Down the drain

Trump fires another batch of science people.

Multiple scientists who serve on an independent board established to guide the nation’s nearly $9 billion basic science funding agency were terminated from their positions Friday by President Donald Trump.

Members of the National Science Board, which helps govern the National Science Foundation, were dismissed in a message from the Presidential Personnel Office thanking them for their service, according to screenshots shared with The Washington Post: “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I’m writing to inform you that your position as a member of the National Science Board is terminated, effective immediately.”

The National Science Board was establishedin 1950 to guide the governance of the National Science Foundation, in an unusual structure within the federal government that echoes the setup of a company board in the private sector. It helps guide an agency that operates Antarctic research stations, telescopes, a fleet of research vessels and supports basic science research in laboratories across the United States.

The NSF has a long history of supporting technology and research that powers many innovations the world relies on today. The agency helped language-learning app Duolingo get its start. NSF research has also helped evolve technology used in MRIs, cellphones and LASIK eye surgery.

Blah blah blah ya fiyed. Guy from Queens knows best.

It’s unclear how many members of the board were dismissed and whether they will be replaced. A National Science Foundation spokesman referred questions to the White House. The White House did not immediately respond to inquiries about why the members were terminated.

It did not immediately respond because it doesn’t have a clue. Trump does whatever he wants and the flunkies who answer mail chase after him trying to sweep up the broken glass.

Keivan Stassun, a physicist and astronomer at Vanderbilt University, who has been a board member since 2022 said he had personally received confirmation from a third of the board members that they had been terminated by the boilerplate emails, which provided no reason.

He said the board exists to hold the agency to the highest scientific standards, “for how rigorous, intellectual, scientific decisions should be made.” It also approves large funding decisions, such as whether to build a new Antarctic research vessel.

Well that’s no good. We can’t hold agencies to the highest standards. We have to hold them to the trumpiest standards. Getcher priorities straight.

He noted that without a director over the last year, the board has played a major role in advising Congress of the agency’s role in the nation’s investment in science. In the president’s budget request last year, there was a proposed 55 percent cut to NSF’s budget. Congress rejected those cuts.

What’s science ever done for us???

The stupidity of these people is mindblowing.

Oh look, Zoe Lofgren sees it the way I do.

“This is the latest stupid move made by a president who continues to harm science and American innovation,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (California), the ranking Democrat on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. “The NSB is apolitical. It advises the president on the future of NSF. It unfortunately is no surprise a president who has attacked NSF from day one would seek to destroy the board that helps guide the foundation.”

Does he hate it simply because they are all vastly more intelligent than he is? Any bets?

The shake up on the board is the latest turmoil for the agency that is supposed to help keep U.S. science at the leading edge. Last year NSF had to cancel more than 1,000 active research grants.

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The shake up on the National Science Board is similar to changes seen on other science-related advisory boards in the federal government since Trump took office for his second term.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. completely dismissed all 17 members of the federal vaccine committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He replaced them with several people who have criticized vaccines.

R Kennedy Jr being someone with no scientific training at all.