The things we’ll never know

Imagine scientists meeting to discuss the work that they are not doing, and “the things we’ll never know.” The meeting was held to highlight the damage done by the grants that were canceled by the Trump administration this spring. The cuts were indiscriminate and inscrutable, often without even a detectable MAGA-flavoured rationale. John Timmer for Ars Technica:

“Many of the grants were focused on STEM education, and it’s extremely difficult to imagine that people will be better off without the work happening.”

The direct damage is immense — many scientists no longer even have a place to go to work, never mind get another grant — but the indirect damage is probably even worse:

“The uncertainty makes it impossible to plan any significant distance ahead or hire anyone to do the work for longer-term projects.”

So utterly demoralizing to put in the work on a new grant application — notoriously tedious and demanding — when you don’t even know why you lost the one you already had!