SCIENTIFIC SOLUTIONS
Americans are over-reachers.
george will
Overreaching is the most admirable of the many American excesses.
Winning the Future:
The Case for Breakthrough Science
If you were asked to name the American who has had the greatest impact on our world, you might be inclined to name one of the stoic figures of history like a George Washington or a Martin Luther King Jr. And while there is certainly a case to be made for revolutionaries like these, you might consider a less heralded alternative. Go to just about any corner of the globe today and you will find children who light up at the name “Walt Disney”. You will find generations of adults who grew up on the characters, the creativity and the life lessons that Disney’s legacy has imparted, subtly shaping the lives of billions over nearly a century of cinematic evolution.
It was all possible because of science. Building upon the discoveries of American inventor Thomas Edison, Walt Disney was able to construct an empire in an entirely new industry that has gone on to become America’s greatest cultural export. This is the power of technological innovation. And it’s only becoming more profound, more costly, and more competitive.
That’s because we are on the cusp of a new era of Scientific Discovery. Building on advances in computing power and artificial intelligence, the data all around us is now being utilized to drive breakthroughs that previously would have taken years, or even decades of trial and error.
But we’re not there yet. And we’re not guaranteed to get there first. In a world where the first movers reap the majority of the benefits, we must resolve to make critical investments in a handful of transformative technologies that will fuel the economic growth of the 21st century. These technologies have the power to change the trajectory of our world: to turn back the clock on Climate Change, to peer back in time to the earliest moments of the universe, and even the ability to reverse the roots of ageing and death.
The Fusion Party proposes raising scientific investment in America to levels unseen before in our history. 450 billion dollars over 5 years toward three key areas of science that have the potential to create the most impact on our world: Engineering, Medicine and Exploration. Increasing investments in these areas would allow us to charge up and over the hill we’re currently stuck on, and rather than waiting decades for the benefits to roll in, we aim to have major breakthroughs take place in a matter of years. We have outlined three focus areas in each of the above categories and have proposed investments in each sufficient to support major advances in the next 5-10 years. You can see the outline below, and click on each area for more information.
Few things have the power to unite people as a common cause. Right now our national mood has been soured by the petty politics of grievance and culture war, so let’s flood the airwaves with positive stories for a change. Rallying the nation around the discoveries that have the ability to transform our lives and the lives of our loved ones is not only sound economics, we propose, it should be sound politics.
Engineering
“There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there. You must go beyond them.”
– Bruce Lee
COMPUTING
Quantum Computing
No technology in existence, and no proposal on this list, requires more attention presently than quantum computing, for it holds the key to unlocking the solutions to impossible problems in every single discipline of science. Quantum computing, which uses the laws of quantum mechanics to increase computing power by orders of magnitude over traditional silicon-based computing, can provide researchers with the ability to perform calculations that would take the standard supercomputers of today millennia to complete. These profound capabilities, combined with artificial intelligence, will serve as a battering ram to the biggest obstacles in scientific investigation, smashing through the barriers of traditional research methods to produce incredibly accurate predictions – effectively ending tedious, expensive and time-consuming trial-and-error experimentation. AI aided quantum computing, along with the creation of a quantum internet, will form a technological launchpad for the 21st century and beyond. China is making every attempt to beat us to the punch, but substantial funding for a quantum computing ecosystem buildout will set the United States on the path to shaping the future of our world more than any other innovation this century.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the double-edged sword that will come to represent both humanity’s greatest hopes and its darkest fears. It’s already here on a large scale (Alexa, are you listening?) with influence and ability that grows every day. For better or worse, machine learning is poised to open new doors in every aspect of life, from curing cancer to automatically restocking our refrigerator. It will make life easier, more efficient and more fun in ways too countless to imagine. It will also prove to be the largest disruptive force in economic history, displacing jobs in every sector of the global economy at an increasingly rapid pace. We will have to confront the social challenges associated with such tremendous tumult in labor and productivity. Paradoxically, we can use AI to help us do so. Artificial Intelligence is destined to become the most transformative force in the history of human civilization. We must therefore control the destiny of mankind by controlling the destiny of AI.
Cybersecurity
Just about every week it seems we read about a major US institution affected by another cyberattack, often the real consequences of which are largely unknown. Financial assets, personal data, intellectual property, even government secrets are all under threat from cyberattack. These hackers are often funded by adversaries such as China, Russia and North Korea, but anyone with a laptop can pose a risk. The arrival of quantum computing will render current encryption techniques worthless, and any information secured with these methods will likely be available on the dark web within a few years’ time. In an IoT world where everything from the cars we drive to the critical infrastructure we rely on are connected, we must develop the safety measures necessary to prevent our nation from experiencing the devastation of future cyberwarfare; the realities of which will soon reach unimaginable scales.
PHYSICS
Fusion Energy
The immense potential that fusion energy holds is evident by the decades that researchers have spent trying to achieve it. Scientists are tantalizingly close to achieving the so called “holy grail” of clean energy by producing net energy gain – a human achievement compared by some to be as revolutionary as mankind’s discovery of fire. Fusion power will one day produce the vast majority of the world’s exceedingly cheap, clean energy. The only shame of it would be if it didn’t arrive soon enough to turn the tide in the battle we are currently losing to a rapidly warming planet.
Fundamental Physics
Popularized by the Big Bang Gang, theoretical physics is the domain of some of the smartest men and women in the world. Large-scale experiments that take place in billion-dollar facilities rewrite our knowledge of the universe, and pave the way for future technologies built upon the discoveries made by Einstein’s intellectual descendants. The fact that we don’t know what we don’t know is what makes particle physics so confounding, and so exciting. But one thing is for certain; the future of America lies in the hands of today’s particle physicists. Let’s give them what they need to shape it.
Materials Science
In order to build the future, we must first fund the development of the materials that will build the future. In particular, carbon nanotubes hold the promise of allowing us to create unbelievably strong, yet exceptionally light structures with virtually limitless uses; from bulletproof clothing to miniature medical devices to towers strong enough to reach space. What other elemental discoveries and new forms of matter are at our fingertips? Only investments in the fundamental building blocks of materials science will reveal.
TRANSPORTATION
Intercity: Automated Vehicles
Self-driving vehicles (AV’s) are coming. In fact, they’re already here. And while they may seem like a novelty now, over the next few years they will completely transform how we interact with our urban landscapes. First, and most importantly, road accidents in the age of AV’s are predicted to go from the leading cause of non-disease death in America down to virtually zero. Second, the billions of hours Americans spend wasting away in traffic, along with the hundreds of billions of dollars in lost productivity that it costs them, will again, shrink to virtually zero. And third, less traffic and more efficient routing will meaningfully reduce CO2 emissions. But the transition to self-driving vehicles will not be easy. Technological barriers still exist, and vast infrastructure upgrades will have to be made before the dream becomes a reality. It will be worth it. We all know someone who died prematurely from an auto-related accident. Let’s make sure our grandchildren will not be forced to say the same.
Intracity: Hyperloops
What started off as a theoretical white paper nearly ten years ago has blossomed into a full-fledged industry that visionary engineers are attempting to quickly get off the ground. Intercity hyperloops promise to whisk travelers to their destination at speeds of up to 700 miles per hour, converting routes that take hours in a car or plane into high-tech joyrides along puffs of air. Twice the speed of the fastest trains on earth, and far cheaper to construct, hyperloops are the future of intercity transportation. Over the last several decades, America has lost its place as a global leader in cutting edge infrastructure due to a woeful lack of investment. We can reclaim that mantle by funding a buildout of the revolutionary tubes that will carry Americans into the 21st century and beyond.
International: Hypersonic Flight
One of the remarkable failures in the evolution of transportation in the last fifty years has been the lack of progress in commercial aviation. In fact, in many ways we’ve gone backwards. Flights today are often slower, more chaotic and less spacious than in decades past. But that is bound to change. Supersonic air travel is about to make a comeback, as design changes to mitigate deafening sonic booms are currently being tested. We must hasten the return of supersonic flight, and take it a step further, by aiding in the design of the first commercial hypersonic jets, capable of taking passengers anywhere in the world in under four hours. At the same time, we will seek to accelerate the arrival of sustainable avionics powered by electricity and clean biofuels. The technologies for improved air travel are largely in place. With a boost in funding, we can propel them into mainstream aviation before the end of the decade.
MEDICINE
“Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.”
– Charles F. Kettering
DISEASE PATHOLOGY
Cancer
Cancer: Its very name has come to represent death – often tragically slow, painful and costly. It takes the lives of over half a million of us every year. Direct spending on cancer care costs over 200 billion dollars annually, which doesn’t begin to count the price of lost wages, decreased productivity and mental anguish from both victims and the ones they leave behind. New research has brought us closer than ever before to drastically reducing these expenses through better prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancers that were once considered a death sentence. Building on groundbreaking techniques such as MRNA vaccines, gene therapy, and nanomedicine, we are edging closer to beating back this evil illness once and for all. There’s not a single family in America that hasn’t been touched by the heartbreak that is cancer. We have the money to invest in the research that could save your neighbor’s life. Your mother’s life. Your brother’s life. Or perhaps your own. How could we not?
Heart Disease
While cancer is perhaps the scariest diagnosis one could receive due to lack of options in treatment and prevention, heart disease actually kills more Americans every year. In fact, before COVID-19, you were more likely to die of heart disease than anything else in America. Just about everyone who reaches their elderly years will experience heart disease, with many succumbing to it. While there are steps one can take to boost heart health, younger Americans are not immune, and seemingly healthy people fall victim to heart failure every day. Our hearts work hard for us literally every second of our lives. Let’s show some affection for the age-old symbol of love, and invest in the research that will turn heart disease from the greatest killer of Americans, to the greatest medical success story of the next decade.
Lung Disease
In an age where respiratory disease has become the single most dominating factor of our public lives, it’s apparent that more research is needed to allow Americans to breathe easy. Lung Disease has historically been the third greatest killer of Americans, and with the Coronavirus running rampant over the past two years it has risen swiftly to number one. Over the last several decades, millions of Americans have perished from COPD, Pneumonia, Asthma and other breathing related conditions. But with possible breakthroughs in regenerative medicine, millions more may be saved not just from an early death, but from the ability to live fuller lives that aren’t spent literally gasping for air.
NEUROSCIENCE
Brain Mapping
Incredible progress has been made in recent years in the technology required to map out the structures and neural processes of the brain. Researchers are attempting to create a nanoscale connectome – a diagram of the nervous system with synapse-level detail – in mice. To date they have succeeded in mapping small sections, but with increased computing power aided by AI, it may be possible to accurately map out an entire mouse brain by the end of the decade; and if all goes well, in humans sometime after that. A working roadmap of the brain could lead to revolutionary breakthroughs in medical science, new treatments in mental health, and could very well aid the process of extending human life. Our brains are what make us, us. As of now we have a very limited understanding of how they work. By better understanding brain function we gain a greater understanding of our very selves.
Degenerative Brain Disease
One of the most devastating things we can witness, is to watch a loved one slowly “lose” their mind. Seeing millions of American seniors go through the emotional trials of extreme forgetfulness, brain fog, and decreased will to even live is beyond heartbreaking. Neurodegenerative disorders like Dementia affect nearly 6 million Americans, ultimately leading many to an early, yet somewhat merciful death. Modern research has begun to shed light on dementia, but yet to find an effective cure, or even treatment. We can be the generation that saves America’s seniors, present and future, from the terrifying prospect of not recognizing their own children. If you don’t want to do it for grandma and grandpa, do it for yourself. Because the inability to distinguish what is real and what isn’t, is living a nightmare, every day.
Resuscitation
The boldest, and possibly most controversial Impossible Idea is truly, in a word impossible. The science of death is severely understudied. What happens at the moment of death could help us learn how to possibly revive those who may not have yet experienced irreversible brain damage. Anecdotal stories abound about people who were pronounced “dead” and yet somehow awakened. Attempting to discover the science between how the brain “crosses over” to the other side may yield significant promise in helping to “jump start” the brains of those who have just succumbed to a heart attack, stroke, blood loss, or head injury. It may also help us give life back to those who currently lie in comas or vegetative states. While there is of course no hope of returning long lost loved ones, the science of resuscitating the brain after short periods of inactivity may just one day save the life of someone you love now.
LIFESPAN
Ageing
What’s the one thing that happens to every single person on Earth since the moment of conception? We age. And then we die. But.. what if we didn’t?
Or at least, what if we did it more slowly, less painfully and more gracefully? Scientists all over the world are conducting cutting edge research on what our ancestors would find truly wild: slowing, stopping or even reversing the ageing process. There are hundreds of pills, drugs, diets and the like currently being marketed to Americans with the promise of slowing the process of ageing. Almost all of them offer the disclaimer that they are not FDA approved, and very few have clinical research to back up their claims. If there are certain promising treatments already in existence, they should be given proper testing so that Americans aren’t left holding a worthless empty bottle on their deathbed.
What’s different about ageing research now, is the study of how we age at the cellular level. Advances in genetics have allowed scientists to create a vaccine that targets senescent cells, resulting in longer and healthier lives of the mice lucky enough to receive the injections. Could the same approach be used for humans? From NMN to MRNA, any and all ideas should be given proper scientific evaluation to address the most fundamental of human concerns: death. If scientists do succeed in expanding American lifespans by a mere several years, or simply alleviating age-related deterioration and disease, imagine the ways we could cherish those precious extra moments of life for ourselves and with our loved ones.
Nanomedicine
The application of nanotechnology for medical purposes, AKA nanomedicine, is defined as the use of nanomaterials for diagnosis, monitoring, control, prevention and treatment of diseases. It’s frontline science that has incredible potential when it comes to monitoring our health and pinpointing drug delivery into the body. There are many scientific barriers that need to be overcome for many of the most promising applications, but when they are doctors will begin saving lives by, for example, using nanoparticles as contrasting agents to provide far clearer resolution when diagnosing tumors or tracking chemicals in the body. It may also be possible through nanomedicine to get real time updates on critical aspects of health through implants that may also be able to repair cells, treat sepsis or carry out a host of other activities. Research in nanomedicine is bound to pay dividends not only in lives saved, but also in other technologies that may spawn from studying the breakthrough nanotechnology involved.
Regenerative Medicine
There are some truly incredible things happening in the field of regenerative medicine, whereby scientist are able to engineer damaged tissues and organs by stimulating the body’s own repair mechanisms to functionally heal previously irreparable tissues or organs. Tissues and organs are also increasingly grown in a laboratory or even constructed with advanced 3D printers and implanted when if the body cannot heal itself. Because the source is a patient’s own tissue or cells, the problem of transplant rejection that is a major cause of organ shortages, is avoided. There idea behind regenerative medicine, using the body to heal itself, will bring about new therapies and treatments for cancer to blindness, and rest assured if you or someone you know is facing a desperate situation in the future, you’ll be glad they have options made possible by regenerative medicine.
EXPLORATION
“Space offers extraordinary potential for commerce and adventure, for new innovations and new tests of will. As Americans, we can’t help but reach for the stars. It’s our nature. It’s our destiny.”
– Bill Frist
EARTH ORBIT
Lunar Base
It’s been more than half-a century since Americans first walked on the moon, and what progress have we made since then? Precious little. In arguably the greatest single moment in human history, Neil Armstrong and American ingenuity inspired awe, hope and wonder for billions around the globe. With this crowning achievement the United States effectively “won” the space race, but we also essentially ended it, limiting human space exploration to low earth orbit over the next fifty years. Priority number one for NASA is and should be to land an American on Mars, and in this mission we must not fail to be first. Establishing a lunar base could prove an important steppingstone to getting there. The in-progress Artemis program aims to send astronauts back to the moon within the next several years. Their mission should largely revolve around testing the technology and conditions that will allow us to safely travel to the red planet. Once the Mars landing been achieved, priority number two should be expanding a lunar base, giving the US a real foothold in space, which will provide more than just a small step in space exploration for centuries to come.
Launch Loop
Some Impossible Ideas seem farfetched, and in a way, that’s the idea. To get people thinking beyond the limits that we naturally tend to confine our minds too. But most of these ideas will come to pass, in some form or another, it is only a question of when. The launch loop is one of them. It is essentially a tube that will accelerate pods to the extreme speeds necessary to achieve orbit, then race thousands of feet up the side of a mountain and launch them into space, thus eliminating the need for costly, dangerous, and toxic rocket launches. They will by no means replace launches anytime in the near future, and a launch loop constructed in the range of 10 billion will not be able to send humans to space at first. But it should be able to drastically cut the cost of sending materials to space, down from tens of thousands of dollars per pound to perhaps just a few bucks. This could revolutionize the accessibility of space, allowing us to send materials and robots into orbit that could literally open the doors for large-scale human space exploration by constructing the habitats, and the tools that astronauts will need to survive.
Space Debris
When it comes to launching objects into space, one thing is already abundantly clear: It’s getting crowded up there. Thousands of satellites have been launched since Sputnik first graced the skies, and many more tens of thousands are planned in the coming decade. Misguided experiments and explosions have placed untold numbers of shrapnel whizzing around the earth, posing a direct threat to satellites, space systems and our astronauts. America should lead the efforts to clean up this raft of space junk by developing the technology to track, and ultimately to reign in these orbital hazards. Research into high technology concepts like space nets and tractor beams should be undertaken; research that could undoubtedly have an impact on not just efforts to clean up space, but also our oceans or even our own bloodstreams. We must coordinate with our international partners to develop a plan to keep earth orbit safe from debris, before it begins to cost human lives.
SOLAR SYSTEM
Mars Landing
“We shall choose to go to the moon and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” When JFK made his famous speech, galvanizing the can-do American spirit to reach the Moon by the end of the decade, there was about eight years left on the clock to get it done. We’re about at that timeframe now, if we choose to “do the other thing” and push for Mars by 2030. And we should. Currently, there are essentially two separate programs aiming to land people on Mars; one lead by SpaceX and its development of the massive reusable Starship rocket, and the other by NASA as it develops the Space Launch System (SLS). Either way, resources spent now will assure that American astronauts are the first humans to step foot on another planet. What the Apollo missions did for human history, and the American psyche, is not something quantifiable by numbers. There’s a reason the moon landing has captured imaginations and hearts for generations. Just as they did fifty years ago however, some will ask why funds should be spent on a mission in space, when there are needs to be met here on Earth. The truth is, there will always be needs here on Earth. But there will only be one day in the entirety of our civilization’s history, when humans become an interplanetary species. What an unbelievable accomplishment it will be. In fact, it may go down as the greatest accomplishment of our species for millennia to come. And what a glorious day it will be, when all the world comes together to watch our brothers and sisters proudly represent America as the first of our kind to walk on another planet. Can you imagine the joy that will flow? From parents, grandparents, and great grandparents who lived to see that one fine day? From the children around the globe inspired to expand the limits of what they believe possible? From unborn generations of Americans as they learn how their ancestors provided humanity with its finest hour? There can be no greater mission for America over the next decade, than sending our brightest stars to the red planet. For that will assuredly be the giant-est leap mankind has ever taken.
Atmospheric Science
The world is warming. Fast. What was once an area of skepticism for some is now established science. We need to be studying atmospheres here on Earth and across the solar system not only to figure out better ways to deal with climate change, but to better understand the dangers of the environments that we may soon be sending our spacecraft, and eventually our astronauts into. Atmospheric studies may also reveal the conditions needed for organisms to exist on other planets, aiding in our search for life in the universe. Most importantly, new technologies should be developed and tested that can reverse the effects of climate change by removing CO2 from the atmosphere, repairing the ozone layer or even more inventive techniques that have the power to keep our world from overheating and the drastic consequences that follow.
Space Habitation
Humanity is about to enter into a new age in space travel, one where we don’t just send astronauts into orbit for a quick trip. Over then next several decades, Americans will effectively begin the process of colonizing space; living, studying, and even touring the cosmos. To do so they will need shelter from the harsh elements that space will throw their way, from radiation to extreme temperatures and extreme storms. Along with improvements in the vehicles that will carry astronauts around the lunar and Martian surfaces, scientists will refine the structure of the spaces that will house astronauts on future missions, and begin to look into methods such as terraforming that may one day even transform hostile environments into habitable sanctuaries for human life. It may sound like a bad sci-fi movie, but if God forbid anything catastrophic were to happen to our home planet, we must begin to develop backup plans for the survival of our species.
THE GREAT BEYOND
Exoplanet Analysis
In close competition with a Mars landing, there is only one other area of astronomy that carries the same gravity as turning humanity into an interplanetary species. That would be if we were to find indisputable evidence that there already is another interplanetary species: In other words, finding evidence of life in the universe. Thanks to incredible advances in telescopic power since the launch of Hubble thirty years ago, astronomers are able to peer at distant objects in our galaxy with astonishing clarity. The James Webb telescope holds immense promise in the search for extraterrestrial life, among other things, but we should speed up the process of constructing the Next Great Observatory, while also entertaining truly novel methods that promise even more powerful telescopes, such as a theorized “terrascope” which would use Earth’s atmosphere to produce images far clearer than anything we have at our disposal today. Finding evidence of life beyond Earth will be the most consequential discovery in the history of our civilization. We have no idea what is out there, but if there is life, it sure would be nice to discover it before it discovers us.
Deep Space Observation
In addition to searching the closest exoplanets and moons of the Milky Way for signs of life, astronomers now have the technology to peer into the deepest parts of the cosmos in an attempt to better understand the fundamental forces of the universe. Dark matter, dark energy, black holes; the mysteries of which are ripe for study by some of the most advanced instruments ever created. The findings made with these deep-space telescopes will provide us with a better understanding of the very fundamental questions of our universe, and our place in it.
Propulsion Systems
It’s great to look at the stars, but how much greater would it be to someday actually reach one? Or at least get close. Traveling through the vast distances of space at today’s relative turtle-like pace effectively dooms any chance to send probes, and certainly not humans even to the closest star system. Alpha Centauri, at 4.2 lightyears away would take thousands of years to reach with today’s fastest spacecraft, so to truly explore space beyond our quaint solar system we’re going to have to develop faster propulsion systems. At this stage, an open call for any technologies that can get the job done should be explored. They may take shape of fusion rockets, light sails, or even sci-fi-esque warp drives. The Breakthrough Starshot project should be given all necessary resources to succeed in propelling its fleet of Starchip light sail probes at speeds that promise interstellar travel with 20-30 years, which would, needless to say, be much more appealing than a journey of tens of thousands of years.
“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.”
walt disney