Science in the new White House? Really??

Despite the mostly sordid, scandalous, and otherwise depressing trudge of life that is Gooogle News, I can't help but be giddy when I see that Steven Chu is among the top searches. Coming back from the SynBERC PI meeting in Chicago last night, who would you know was on the plane but Dr. Chu himself. He must have been returning from the announcement of his appointment to Secretary of Energy earlier in the day with Obama. I caught up with him before the baggage claim and, a bit star-struck myself, offered a quick congratulations and thanks for giving those of us who support science a measure of optimism that things could get done. He seemed almost startled that a random traveler would know or care, smiled, and mumbled a modest acknowledgment. Earlier in the day he was standing beside our transformational president-elect, prepared to change the flow of energy in the world. I can't imagine how strange this all must seem to Dr. Chu: I have to pinch myself, and I'm just a social technocrat looking in.