January/February 2019^ DISCOVER^77
FAR RIGHT FROM TOP: NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD; KEN TACKETT/SHUTTERSTOCK
Wait, Isn’t There an International
Ban on Militarizing Outer Space?
There is the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, but it’s not a blanket
ban on all military activity in space. Nations that agreed to the
treaty, including the U.S., follow two main rules:- No nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction
orbiting Earth or on any celestial bodies. - The moon and other celestial bodies will only be used for
peaceful purposes.
Big Boost to U.S.
Research Spending
The U.S. spending plan for the 2018 fiscal
year saw the largest single-year increase in
the federal research budget since the 2009
economic stimulus package. Research and
development spending for 2018 increased
by $20.1 billion, or 12.8 percent, compared
with spending in 2017. The final bill, crafted
by Congress and signed by President Trump,
rejected many of his previously proposed
science cuts, especially to areas relating to
climate and the environment. The legislation
also bolsters, after more than 20 years, the
CDC’s authority to research the causes of
gun violence.Trump Finally
Picks Science
Adviser
In July, Trump tapped
University of Oklahoma
meteorologist Kelvin
Droegemeier to be
director of the White House
Office of Science and Technology
Policy, essentially the president’s top science
adviser. Droegemeier is an expert on extreme-
weather events and has served on the National
Science Board, which manages the National
Science Foundation and advises the president
and Congress on science policies. The wait for
a science adviser was more than 18 months —
the longest time for any president to nominate
someone for the role since the office was
established in 1976.Trying Out
Right to Try
In May, Trump signed
a “right to try” bill
into law. It will allow
patients who are
terminally ill to ask
drug companies for
experimental medicines
that haven’t been approved by
the FDA yet. It’s unclear how much of an impact
this new law will have, because the FDA already
has a program called “expanded access” that
allows patients to request experimental drugs —
and the FDA has authorized requests more than
99 percent of the time. Some critics of the “right
to try” law worry that cutting the FDA out of
the loop may mean doctors could be prescribing
experimental drugs without the agency’s advice
on the best way to use them.FURTHER AFIELD