David Ho3d ago

I will say this again: Science isn’t just something that nerds do, it’s the foundation of the modern world.

It’s why this app exists. It’s why child mortality rate isn’t 50% anymore. It’s how we’re able to launch people to the moon. It’s how we’re able to grow food that feeds half the world’s population.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01105-7

Massive budget cuts for US science proposed again by Trump administration

Budget proposal would also curb federal payments for scientific publishing.

Show threadNew Age2d ago
@davidho
Honestly, I think the U.S. right now has vastly bigger problems to deal with than science funding cuts.
Show threadMx Verda2d ago
@sunscream @davidho this feels myopic
Show threadNew Age2d ago
@MxVerda
Science is an orthogonal human endeavour to creating an open, inclusive society that can resolve conflicts without violence. Totalitarian governments have shown they are perfectly capable of making scientific and technological progress. Right now we are in a crisis of reverting to a barbaric form of government. It's a question of what our priorities as citizens should be. Science is not going to die. Let others preserve it and make progress for awhile.
Show threadMx Verda1d ago
@sunscream science and curious endeavor has been my lifeline, as I imagine it is for at least some other people.
What use is survival (to me, personally, but maybe to others, idk) if not *for* something, like learning about new things?
Yes, even in survival mode (personally. Other people have different perspectives, obv.)
Show threadNew Age
@MxVerda
Yes, same here. Most of my career was in research, in and out of academia. I am not suggesting people stop doing science in the U.S. and I am truly sympathetic to people who are losing their research funding (it happened to me). Everyone who does research, with a genuine interest in obtaining an accurate understanding, makes a contribution. But we need to recognize the contribution in perspective of everything else going on.
Apr 5 at 11:43amWeb
Show threadMx Verda22h ago
@sunscream I've... never worked in research. I couldn't find a job in it after uni. There was no funding.
Show threadNew Age11h ago
@MxVerda
It was a little easier in the U.S. 30+ years ago. I was lucky to get a job doing a mix of tech development and research in industry. Later I moved to a pure research position, built up capabilities with collaborators and students. It wasn't easy to watch it get defunded, slowly at first as the institution decided to refocus, then abruptly with the present administration. But it happens everywhere, as people retire. Knowledge and capabilities are lost all the time.