if I get this:
the crazy right is all about ‘freedom from government intervention’ with health care reform..
but you think you have the right to tell other women what to do with their bodies…so if a woman is raped, gets pregnant, you want to force her to have the baby..
were you making policy for N.Korea and China?
Posted by: Sasquatch | October 8, 2009, 1:54 am 1:54 am
Clay, dear, President Obama did not suddenly revive interest in science and intelligence in the WH. I see no evidence of that in this piece, do you? President Bush handed out these same awards each year just like President Obama did yesterday and displayed the same enthusiasm and fascination with science and technology when he spoke at the awards ceremony.
I really get tired of people who sniff condescendingly about Bush’s intellect and who airily assume that Obama is not only far more intelligent but also some sort of Renaissance man whose understanding of the amazing work the men and women honored yesterday have done is somehow superior to that of previous presidents. I think he is an intelligent man, but so were, say, Bush I and II, Clinton, etc. Can’t you say something positive about Obama without reflexively saying something derogatory about Bush? Sometimes I wonder.
Posted by: moderate | October 8, 2009, 9:14 am 9:14 am
Overall, 48% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President’s performance. Fifty-one percent now (51%) disapprove.
Posted by: Fascist Hyena | October 8, 2009, 9:41 am 9:41 am
Sasquatch and Clay:
Maybe you should study up on some science. A woman’s own body? Do you really believe that a woman’s body has 2 heads and 2 hearts? Each child has it’s own separate set of DNA different from the mother’s, each child has its own unique set of fingerprints, different from the mother’s. Your posts are nonsensical regurgitation of leftist hardline posturing – even in the face of truth.
Science to liberals? Nonexistent.
Posted by: EPU | October 8, 2009, 9:54 am 9:54 am
“Each child has it’s own separate set of DNA different from the mother’s, each child has its own unique set of fingerprints, different from the mother’s.”
For claiming to be so scientific you are quite careless in intermixing the terms ‘child’ and ‘fetus’. Strictly speaking it’s not a child until it’s been born. But even so if fetuses are as distinct from the mother as you claim then it would be a simple matter to give the unwanted ones to people like you to take care of.
Posted by: Skip | October 8, 2009, 11:07 am 11:07 am
Science to liberals? Nonexistent.
Posted by: EPU
yeah, I know, the earth is only 5 or 6 K old and people rode around on dinosaurs just like the Flintstones…
WILMAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa………….
Posted by: Saquatch | October 8, 2009, 11:16 am 11:16 am
“Maybe Obama can start with looking at some ultrasounds and finally admitting the scientific fact that a life begins at conception.”
What does it say on your driver’s license? “date of conception”? Have you ever provided identification that lists your date of conception? No. It says “date of birth”. Legally your life starts at birth. While some protections have been put in place to protect fetuses they are not exclusive of and do not supersede the mother’s rights. You will find it difficult to provide independent legal protections to people who have not even been born regardless of what your philosophical or pseudo-scientific beliefs are.
Posted by: Skip | October 8, 2009, 11:57 am 11:57 am
Our otus says: “We need to ensure that we are encouraging the next generation of discoveries — and the next generation of discoverers.”
Oooo, look out. He’s promoting that socialist attitude to our children again with his desire to encourage the next generation to be smart and discover new things. Lol How dare he do such a thing?….
Posted by: CarpeDiem | October 8, 2009, 12:07 pm 12:07 pm
Potus, that is…. Dang fumble fingers. :)
Posted by: CarpeDiem | October 8, 2009, 12:07 pm 12:07 pm
Your posts are nonsensical regurgitation of leftist hardline posturingScience to liberals? Nonexistent.
Posted by: EPU
if being a ‘leftist’ ‘liberal’ means believing that a woman has the right to chose what’s best for her re: own medical treatment, and the decisions involving reproduction,.. free of ‘right wing’ or religious dogma, just call me ‘Lefty’..
interesting that you don’t think it’s ‘radical’ to force a woman to bear a child from a rape.
Posted by: Sasquatch | October 8, 2009, 12:33 pm 12:33 pm
Science to liberals? Nonexistent.
Posted by: EPU
***
Sure. That’s why scientists in many many fields cheered when the party with no science cred given certain tribes in their bas–tribes they’ve let take over, tribes that think science and education is elitist–lost control of the House, Senate and Executive Branch. LOL!!!
I like Sasquatch’s WILMAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa………….
:>)
Posted by: Alyson | October 8, 2009, 1:06 pm 1:06 pm
Moderate, “dear,” you lose ALL credibility when you describe the shrub as an intelligent man. And you will simply have to get over the fact that many of us are still celebrating the end of an administration that we found horrific in so many ways — there really is nothing about which to wonder. By the way, “dear,” I didn’t write the headline for this article, so don’t blame me for the way it is worded.
Posted by: Clay | October 9, 2009, 8:01 am 8:01 am
Uh Oh. Republicans don’t believe in science.
Posted by: Archie | October 9, 2009, 9:56 am 9:56 am
The so-called “liberals” are so self-righteous and hypocritical when it comes to proclaiming that they are the only ones that listen to scientists while the conservatives don’t. As a scientist, I see this as two-faced. Yes the conservatives may not listen to biologists on stem cell research and climate scientists on global warming.
However, the liberals have been ignoring the physicists and the engineers that have told them that nuclear energy is safe and reliable for decades.
Posted by: Altair-IV | October 9, 2009, 10:04 am 10:04 am
Sasquatch:
Choice is good. So what about the child’s choice? The most fundamental right of every human being isn’t to abort or not abort, isn’t to own a gun, isn’t to free speech, it’s to live . . . simply to live. How can liberals who dare to “represent” the towntrodden square themselves with defending abortion? It is inconsistent and unjust to deny a human being the most fundamental human right: the right to live.
Posted by: EPU | October 9, 2009, 10:07 am 10:07 am
Skip,
For your information. The word “FETUS” is the latin word for “CHILD”. Open those science books again buddy.
Posted by: EPU | October 9, 2009, 10:09 am 10:09 am