WASHINGTON—Last fall, Caltech mechanical engineer Frank Marble was due to receive $500,000 from the Department of Defense to study the fuel dynamics of the hypersonic aerospace plane. It was to be the second installment in a three-year, $1.75 million award under the Defense Department’s new University Research Initiative—a program designed to support on campus. research with potential military applications.
But Congress had other ideas. A few days before its Christmas recess, the lawmakers imposed geographic restrictions on how the Good Scientists, Bad Science? How To Respond To ‘Renegade’ Researchers Case One: The molecular biologist who refuses to believe that AIDS is caused by a virus.
The cap also sends a message to the Pentagon, proponents argue, that its basic research dollars do not necessarily need to flow in the same direction—namely Southern California—as its applied programs. “It forces the Defense Department to change its policy of using basic research funds ...
