Author: jlolds

Native Angeleno, professor of Neuroscience and Public Policy at George Mason University

Bold Ventures in Science: NSF’s NEON and NIH’s BRAIN Initiative

My favorite projects…

As loyal readers know, these are my two favorite science initiatives. They stand out as beacons of progress: the National Science Foundation’s National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) and the National Institutes of Health’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. These groundbreaking endeavors showcase the commitment of U.S. science agencies to tackling complex, large-scale challenges that could revolutionize our understanding of the world around us and within us.

NSF’s NEON: A Continental-Scale View of Ecology

Imagine having a window into the ecological processes of an entire continent. That’s precisely what NEON aims to provide. Initiated in 2011, this audacious project is creating a network of ecological observatories spanning the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

Yes, NEON has faced its share of challenges. The project’s timeline and budget have been adjusted since its inception, growing from an initial estimate of $434 million to around $469 million, with completion delayed from 2016 to 2019. But let’s be honest: when did you last try to build a comprehensive ecological monitoring system covering an entire continent? These adjustments reflected the project’s complexity and the learning curve in such a pioneering endeavor.

The payoff? NEON is now collecting standardized ecological data across 81 field sites from Hawaii to Puerto Rico and in between. This massive time series in some 200 dimensions will allow scientists to analyze and forecast ecological changes over decades. From tracking the impacts of climate change to understanding biodiversity shifts, NEON provides invaluable insights that could shape environmental policy and conservation efforts for future generations.

NIH’s BRAIN Initiative: Decoding Our Most Complex Organ

Meanwhile, the NIH’s BRAIN Initiative is taking on an equally monumental task: mapping the human brain. Launched in 2013, this project is aptly named, as it requires a lot of brains to understand… well, brains.

With annual funding that has grown from an initial $100 million to over $500 million, the BRAIN Initiative is a testament to the NIH’s commitment to unraveling the mysteries of neuroscience. Mapping all 86 billion neurons in the human brain by 2026 might seem a tad optimistic. But I’m increasingly impressed with our progress, and I am hopeful we’ll be able to get some meaningful statistics about variability across individuals.

The initiative has already led to the development of new technologies for studying brain activity, potential treatments for conditions like Parkinson’s disease, and insights into how our brains process information. It’s like a real-life adventure into the final frontier, except instead of outer space, we’re exploring the inner space of our skulls.

The Challenges: More Feature Than Bug

Both NEON and the BRAIN Initiative have faced obstacles, from budget adjustments to timeline extensions. But in the world of cutting-edge science, these challenges are often where the real learning happens. They’ve pushed scientists to innovate, collaborate, and think outside the box (or skull, in the case of BRAIN).

These projects have also created unique opportunities for researchers to develop new skills. Grant writing for these initiatives isn’t just an administrative hurdle; it’s a chance to think big and connect individual research to grand, overarching goals. It’s turning scientists into visionaries, and isn’t that worth a few late nights and extra cups of coffee?

Conclusion: Big Science, Bigger Possibilities

NEON and the BRAIN Initiative represent more than just large-scale scientific projects. They’re bold statements about the value of basic research and the importance of tackling complex, long-term challenges. They remind us that some questions are too big for any single lab or institution to answer alone.

As these projects evolve and produce data, they’re not just advancing our understanding of ecology and neuroscience. They’re also creating models for conducting science at a grand scale, paving the way for future ambitious endeavors.

So here’s to the scientists, administrators, and visionaries behind NEON and the BRAIN Initiative. They’re showing us that with enough creativity, persistence, and, yes, funding, we can tackle some of the biggest questions in science. And who knows? The next breakthrough in saving our planet or understanding consciousness could be hidden in the data they’re collecting right now.

The glut of biotech lab space: Leading or trailing indicator?

Biotech may be in trouble post-COVID–see WSJ here. Whether the glut of biotech real estate is a leading or trailing indicator is not answered, but I think it’s essential to understand what these data mean.

At my own institution, I watched as high-quality biotech space was repurposed as office modules–a massive waste of resources. If this trend is a leading indicator, it’s even more troubling because we still have a ton of public health challenges out there that remain without cures of even viable treatment.

Welcome to my students Fall 2024

Yes, it’s that time of year again: our GMU academic year is about to begin a week from tomorrow. For my online students, we’ll be meeting on Zoom; the link will be on Canvas. For my in-person students, I’m looking forward to greeting you all in person a week starting a week from this Tuesday.

As always these days, we’ll be making extensive use of padlet boards which are included on Canvas and then can be bookmarked.

Future biomedical researchers….

Each summer, we welcome a group of very talented high schoolers from across the US to learn about bioinformatics, AI, and data sciences in the context of biomedical research. Above is this year’s very successful group: you’ll see them as tomorrow’s biomedical superstars.

Kim Stanley Robinson

I find that I am constantly introducing new and old friends to my favorite living fiction author and then myself jumping back into Stan’s books at random points and picking up new insights. Today, I did that with Green Mars–the section on the Long Run Out is about a character with intense senior memory issues, political views, and scientific curiosity all at the same time. It’s about humans on Mars in the late 21st century. Still, it might as well be about Stan’s own state of California in the early 21st: huge on geology, climate, political change, and the world’s sixth-largest economy.

Adam Tooze on Projects as Power

Interesting blogpost here. It is intriguing to think that scientific enterprise, city construction, and military campaigns are all in the same category. In science, he devalues replication and emphasizes the “decisive experiment.” I think that’s wrong and explains much of what has gotten us into trouble. But I see where he’s coming from: it’s the ‘ah ha’ moment he’s talking about. That’s real. But then you must do many replications and get the statistical power to support the insight.

The big scientific questions…

  • Might geoengineering work?
  • What is the neurobiological basis of consciousness
  • How did life originate on Earth (and elsewhere?)
  • Creating a practical fusion reactor
  • Building a working nitrogenase system into our primary cereal crops
  • Increasing the efficiency of photosynthesis
  • Understanding how AI transformer models actually produce specific results
  • What is the singularity at the center of a black hole
  • How to integrate quantum mechanics with general relativity
  • Building a complete digital twin to a eukaryotic organism
  • Fixing inconsistencies in the standard model
  • Increasing human lifespans significantly
  • Getting the right understanding of Alzheimer’s disease so that we can progress toward a cure

Note, I left out all the social science questions–they’re too complicated.