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We're no longer attracting top talent: the brain drain killing American science

theguardian.com

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Re: We're no longer attracting top talent: the brain drain killing American science

#221

Post by marcus_holmes »

denkmoon wrote: post #87
bluGill wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That has always been true, and for everywhere. However very few countries are anywhere near as accepting for foreigners as the US as a whole despite the many who are not. Canada is just as accepting from what I can tell - I don't know enough about Australia to know. Most other countries are far worse - though many will not admit it just how bad their country is.

Sadly Australia is very welcoming to foreigners until you get about 50km out of the major cities. Our xenophobe political party (One Nation) has had a significant rally in the last few years, to the point where by some measures it is the second largest party.

To be fair, they're still welcoming to foreigners in the bush, just as long as they're white. Rural Australia has many towns that have a strong Italian or Greek heritage (for example).

One Nation are flat racist rather than xenophobe, I think.

And it's being pushed by our billionaires for some reason. You'd think Gina would want cheap immigrant workers on her mines

Re: We're no longer attracting top talent: the brain drain killing American science

#222

Post by jedberg »

shiroiuma wrote: post #211
lateforwork wrote: post #112

In all important areas such as clean energy, fusion energy, biotechnology and AI the Chinese government is heavily investing in and pushing Chinese companies to lead the world. China Is Outspending the U.S. to Achieve the ‘Holy Grail’ of Clean Energy: Fusion See: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/climate/china-us-fusion-e... America's lead in biotechnology is slipping, while China has made synthetic biology a nation…

[flagged]

German universities are now telling any US researcher who looses their funding that they will be funded at a Germany university and get help with their visa application.

Re: We're no longer attracting top talent: the brain drain killing American science

#223

Post by jojomodding »

shiroiuma wrote: post #211
lateforwork wrote: post #112

In all important areas such as clean energy, fusion energy, biotechnology and AI the Chinese government is heavily investing in and pushing Chinese companies to lead the world. China Is Outspending the U.S. to Achieve the ‘Holy Grail’ of Clean Energy: Fusion See: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/climate/china-us-fusion-e... America's lead in biotechnology is slipping, while China has made synthetic biology a nation…

[flagged]

Depends on if the Chinese can get over foreigners messing up the tones all the time.

English has the advantage that it already had a lot of different ways of pronouncing it before becoming the world language, so the expectations for how perfect people's pronunciation should be was lower.

Re: We're no longer attracting top talent: the brain drain killing American science

#224

Post by rayiner »

jmcgough wrote: post #146
ei8ths wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

have you seen our school systems, k12. Its terrible and in dire need of a revamp. No child left behind really screwed kids over that want to learn. We cant just let kids pass because of feelings. Made schools better, have alternative paths for kids that are not excelling like some of their peers and find school hard to sit through.

It's really not about this - it's that for decades we've been able to draw top global talent to the US. We've cut research funding so heavy that we can't even support post docs who are American citizens now. My friends are going to Europe, Canada, Hong Kong.

How important can that be? America’s only real competitor technologically is China. And they’ve had essentially no immigration of “top talent.”

Re: We're no longer attracting top talent: the brain drain killing American science

#225

Post by nubinetwork »

zaptheimpaler wrote: post #39
reenorap wrote: post #16

I think the US draining other countries of their best and brightest is why many countries have been left behind in terms of economic development. Other countries need to take up the mantle of research and they can't do that if all of them go to the US. I think this is overall good for the rest of the world, because relying on the US and the sociopathic companies that exploit public research for personal gain is bad f…

Yes, Canada has already seen a large uptick in researchers and doctors coming in from the US and other countries have too. It's good for everybody for research to be more decentralized so that it can better withstand shocks in single countries.

I had to find a new doctor recently, and the temporary one that was assigned to me was a guy from Texas... he said he came here because they didn't have room for him and he heard we needed the doctors. Why Canada over any other US state? Hard to say, but I'm not going to complain.

Re: We're no longer attracting top talent: the brain drain killing American science

#226

Post by pitched »

drbojingle wrote: post #176
pitched wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Canada is 70% white where the US is close to 50%. That 20% puts them far above the majority line though. Not at all homogeneous, just much more so than the US.

White is a color, not a culture. Quebec and Newfoundland are very different than Alberta and Saskatchewan.

I will say that perogies are amazing and were much cheaper in Alberta than Newfoundland so you get an upvote. But don’t discount that this is also true of the white population in the US.

Re: We're no longer attracting top talent: the brain drain killing American science

#227

Post by disqard »

Terr_ wrote: post #194
torstenvl wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> seem evil for enforcing immigration law When people living otherwise-blameless lives begin getting accosted, beaten, or killed on suspicion of the legal equivalent of unpaid parking tickets , then yes, the new enforcement occurring is indeed "evil." When they start willfully breaking all sorts of other major laws and violating court-orders to enforce the minor law, yes, that's usually evil. When rationales last-use…

I think you might be finding a certain category of apologist over-represented here.

Still, I appreciate you making the effort to engage in Good Faith!

Re: We're no longer attracting top talent: the brain drain killing American science

#228

Post by michaelt »

michaelteter wrote: post #126
inglor_cz wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everything is about money. The killer app of the US used to be that the US was rich and welcoming to foreigners and politically quite free. China or Saudi Arabia can wave their money around, but at least some people will be repulsed by the obligation to keep their mouths shut and praise the Dear Leader. Their cultural insularity does not help either. You can live in China, but you will never be accepted as Chines…

Are you suggesting that anyone who lives and works here in the US can be accepted as “American”? Are you also implying that in the US anyone is free to speak negatively of “dear leader”? There are a multitude of current examples to the contrary.

> Are you suggesting that anyone who lives and works here in the US can be accepted as “American”?

Whether you're born in Moscow and named Sergey Mikhailovich Brin, or born in Pretoria and named Elon Reeve Musk, or born in Hyderabad and named Satya Narayana Nadella, born in Frankfurt and named Peter Andreas Thiel - America has a place for you. Maybe even your own government department.

In America a man can find acceptance regardless of the circumstances of his birth, and irrespective of race, creed and colour, so long as he has a billion dollars.

Re: We're no longer attracting top talent: the brain drain killing American science

#229

Post by [deleted] »

mr_00ff00 wrote: post #181
lateforwork wrote: post #112

In all important areas such as clean energy, fusion energy, biotechnology and AI the Chinese government is heavily investing in and pushing Chinese companies to lead the world. China Is Outspending the U.S. to Achieve the ‘Holy Grail’ of Clean Energy: Fusion See: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/climate/china-us-fusion-e... America's lead in biotechnology is slipping, while China has made synthetic biology a nation…

But related to this article, is China winning in terms of accumulating talent? I don’t think people all over Europe/Asia/Africa migrate to China. If they succeed, it’s purely with their own talent. The US still has that advantage even if it has less of it, unless I am mistaken.

[deleted]

Re: We're no longer attracting top talent: the brain drain killing American science

#230

Post by hluska »

torstenvl wrote: post #175
Arainach wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It bears repeating: for everyone who insists that the US Executive Branch isn't compromised by our enemies, what different actions would someone who was compromised and trying to speedrun the destruction of American power, influence, and hegemony have taken?

[flagged]

In no stretch of the imagination does this even answer the question. I get that you wanted to make a political point, but this is remarkably weak.
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