US scientists who mean business

Not all of history’s most significant scientists were college graduates when they began their works. In fact, history is full of scientists who have shaped the world due to their work as teenagers. If they were disregarded simply because of their age, many things we take for granted today may not exist.

In an increasingly competitive world, the United States must invest in its best scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs so that they innovate here, make things here, and create good paying, high quality jobs for middle class families. The Department of Commerce and its bureaus are supporting and fostering innovation at all stages of product development, from original research through to final manufactured goods. Commerce’s Economic Development Agency has launched two grant challenges, the i6 Challenge and the Advanced Manufacturing Jobs and Innovation Accelerator, to move ideas from the lab and shop floor to the marketplace at an accelerated rate. Supporting this work is the Regional Innovation Acceleration Network, a web-based tool to help economic development professionals promote entrepreneurship, business development, and technology commercialization in their region. In April 2010, the Commerce Department launched the Internet Policy Task Force to ensure that the Internet remains open for innovation. In doing so, it has produced the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, made important steps forward for a National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, started a conversation about privacy concerns within mobile apps, and worked to combat Botnets that threaten internet security. To ensure continued Internet security, Commerce has opened a Cybersecurity Center of Excellence.

I’ve been asked a few times what I think of the Kerry/Lugar startup visa bill designed to create a special immigration category for foreigners who want to come here and start a business. My answer is basically the same as Annie Lowrey’s—this is a find idea but far too restrictive thanks to “inflexible rules about sales, capital investment, and job creation.”

A manned mission to Mars could happen by the end of this century. The Mars Desert Research Station, located in a remote region of Utah, is helping scientists prepare for this challenging deep space expedition.

Over 80,000 data scientists from all over the world have now participated in Kaggle's data competitions - games where scientists compete for cash prizes to solve business problems for major companies. Kaggle competitions have helped improve premium pricing for Allstate, improve hospital pricing for GE, find talent for Facebook, and map the universe's dark matter for NASA. They're able to do this because these companies have well-defined problems that are well-suited for this type of problem.

By Dylan Matthews Besides their apparent inability to spot a scientific consensus in plain view, the thing that puzzles me the most about climate change deniers is why, exactly, they think those trying to stop climate change are so invested in doing so. Bret Stephens, in a particularly tendentious denialist column in the Wall Street Journal, thinks he's got the answer:

The San Rafael Swell in central Utah is a massive dome of layered rocks, surrounded by a Delaware-sized maze of deep canyons and multi-colored cliffs.