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1. Embed this notice
   mekka okereke :verified: (mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 24-Jan-2025 01:23:40 JST mekka okereke :verified:

   The USA can't stop the world from doing science. We can only stop ourselves from doing science.

   We're making a conscious choice to make China the world's leading research nation.

   Congratulations to China on their ascendancy I guess.

   • Embed this notice
     Preskton ?⚡? (esk@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 24-Jan-2025 01:35:48 JST Preskton ?⚡?

     in reply to

     @mekkaokereke i know i shouldn't think logically about the administration's actions -- because they're not. but i can't for the life of me figure out how they square thinking the US will be the world leader by withdrawing from the world. no seat at the table --> reduced influence --> usa 📉

     🎵 the grift is on 🎵

   • Embed this notice
     Chris L (jayalane@mastodon.online)'s status on Friday, 24-Jan-2025 02:26:34 JST Chris L

     in reply to

     @mekkaokereke and the birthright citizenship ban also majorly affects young Indian couples on education visas. Like all the hatred and discrimination are like ok, be careful when you go out, but having a child that would be deportable when they turn 18 is a serious impediment to a long term research stay, with green card waits of >12 years for India.

   • Embed this notice
     Anthony Baker (anthonybaker@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 24-Jan-2025 02:37:53 JST Anthony Baker

     in reply to

     • Nathan Lowell (he/him)

     @mekkaokereke @nlowell Would be interesting to see a breakdown of this chart by field/industry for USA and China. Where are they making investments? Where are we? I'm going to assume they don't all align.

   • Embed this notice
     mekka okereke :verified: (mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 24-Jan-2025 02:37:53 JST mekka okereke :verified:

     in reply to

     • Nathan Lowell (he/him)
     • Anthony Baker

     @AnthonyBaker @nlowell

     One difference right off the bat:

     They spend a higher proportion on green / renewables R&D than we do.

     Their thesis:
     The world will need to get off of fossil fuels or face destruction. Therefore, affordable solar, affordable batteries, affordable cars and grid management, scaled grid storage, etc, are fledgling industries today that will become indispensable tomorrow. We should subsidize R&D today to a massive degree, so that our companies have a leg up in the global market from 2030 to 2050.

     If this sounds like AOC's Green New deal, that's right.

   • Embed this notice
     eva_chaos (eva_chaos@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 24-Jan-2025 02:50:12 JST eva_chaos

     in reply to

     @mekkaokereke

     I appreciate that they are finally at a point where they can do science rather than just industrial espionage. They've been around a long time. It's time they contributed.

   • Embed this notice
     mekka okereke :verified: (mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 24-Jan-2025 02:50:12 JST mekka okereke :verified:

     in reply to

     • eva_chaos

     @eva_chaos

     Don't be sinophobic. Don't be wrong. Don't be sinophobic and wrong at the same time.

     No one who has studied and excelled at a competitive US grad school, or built software at a top tech company, believes the racist cope that Chinese born people can only copy and not create, or that Chinese born people are "only now" doing science.

     You can't even type a sinophobic comment like that without using technology invented by Chinese born people.

     "But some Chinese companies copy!" true. Some American companies do too. But we don't try to use that as evidence that Americans only copy. Because that would be silly.

   • Embed this notice
     mekka okereke :verified: (mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io)'s status on Friday, 24-Jan-2025 02:55:00 JST mekka okereke :verified:

     in reply to

     • eva_chaos

     @eva_chaos

     None of what you just wrote justifies sinophobia, or pretending that Chinese people haven't contributed to science.

     Be better.

   • Embed this notice
     eva_chaos (eva_chaos@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 24-Jan-2025 02:55:01 JST eva_chaos

     in reply to

     @mekkaokereke

     The party is not your friend.

     I've been under orders to not respond to Chinese academic emails my entire working career. I still get harassing phone calls in Mandarin because my last name "sounds" Chinese.