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U.S. science is in chaos

scientificamerican.com

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Re: U.S. science is in chaos

#641

Post by fearmerchant »

jjtheblunt wrote: post #611
dwa3592 wrote: post #307

My wife operates an optical trap (a sophisticated microscope, she uses it for studying gene/dna physical properties) and she's pretty good at working with that instrument. The number of people good at working that microscope are in the ballpark of 2000 (+- 1000) in the world! She has cried a lot in the last one year for the mess science research has become. We are moving out of the country at the end of August.

> We are moving out of the country at the end of August. Is the assertion there are no places for her to enjoy doing what she's great at, without leaving the country, in private industry? Genuinely curious.

The US is still dominant for research spending and high impact scientific publications and medicine. I too would be interested in where they think it would be better. Israel and South Korea are the only two that might provide more opportunities depending on the area of interest.

Re: U.S. science is in chaos

#643

Post by quantified »

teaearlgraycold wrote: post #609
spankalee wrote: post #591

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We need people to be less racist and stop voting for politicians they hope will hurt the right people.

Less motivation for people to be racist if they have their needs met.

Except their need to be racist. Sorry, it's pretty easy to be any kind of bigot with all your needs met.

Re: U.S. science is in chaos

#644

Post by jubilanti »

noosphr wrote: post #322
0xbadcafebee wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not odd. If the institution of it is political, the removal of it is therefore also political. It is not, however, based on who can claim to be the biggest victim. It is based on a simple statistical analysis of demographics.

In a previous project I ended up talking with a scientist who couldn't shut up about how she was 1/4th Indigenous and how many grants that could open for our collaboration. If I wanted racial purity in my collaborators it get a time machine to 1930s Germany. That someone was doing this in 2022 was extremely off-putting. That they were getting government support because of it makes the me not care much about the fact…

Imagine that your people had the land you'd been living on for countless generations invaded, taken from them after a bloody campaign, where the survivors were forced into poverty in concentration camps, where they could not leave, where many women had their fallopian tubes tied without even their knowledge, where children were beaten for speaking their language, where they were intentionally and deliberately kept in structural poverty for generations, and other horrors.

What kinds of damages would you think your descendants should be owed? If you heard that the restitution given was for those who managed to climb into the ivory tower of academia are now first in line for research grants... Sure, that's a trade.

There are many scholarships, grants, services, and opportunities for descendants of Holocaust victims who had their property and lives taken from them. Do you support that? What's the difference?

> That they were getting government support because of it makes the me not care much about the fact the system is being burned down today.

I just want you to sit with that sentence for a minute. You'd rather have no publicly funded science, you'd rather have the entire enterprise collapse, just because of some people are getting research funding because they are descendants of genocide victims? Seriously?

Re: U.S. science is in chaos

#645

Post by cryptoegorophy »

blindriver wrote: post #631
jddj wrote: post #629

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's an economic crisis where they cut taxes and start wars though

Starting wars was stupid and dumb and I hope the next administration cuts military just as severely but cutting spending severely isn't wrong.

Being friends with Israel and giving them billions of dollars annually was a dumb idea. There would’ve been no war between USA and Iran if there wasn’t such a close friendship with ridiculously acting Israel.

Re: U.S. science is in chaos

#646

Post by bijowo1676 »

dnautics wrote: post #637
mym1990 wrote: post #634

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny, because while science and research funding is being cut…the debt is still rising faster than ever, because I still see taxpayer money flying towards useless things more than ever.

social security and medicare?

reparations to Iran

Re: U.S. science is in chaos

#647

Post by Kapura »

setgree wrote: post #366

I work at a research lab that was previously supported by an R01 grant that did not get renewed last year. It’s been tough and the staff (including me) have been moved to part-time employment. However, it also made us put ourselves out there and fundraise, which led to new connections and new opportunities. So yes, it’s been chaotic, but like Petyr Baelish says, chaos is a ladder.

yeah, if you're morally willing to shove children out of towers a lot of things can become possibilities.

Re: U.S. science is in chaos

#648

Post by Kapura »

okeuro49 wrote: post #231

> But arbitrary cancellations and delayed disbursements are unprecedented. And justifying them on the basis of politics—prohibiting, for instance, grants that include language referencing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)—was unheard of until now. It is odd how removal of DEI is framed as being political, when it is the other way round. DEI schemes were deeply political, and depended on who can claim to be the bi…

[flagged]

Re: U.S. science is in chaos

#649

Post by npodbielski »

avs733 wrote: post #365
drak0n1c wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are many biotech startups and private research labs thriving and paying high salaries with excellent benefits for that specialty right now - focused on genetic testing, editing, and longevity. Before moving abroad, widening the search outside of academia and considering moving internally might be worthwhile.

Why assume that this is about finding a job? I happily had a job in academia in the US. Probably what most would call “successful” after exiting a startup and getting a PhD I was US engineering faculty for 8 years. We picked up our keys to our new house in another country a few days ago and I start next month with a faculty promotion. Many of my colleagues are or are looking to follow.

Just out of curiosity, where did you move?

Re: U.S. science is in chaos

#650

Post by jiggawatts »

datsci_est_2015 wrote: post #503
littlekey wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What kind of person isn't curious about the puzzle of their own existence A person who struggles to put food on the table and a roof over their heads, for one.

What a sleight of hand to suggest that science funding gathered from taxes is impacting the ability for poorer Americans to afford their food. No wonder politicization of science funding is so successful on the right: it’s so rhetorically intoxicating.

Meanwhile a substantial fraction of science research goes into improving the efficiency of farming, which pushes down food prices.

I just watched a video about how inept politicians caused a food crisis in Sri Lanka because they thought they knew better than scientists, chemists, and farmers: https://youtu.be/1S2wwbX_p_E

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