@evan Just to be clear, do you care how big or how small the site is? And if it is Wordpress-powered, you don't care whether it was using something like ActivityPub in, say, 2005. You just care that it was up and running and publicly available back then?

It has begun, as the story reported by Science Magazine suggested.

"The NSF Is Being Dismantled — With Broad Implications For The American Economy"

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johndrake/2025/05/09/the-national-science-foundation-is-being-dismantled-what-the-economy-needs-is-more-investment/

#nsf #damage #science

"There is nothing wasteful or elitist about public investment in science. On the contrary, it is one of the most reliable drivers of shared prosperity — benefiting not just institutions or industries, but society as a whole. Now is the time to expand that commitment, not withdraw from it."

@evan Deep breaths. Election night results are always big swings in all directions at the beginning.

You’ve got this. ;-)

Canada’s U.S. brain gain is risky without foundational support for science (The Globe and Mail (Ontario Edition)), Apr 03, 2025
https://globe2go.pressreader.com/article/281994678306437

Another perspective in the #GlobeAndMail about how to bolster #Canada as a broad and potent scientific powerhouse.

A U.S. brain drain could be Canada's brain gain | CBC News https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-brain-gain-trump-1.7496085

Some challenges:

“In October, the federal government announced a reduction in immigration levels in a bid to relieve pressure on the housing market… A cap on international students … has also triggered job cuts, lower enrollment and program cancellations at some post-secondary institutions due to the loss of revenue …Canada needs to invest more in pathways for U.S. talent to come to this country”

@intothewestaway Thankfully, most of the funding for public TV/radio in the US comes through the corporation for public broadcasting. A small percentage is federal funding. However, that federal funding disproportionately goes to support more rural broadcasters.

... and here was that #NPR #AllThingsConsidered story, interviewing the author and inadvertent eavesdropper on US national security secrets.

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/24/nx-s1-5338784/how-a-journalist-became-an-inadvertent-eavesdropper-on-national-security-secrets

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans - The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/?gift=vgcKXZKCrHTQr6wr7_bnjR_NoPtjLBLTVrdpY1uN2w4&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

This was quite a story to listen to this evening on NPR.

"To Win Trust and Admiration, Fix Your Microphone | Scientific American"

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/to-win-trust-and-admiration-fix-your-microphone/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Without knowing the science behind this, but knowing instinctively how people react to bad cameras, bad audio, and no whiteboard ... this was why I invested in a high-end home teaching studio during COVID-19. Students paid more attention when the effort seems professional on my end: DSLR camera, Blue Yeti microphone, iPad whiteboard.

A first look at the #underground visit to the Sanford Underground Research Facility. We arrived early in the morning to gear up and then catch a 07:30 cage (elevator) to the 4850ft level. We then rode a tram on a rail line from the Yates Shaft and the “Davis Campus” of the lab over to the “Ross Campus”, where the DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment) will be constructed.

#SURF #research #physics #travel #cooperation #science #learning #mine

(More to come in future posts!)

Let’s take a look at the next installment from my visit to #SURF last week. After arriving at the Ross Campus, we walked from the end of the tram line to the first of the VERY large DUNE caverns. DUNE is the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment and will consist of huge neutrino detectors comprised from 17,000 tons of liquid argon. 800,000 tons of rock has been excavated to make the caverns.

THEY. ARE. HUGE.

Each is over 100m long.

#DUNE #neutrino #underground #physics #science

@lxo @hydropsyche @coreyspowell

In the modern age, it’s good to be a little skeptical. But I admire that you did it, sought input, and even though it’s impossible to ever give 100% assurance, all of us gave it a think and now we can step back and look at these images and just go…

WOW.

@lxo @coreyspowell

The Earth would cover the Sun completely during an eclipse viewed from the Moon. This is why a lunar eclipse lasts longer than a solar one, where the Moon covers the Sun as viewed from the Earth.

However, this picture can still be real. The sun's disk appears smaller than the disk of the Earth. Refraction of sunlight in the atmosphere would ring the entire Earth in light. This diamond ring effect is due to the Sun being to one side.

Pic is certainly plausible.

A public service announcement: if you are a business or group, and you post instagram-based photos on your public website, you are not really sharing pictures with the public. An IG account is required even merely to view.

If a service requires sign up just to see a picture or share a thought you wanted to be public, it's not public.

Don't feed the walled gardens. The walls are there to protect interests other than your own.

#fediverse

Trained others to solve problems no one has ever solved before, and helped discover the origin of mass while doing it.

#science #public #good #humanity #discovery #education

QT Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social
2025 January 28

Post the amazing science things you have done with federal funding.

https://bsky.app/profile/alexwild.bsky

Resources for Researchers and Scholars under Threat in the United States

Committee on Human Rights > Resources

National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Thx to @petergleick for raise my awareness about this resource.

https://www.nationalacademies.org/chr/resources-for-researchers-and-scholars-under-threat-in-the-united-states

This is Seth. He is my therapy duck. As with my human friends, I will be leaning on him a lot in the coming months and years.

Today’s word is #Equivocation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivocation

“… equivocation ("calling two different things by the same name") is an informal fallacy resulting from the use of a particular word or expression in multiple senses within an argument.”

#LogicalFallacies

The #washingtonpost was kind enough to provide a copy of the memo ordering the freeze. I attach screen captures here.

This memo is a masterclass in #LogicalFallacies, especially #equivocation: using vague, undefined terms with ambiguous meaning, leaving it to the mind of the reader to choose the definition that best suits their personal interpretation. It is a classic trick to fool the audience while providing no grounding for your position.