NSF memo implementing Trump's 'golden age' of science unsettles researchers

Posted by hn_acker 1 day ago

Comments

Comment by iAMkenough 1 day ago

National science will now change course every 4 years.

Projects lasting longer than the current political administration are subject to losing funding and ending prematurely, wasting the previous 4 years of funding.

Comment by rsfern 19 hours ago

There’s no reason it has to be like that. We could change course one more time back to a stable and non-partisan science funding landscape and then stick with it if we choose to. Even some of the alarm in this article over the proposed funding cuts isn’t set in stone, the presidential budget request from last year aimed to cut NSF by a similar amount and Congress didn’t go for it

Comment by iAMkenough 18 hours ago

Only to be reversed by the next MAGA politician when the administration from the “other team” fails to immediately address the economic impact of decisions made in 2025.

We vote on vibes and popularity now, not qualifications.

Comment by Jamesbeam 23 hours ago

Yeah, guess you’ll be right.

The worst time to be a scientist in the US since people got burned at the stake for witchcraft.

You healed my dying cow, with those magic herbs, witch! Off with your head under my giant golden triumph arch!

Imagine someone dictating what you should research about who does not understand how two layers of paint work with each other.

And then starts blaming domestic terrorism on an Olympic athlete who just walked by and tried to figure out how your golf buddy fucked this reflecting pool coating up for 14 Million USD.

And then you realise 56 million people said yes, that’s my man, I want this guy to be in charge of shaping the future of my children. Nobody hates Americans more than Americans.

Comment by bothers 17 hours ago

> Nobody hates Americans more than Americans.

It may be hopeless, but we can still try.

Comment by kelipso 22 hours ago

Fully predictable result of politicizing science. Really, I blame the scientists for it.

Comment by Tostino 21 hours ago

You're joking, right?

Comment by halJordan 21 hours ago

I do. I also blame doctors for the current state of our healthcare. It's a reprehensible, pissant, milquetoast thing to stand up and say "oh i hate the way <my_system> is. But I refuse to organize to fix it and I'll externalize responsibility for change onto those outside the system being victimized, who have no power at all." Thats all scientists do, bemoaning the state of affairs it took them decades to create.

If you thought ai data center NIMBYism was bad, ask a scientist about effecting change in their lab or field

Comment by iAMkenough 18 hours ago

You do realize that doctors aren’t the ones denying Americans life-saving care, right? They’re not even setting the rates. They don’t mandate the system, the perform within it.

They save lives, and you blame them instead of the politicians taking money from lobbyists to keep private insurance death panels profitable.

Comment by fragmede 18 hours ago

There are always going to be "death panels", the only question is if they're staffed by accountants, lawyers, or doctors.

Comment by iAMkenough 18 hours ago

You kill someone, expect to get hell from their family.

Eventually the paying customers will get their fair share, even if it takes the new interim CEO taking a few million dollar pay cut to save a few more hundred Americans paying them money every month.

The President of the United States committing to spending $1.2 trillion of public dollars to send every adult a one-time $5K check if we vote the way he wants us to, while some family members face $120K or more in medical debt, it’s just a wild time.

Comment by jawilson2 19 hours ago

wtf, explain how you politicize cancer or Alzheimer's research?

Comment by kelipso 18 hours ago

Science will generally get painted with a broad brush by the public. Epidemiologists politicize their field for a few years and consequently biology and medicine gets seen as political by the public.

Comment by iAMkenough 18 hours ago

It’s saving brown people and triggered a keyword or two in a DOGE search conducted by big-ballz or his coworkers, so decade-long research projects got defunded.

https://apnews.com/article/california-research-grants-termin...

You’ll get your one-time $2.5K DOGE dividend check after you vote for Donald J. Trump for a third term.