Large-scale military funding induces culture clash
Abstract Mission-oriented research shifts the assessment of research products and potential from scientists to external factors. This is the point of mission funding, but it introduces what the author calls ‘epistemic drift’, which is part of a more general clash between different value systems and cultures. The culture clash between the military and industry has led to a shift in debate from spin-off to dual-use technologies. Similar conflicts and tensions are introduced into the university research system by large-scale mission funding such as that of SDI, and it is imperative that universities establish a strong civilian base for fundamental research funding instead of lobbying for military support.
Strategic defense and directed-energy weapons
About 8 months after President Reagan called on the US scientific community to develop SDI, the American Physical Society commissioned a study to evaluate the status of directed-energy weapons (DEW). Focus was on DEW because they would be needed in almost all stages of the destruction of a missile, including: detecting the launch; locating and tracking the target; distinguishing warheads from decoys; and destroying the target itself and verifying the kill. Results of the study were released in the spring of 1987, and SDI partisans have attacked and SDI critics have invoked the findings of the APS committee. The authors were cochairmen of the 17-member committee, and here summarize their conclusions, namely: (1) although substantial progress has been made in many technologies of DEW over the last two decades, significant gaps remain in these technologies; (2) successful resolution of these issues is critical for extrapolation to performance levels needed for an effective BMD systems; (3) at present, there is insufficient information to decide whether the required extrapolations can be achieved; improvements of several orders of magnitude are needed; (4) under the best of circumstances, another decade of intensive research is needed to provide the knowledge needed for an informed decision;more » and (5) important issues of overall system integration and effectiveness depend critically upon information that does not yet exist.« less
Noctilucent cloud observations over Greenland by a Rayleigh lidar
We report on the detection of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) by a Rayleigh lidar system located on the west coast of Greenland during operations in July and August 1994. The lidar detected NLCs in the zenith on three nights (July 28–29, July 31–August 1, and August 4). The lidar measurements are presented at temporal (1 minute) and spatial (192 meter) resolutions exceeding previously reported lidar measurements of NLCs and reveal significantly more structure in the clouds. Unique cloud features are observed for each night NLCs were detected. Because of the large backscatter ratio associated with NLCs, the volume backscatter coefficient for the cloud particles can be determined more accurately from the lidar signal than the backscatter ratio as the upper mesospheric molecular number density is negligible in the volume backscatter coefficient calculation. The volume backscatter coefficient values determined from the three nights of NLC observations would be classified by current models as moderate to extreme. The extreme backscatter from NLC measurements on August 4 tests the assumptions used in existing models.