Science - USA (2022-01-28)

science.org SCIENCE

PHOTO: CONTAINS MODIFIED COPERNICUS SENTINEL DATA (2021/PROCESSED BY ESA/CC BYSA 3.0 IGO

T

he head of the European Space Agency said last

week the agency may accelerate the launch of

its next Earth-observing radar satellite, after

a power supply anomaly caused one of its two

orbiting radar satellites, Sentinel-1B, to go dark

for more than 1 month. Since its launch in 2016,

Sentinel-1B—along with its twin, Sentinel-1A—has

peered through clouds and mapped displacements of

the planet’s surface caused by earthquakes, volcanoes,

and melting ice. The duo surveys much of the globe ev-

ery 6 days and can detect ground motions as small as a

few millimeters. Sentinel-1A, which launched in 2014,

continues to operate normally, although it has exceeded

its design life. If Sentinel-1B cannot be revived, the

agency is likely to speed up work to launch Sentinel-1C

by the end of this year, instead of in mid-2023.

NEWS

IN BRIEF

U.S. beckons STEM students

IMMIGRATION |President Joe Biden’s
administration has announced new rules
designed to make the United States more
attractive to international students seeking
science, technology, engineering, and math
(STEM) degrees. Higher education lobby-
ists say the changes, unveiled last week,
send an encouraging message to foreign
students and mark a 180∞ turn from former
President Donald Trump’s administra-
tion’s efforts to restrict visas for students
from certain countries. One major change
expands by 22 the number of STEM fields

whose foreign students can remain in the

United States for up to 3 years of additional

training after graduation. Another allows

those with “exceptional ability” to seek an

employment-based visa even without a job

offer. A significant fraction of U.S. technical

workers in several areas was born abroad.

Brazil’s science budget rebounds

FUNDING |Brazil’s federal research budget

will rise this year, a turnaround after

several years of steep cuts—unless the

increase is derailed by a political dispute.

The Ministry of Science, Technology, and

Innovations will have $1.3 billion for dis-

cretionary spending this year, a 135% hike

from 2021, according to an analysis by

the Brazilian Society for the Progress of

Science. The final budget, sanctioned by

President Jair Bolsonaro on 21 January,

will support construction of Brazil’s

first biosafety level four laboratory—for

research on deadly pathogens—and the

expansion of Sirius, a synchrotron light

source. But scientists say it’s too early

to celebrate. Most of the new money is

allocated to a fund that several ministries

control and that can be used for purposes

other than basic research. And last year,

Edited by Edited by Jeffrey BrainardJeffrey Brainard

GEOSCIENCE

Orbiting radar mapper goes dark

Sentinel sensors recorded ice and snow

loss (red and yellow, in false color)

from Kangerlussuaq Glacier in Greenland

during passes in June 2021.

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