Matt Simpson
Helen CzerskiSo much of the destruction in the USA is away from the spotlight at grass roots level. But the foundations of a modern society are being smashed. The National Science Foundation has just stopped awarding new grants and funding existing ones. That effectively means that work on all existing NSF grants has to stop immediately. Universities are telling researchers to stop spending on those grants right away. That's jobs and progress and opportunity just being eradicated.
Tim Waterman@helenczerski I'm guessing there will be funds available for pseudoscience soon, though. There's a playbook for this from, er, the late 1930s. For example, here's a bit of the history of the University of Tübingen on Wikipedia: "The university played a leading role in efforts to legitimize the policies of the Third Reich as "scientific"."
@timwaterman Ugh, that's a grim thought. I hadn't even got that far in the thinking yet.
Pomegranate_StewThe pseudoscience is already being pushed. They are dangerous and want to cause harm.
Sue Wainscott@timwaterman @helenczerski Time to start designing sound research that has a third tier alternative hypothesis for the current ridiculous grant rubric. H=what the existing facts and models predict, Ha=research disprovable alternative to remove from the possibilities, Hc=research question statement for the Clown show in power in the US at the moment.
@helenczerski @timwaterman With apologies to real #clowns who are amazing artists performing culturally important work!
Dan Riley@timwaterman @helenczerski See also Lysenkoism, Soviet Union 1930s and 1940s:
"More than 3,000 mainstream biologists were dismissed or imprisoned, and numerous scientists were executed in the Soviet campaign to suppress scientific opponents"
ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism
RFK Jr as head of HHS has a lot in common with Trofim Lysenko.
LanguageMan1Well, that's how it's going to be like it or not. Our household budgets are being reduced because of less work hours which means less government revenue as we as reduced revenue for businesses. The government is no different and that would mean the same for colleges and universities as well.
I said two years ago we were headed for a recession and have been saying it ever since and we're in one whether they admit it or not. Government can't keep spending with less revenue and has to cut back just like US. You can't keep printing money to pump into the economy without creating enough jobs as has been the case for a few years.
David PhdComparing household budgets with Government budgets is a false equivalence. Governments control the money supply. Its basic economics - which Trump et al DO NOT understand
No, the Federal Reserve controls the money supply. Household budgets matter as much as any corporate, university, government, etc., budget does.
So ill-informed. Goodbye
The Federal Reserve controls the money supply. The government controls the budget and spending. Technically Congress is supposed to control the supply of money but doesn't except through the budget. It's you who's misinformed.
Three plus or minus five@LanguageMan1 @helenczerski Science is just about the only thing that drives the aid economy to be so good internationally. You want to throw away the one real advantage the US has built up?
You can’t just turn it off for a little while: programs shut down, people leave, equipment decays, research is memory-holed.
Some programs needed or need to be shut down.
@LanguageMan1 @helenczerski
Please, my scientific genius friend, tell me which programs have been judged to have scientific merit but a panel of experts, but you, in your infinite wisdom, believe unworthy?
If you knew anything about it, you'd be on the panels.
That's a question that I can not answer. I'm sure there's panels that would approve most and others that wouldn't.
Doesn't matter. I wanted to make the first wirelessly powered EV back in the late 1970's, but couldn't secure funding. We still don't have a wirelessly powered EV today. But, whether I am alive or not, whether I do it or not, someone will eventually. It's the same for you and others.
RowinSpeez@LanguageMan1 @helenczerski This isn't that. This is being fired with no notice, for no reason, and having the police present to escort you out saying "don't steal anything on the way out".
This is money already budgeted and accounted for on a multiple year basis, many projects are years in progress. It's an attack on science, not a budgeting adjustment.
Major Denis Bloodnok@LanguageMan1 @helenczerski The NSF's annual budget is around 1% of the US's annual military budget. The US government absolutely can afford to continue it if it wants to.
MrAptronym@LanguageMan1 there are things we could cut, but that doesn't mean these cuts make sense.
@MrAptronym That much I can agree with or a reduction of the cuts.
Pure vandalism
@helenczerski Amounts to privatizing all research. All that was left that is.
@helenczerski it’s part of the attack on the whole notion of expertise. They hate anyone making them feel stupid.
noplasticshower@helenczerski American dark ages to come
Zoidberg For President@helenczerski "But the foundations of a modern society "
The foundations of that society has been created and built upon all this time... ignoring its issues has led to this...
kaffandoOf course, the entire world relies heavily on US scientific and other research. This isn't just an American problem. This is a whole world problem.
Mind Dilation@helenczerski We have crossed the boundary from ignorant and malicious to the surreal.
Outfrost@helenczerski Makes sense. I mean, what if we found out something useful and good? That could undermine the influence or wealth accumulation of the evil administration's patrons.
(to be clear this is not a joke, the trump admin and the rich people buying power through both republican and democratic parties are ontologically evil)
lin11c@helenczerski @briankrebs Sue them for grants already in progress. It can not be legal to rescind those.
Patch You Up@lin11c @helenczerski @briankrebs Agree. The coalition of universities that was formed in response to the attacks on education should lead the charge on this lawsuit. The money was appropriated by Congress and existing awards amount to a contract between the researchers and the government. Should be a pretty open and shut case to keep existing grants going. As for awarding of new grants, it might be a bit more complicated, but appropriations made by congress should be viewed as a mandate.
@Jumpmed @lin11c @briankrebs They are, and I understand that the AGU is supporting those lawsuits. But this administration doesn't seem interested in changing its course when the judiciary says what it's doing is illegal. The lawsuits also come with huge financial and personal consequences, so it's a lot easier to say someone else should do it than to take that step yourself. Fear is doing a lot of the work here. But people are trying.
@helenczerski
Yes I understand the cost. That's how they win, especially now with all the complicit law firms giving pro-bono services. But what is the alternative? We can't comply, and this seems to be the only action to take. Some agency workers and budgets are being reinstated.
Yes I understand the cost. That's how they win, especially now with all the complicit law firms giving pro-bono services. But what is the alternative? We can't comply, and this seems to be the only action to take. Some agency workers and budgets are being reinstated.
Kathy Bryson@helenczerski
Scary on a very real level - I'm currently facing radiation therapy, earnestly wishing someone's done alternate treatments or checks on long-term side-effects
i'll probably be fine, but this research is necessary!
Scary on a very real level - I'm currently facing radiation therapy, earnestly wishing someone's done alternate treatments or checks on long-term side-effects
i'll probably be fine, but this research is necessary!
Tuckers Nuts Resist! 🇺🇦 @helenczerski
Also decades of work on long-term studies wasted pandering to the egos of willfully ignorant right wing nut jobs.
Also decades of work on long-term studies wasted pandering to the egos of willfully ignorant right wing nut jobs.
Robin Barton@helenczerski Science will flow away from usa to countries that value it such as EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. It has happened in the past.
Lisa Schiff@helenczerski Yes, it's infuriating, but we must keep fighting! Use our new toolkit for contacting elected officials to demand they #DefendResearch. Make calls with our script & background information (with testimonials from #researchers), then share with your networks and ask them to do the same! https://www.defendresearch.org/take-action/toolkits-for-action
Toolkits for Action
Contacting elected officials Last updated: April 28, 2025 Issue Brief US federally supported research drives basic science and knowledge production in the U.S. That research plays a critical role in our economy, health, and well-being, from identifying new treatments for life-altering conditions
@helenczerski Dear Americans scientists, you are welcomed in the EU. We are looking forward for you.
MisterMoo@helenczerski This is what you would do if you were trying to destroy your own country's future.