Although he had 2 strains of melanoma, my late husbandl’s large tumor in his lung completely disappeared because of BRAF treatment developed at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and others. It was new at the time, but it was miraculous—especially as he had adverse reactions to standard chemotherapy. This research saves lives and our loved ones.
Its not just the NSF. I am hearing talk that NASAs budget will be cut by 20%. The next gen space based telescope, the Nancy Grace Roman telescope which is fully assembled and ready to launch in two years, would be abandoned. Its teeth grindingly infuriating to see these cuts happening and not being able to do a damn thing about it.
Actually Trump's proposed budget slashes NASA's science budget by 50%, including completely closing Goddard Space Flight Center! The Planetary Society has described it as an extinction level event
At this point I am not ready to start slinging around the blame finger. I just want to find the levers to pull to get the bleeding to stop. I feel like we are entering the dark ages. And I am so damned ashamed my country is leading the charge into a new age where ignorance is king.
Trump et al can’t support an educated populace, it is anathema to what they are trying to achieve. Stupid people are a whole lot easier to control. If he can keep them motivated by religion and myth, and doesn’t allow support of scientific rigor, then he figures he and his ignorant sycophants and progeny can stay in power forever.
Let’s not mince words. Trump believes that science itself is a woke enterprise and therefore his enemy. This is not just about DEI.
Climate science in particular is something he despises because its conclusions contradict his faux-macho image of the world—the manly coal miner or oil field worker that he likes to imagine himself to be like.
And since virtually all of the core sciences validate the conclusions about why climate change is happening, then ALL scientists are part of that “neo-Marxist” agenda.
Trump has surrounded himself with men and women of like mind. They are throwing away knowledge that goes back hundreds of years. Meanwhile, the Chinese and Indians are advancing in the opposite direction, with scientific knowledge being the most respected of enterprises. We will be left in the dust if we don’t find some way to eject these parasites from our nation.
The cynical part of me says, "Well, maybe some of these promising students will find their way to other countries who might be happy to have them. " Some scientists are headed out now. Brain drain? Well, it will fit in with Trump's desire for a dumbed down electorate.
I am a university professor and a researcher in the US, funded by NIH and NSF, and DOE for 20+ years. I was born in Canada, and was also a professor there until I came here 25 years ago. No one around me is a slacker. The funding system is high stakes and competitive--some would even say stressful. But we do what we love and that's the best life possible. It is a privilege to be supported by society to do what we are passionate about. I love being surrounded by bright young people who are at the beginning of their lives, learning, discovering, being creative. Some of what we do has been picked up by industry in drug discovery (some of my friends worked for Vivek for a while). I do hope that what we do is useful for society. We are not necessarily trying to become rich. We are geeks, and that's what we like to do. Seems like it is a good deal with the US. The current administration hates all this stuff because they want to abolish anything that stands against the fake reality and disinformation that they rely on.
Sadly this is just another example of the MAGA/Republican mantra: “we don’t need no education” (my apologies to Pink Floyd). Their whole id is whatever random tinfoil hat theory is current on the internet.
Exactly what is the point of all these anarchic moves? Revenge, I can understand—Trump is above all petty and self-obsessed. Judicial moves, keeps him out of prison. But science? Medicine? This is Putin level destruction … or Alice’s Red Queen.
As a scientist myself, this is spot on. There is no fixing this or our reputation. The brain drain that has benefited us so enormously the last century will slow or reverse, and the damage to our scientific institutions will slow progress enormously.
I had an NSF fellowship in grad school. It carried me through the difficult middle years of a very stressful program, and I'm not sure I would have stayed with it without those funds.
I recently had a small NSF grant to fund students to attend a niche science conference. We were required to include DEI in the proposal. In the past most of the students who applied for support for this conference were just students of faculty who also attended. This time, in response to the DEI requirements, we actively solicited for applications from students at many other universities. It was a lot of additional effort for the organizers. The result was a much broader range of student applicants from many more institutions and with very different research areas. Because there was so much interest, we were able to get additional federal funding and provide support to all the applicants. I think this was a win all around and it probably wouldn't have happened without the DEI requirements.
Colette, your NSF experiences bring me joy, particularly expanding the net for student applications. Thanks for sharing your story.
I also benefited from a NSF program as a high school student. I was the only girl invited to participate in a summer program to learn software coding in 1975. Fortran, an IBM mainframe and punch cards. I had no idea what it was or that I was good at it. I had no idea it would become a large part of my career. I was just a kid who liked math and who lucked out because of a NSF summer program.
This is a disaster. I'm not exaggerating. It's a disaster for US science, but it's also a disaster for world science, because these days, science is integrated and global. The US has literally closed off billions of data hosted in the US but collected by scientists all over the world. It has closed off cancer research data, other biological data, oceanographic and atmospheric data; and what it hasn't closed off yet is at risk. Transnational research into a whole raft of topics, from climate science to cancer, has been halted or is in doubt. That means that Europe, Canada and Asia-Pacific can't just pick up where the US leaves off: if the data disappears or becomes payable (more likely, knowing Trump), it will kill off international research, pure research and less lucrative research.
This is from the English version of the French paper Le Monde. It concentrates on France, but it's valid for the whole world.
I have several anti-Trump friends who nonetheless believe "It's all cyclical. It will come back again."
As for me, I keep thinking of the old 60s war song, "Eve of Destruction" - "But you tell me, over and over again, my friend, you don't believe, we're on the eve of Destruction."
Of all the stupid things that this administration has done, the gutting of science and research tops the list.
Long gone are the days when Bell Labs, later Lucent, IBM, HP and other corporations had labs dedicated just to research. Look around at all the things that we depend on that came about from government research or research funded with federal dollars.
GPS, the internet, nearly everything that made the moon missions possible, the list is long and comprehensive. The same is true of medical research. I would be blind today if not for the research funded and guided by the NIH 25 years ago.
The idea that “it would’ve been discovered anyway” is nonsense in today’s world. Corporations do not spend the money because they are focused on the next quarter and the stock price and have been for decades.
The United States is far behind China in many areas of science and technology. Any leadership that we might have will likely be short lived now.
The best who have lost their jobs or funding will be recruited, many will find it necessary to relocate outside of the United States where their work will be appreciated and rewarded.
The future is more troubling. STEM education and careers have been a battle to fund and create. There has been a disdain for science for decades. Climate change research politicized vast areas of science. COVID poured gasoline on medical science research. Culturally, there is little respect or appreciation for science. In fact, just the opposite now seems to be true as science and scientists are vilified.
Much of the data held by NOAA/NCEI will be " decommissioned" in early May. Along with hundreds of other organizations, we use that data to help protect our local environment; a few salmon bearing rivers in Washington State. We've reached out to attempt to secure historic data for our Rivers, but bigger fish with large storage capacities need to step up to the plate and archive this data for everyone. We also work in concert with organizations attempting to protect Puget Sound Orca as our salmon are a source of their food.
Best,
Jean Buckner
President - Friends of the Snoqualmie Valley Trail and River
No organization on earth cannot be made more efficient via careful study, including the NSF. This may involve changed priorities and altered budgets. Action is considered, measured, and executed over carefully measured time so as to minimize damage to the organization's core goals and operations.
The so-called DOGE (not a Congressionally created department of any kind) is incapable of operating in serious ways, typified by the chain saw of ghastly visual impact. DOGE is unserious and unprofessional. The priceless institutions it is shattering may never be recreated effectively. But a less educated and informed voting public will be less capable of learning how to resist.
My view is that everyone who opposes science should have everything science has given them taken away and let them go back to pig farming, horse carts, wood fire heat, plowing the earth, hand milking cows… modern life is not possible without science and tech so opposing science is irresponsible and ignorant, standard for MAGA Trumpists.
Although he had 2 strains of melanoma, my late husbandl’s large tumor in his lung completely disappeared because of BRAF treatment developed at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and others. It was new at the time, but it was miraculous—especially as he had adverse reactions to standard chemotherapy. This research saves lives and our loved ones.
Trump is stupid. He’s knows absolutely nothing about science. And his cabinet picks are no better.
Its not just the NSF. I am hearing talk that NASAs budget will be cut by 20%. The next gen space based telescope, the Nancy Grace Roman telescope which is fully assembled and ready to launch in two years, would be abandoned. Its teeth grindingly infuriating to see these cuts happening and not being able to do a damn thing about it.
NIH is getting massive cuts. I hope the next time Dear Leader gets sick, they treat him with leeches and cod liver oil.
Actually Trump's proposed budget slashes NASA's science budget by 50%, including completely closing Goddard Space Flight Center! The Planetary Society has described it as an extinction level event
As a former physicist turned engineer who works on NASA science missions, I can tell you this isn't true.
At this point I am not ready to start slinging around the blame finger. I just want to find the levers to pull to get the bleeding to stop. I feel like we are entering the dark ages. And I am so damned ashamed my country is leading the charge into a new age where ignorance is king.
Can't speak for the engineers, but earth scientists at least tend to know what time it is.
Trump et al can’t support an educated populace, it is anathema to what they are trying to achieve. Stupid people are a whole lot easier to control. If he can keep them motivated by religion and myth, and doesn’t allow support of scientific rigor, then he figures he and his ignorant sycophants and progeny can stay in power forever.
Also an ignorant audience is best for an ignorant man. And if there’s no history taught, maybe no one will notice a reign of incompetence.
And all the better if the ignorant are suffering from chronic, debilitating illnesses.
Yes, saves plane fare to foreign gulags.
Maybe, but it's awfully hard to miss! Trump depends on the ignorance and low information level of his supporters.
Too true.
Trump only likes history that he can commandeer as a justification. He didn't know who the actual sides were in WWI.
And that we were fighting Communism, not fascism!
Remember. The best healthcare in the world is millions and millions and millions of dollars and a private plane.
And they WERE all coming to the USA...
Let’s not mince words. Trump believes that science itself is a woke enterprise and therefore his enemy. This is not just about DEI.
Climate science in particular is something he despises because its conclusions contradict his faux-macho image of the world—the manly coal miner or oil field worker that he likes to imagine himself to be like.
And since virtually all of the core sciences validate the conclusions about why climate change is happening, then ALL scientists are part of that “neo-Marxist” agenda.
Trump has surrounded himself with men and women of like mind. They are throwing away knowledge that goes back hundreds of years. Meanwhile, the Chinese and Indians are advancing in the opposite direction, with scientific knowledge being the most respected of enterprises. We will be left in the dust if we don’t find some way to eject these parasites from our nation.
The cynical part of me says, "Well, maybe some of these promising students will find their way to other countries who might be happy to have them. " Some scientists are headed out now. Brain drain? Well, it will fit in with Trump's desire for a dumbed down electorate.
Well said, Mary Susan. !
I am a university professor and a researcher in the US, funded by NIH and NSF, and DOE for 20+ years. I was born in Canada, and was also a professor there until I came here 25 years ago. No one around me is a slacker. The funding system is high stakes and competitive--some would even say stressful. But we do what we love and that's the best life possible. It is a privilege to be supported by society to do what we are passionate about. I love being surrounded by bright young people who are at the beginning of their lives, learning, discovering, being creative. Some of what we do has been picked up by industry in drug discovery (some of my friends worked for Vivek for a while). I do hope that what we do is useful for society. We are not necessarily trying to become rich. We are geeks, and that's what we like to do. Seems like it is a good deal with the US. The current administration hates all this stuff because they want to abolish anything that stands against the fake reality and disinformation that they rely on.
Sadly this is just another example of the MAGA/Republican mantra: “we don’t need no education” (my apologies to Pink Floyd). Their whole id is whatever random tinfoil hat theory is current on the internet.
Exactly what is the point of all these anarchic moves? Revenge, I can understand—Trump is above all petty and self-obsessed. Judicial moves, keeps him out of prison. But science? Medicine? This is Putin level destruction … or Alice’s Red Queen.
As a scientist myself, this is spot on. There is no fixing this or our reputation. The brain drain that has benefited us so enormously the last century will slow or reverse, and the damage to our scientific institutions will slow progress enormously.
I had an NSF fellowship in grad school. It carried me through the difficult middle years of a very stressful program, and I'm not sure I would have stayed with it without those funds.
I recently had a small NSF grant to fund students to attend a niche science conference. We were required to include DEI in the proposal. In the past most of the students who applied for support for this conference were just students of faculty who also attended. This time, in response to the DEI requirements, we actively solicited for applications from students at many other universities. It was a lot of additional effort for the organizers. The result was a much broader range of student applicants from many more institutions and with very different research areas. Because there was so much interest, we were able to get additional federal funding and provide support to all the applicants. I think this was a win all around and it probably wouldn't have happened without the DEI requirements.
Colette, your NSF experiences bring me joy, particularly expanding the net for student applications. Thanks for sharing your story.
I also benefited from a NSF program as a high school student. I was the only girl invited to participate in a summer program to learn software coding in 1975. Fortran, an IBM mainframe and punch cards. I had no idea what it was or that I was good at it. I had no idea it would become a large part of my career. I was just a kid who liked math and who lucked out because of a NSF summer program.
This is a disaster. I'm not exaggerating. It's a disaster for US science, but it's also a disaster for world science, because these days, science is integrated and global. The US has literally closed off billions of data hosted in the US but collected by scientists all over the world. It has closed off cancer research data, other biological data, oceanographic and atmospheric data; and what it hasn't closed off yet is at risk. Transnational research into a whole raft of topics, from climate science to cancer, has been halted or is in doubt. That means that Europe, Canada and Asia-Pacific can't just pick up where the US leaves off: if the data disappears or becomes payable (more likely, knowing Trump), it will kill off international research, pure research and less lucrative research.
This is from the English version of the French paper Le Monde. It concentrates on France, but it's valid for the whole world.
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/science/article/2025/04/15/how-trump-s-anti-science-policies-are-impacting-french-research_6740263_10.html
I have several anti-Trump friends who nonetheless believe "It's all cyclical. It will come back again."
As for me, I keep thinking of the old 60s war song, "Eve of Destruction" - "But you tell me, over and over again, my friend, you don't believe, we're on the eve of Destruction."
I remember that song. It does seem appropriate for these times.
Of all the stupid things that this administration has done, the gutting of science and research tops the list.
Long gone are the days when Bell Labs, later Lucent, IBM, HP and other corporations had labs dedicated just to research. Look around at all the things that we depend on that came about from government research or research funded with federal dollars.
GPS, the internet, nearly everything that made the moon missions possible, the list is long and comprehensive. The same is true of medical research. I would be blind today if not for the research funded and guided by the NIH 25 years ago.
The idea that “it would’ve been discovered anyway” is nonsense in today’s world. Corporations do not spend the money because they are focused on the next quarter and the stock price and have been for decades.
The United States is far behind China in many areas of science and technology. Any leadership that we might have will likely be short lived now.
The best who have lost their jobs or funding will be recruited, many will find it necessary to relocate outside of the United States where their work will be appreciated and rewarded.
The future is more troubling. STEM education and careers have been a battle to fund and create. There has been a disdain for science for decades. Climate change research politicized vast areas of science. COVID poured gasoline on medical science research. Culturally, there is little respect or appreciation for science. In fact, just the opposite now seems to be true as science and scientists are vilified.
It is sad and it is stupid.
Would it be too insensitive to call it intellectual genocide?
Much of the data held by NOAA/NCEI will be " decommissioned" in early May. Along with hundreds of other organizations, we use that data to help protect our local environment; a few salmon bearing rivers in Washington State. We've reached out to attempt to secure historic data for our Rivers, but bigger fish with large storage capacities need to step up to the plate and archive this data for everyone. We also work in concert with organizations attempting to protect Puget Sound Orca as our salmon are a source of their food.
Best,
Jean Buckner
President - Friends of the Snoqualmie Valley Trail and River
No organization on earth cannot be made more efficient via careful study, including the NSF. This may involve changed priorities and altered budgets. Action is considered, measured, and executed over carefully measured time so as to minimize damage to the organization's core goals and operations.
The so-called DOGE (not a Congressionally created department of any kind) is incapable of operating in serious ways, typified by the chain saw of ghastly visual impact. DOGE is unserious and unprofessional. The priceless institutions it is shattering may never be recreated effectively. But a less educated and informed voting public will be less capable of learning how to resist.
I rest my case.
DOGE is a fraud. A more appropriate name is DOPE — the Department of Privatize Everything.
My view is that everyone who opposes science should have everything science has given them taken away and let them go back to pig farming, horse carts, wood fire heat, plowing the earth, hand milking cows… modern life is not possible without science and tech so opposing science is irresponsible and ignorant, standard for MAGA Trumpists.