Derek Lowe

It's really a chaotic picture. I mean, it's very hard to tell. I don't think anyone really knows the full picture.

It's really a chaotic picture. I mean, it's very hard to tell. I don't think anyone really knows the full picture.

It's really a chaotic picture. I mean, it's very hard to tell. I don't think anyone really knows the full picture.

Oh, boy. Distressingly closely.

Oh, boy. Distressingly closely.

Oh, boy. Distressingly closely.

Yeah, I have been. I've had a number of them communicating with me over several different channels. Morale is as low as it could possibly be. There's just this tremendous amount of uncertainty and distress about what's happening. Nothing like this has ever happened before in these agencies. Everyone involved in these areas is just fearful of what might come next. Meanwhile, at the NSF,

Yeah, I have been. I've had a number of them communicating with me over several different channels. Morale is as low as it could possibly be. There's just this tremendous amount of uncertainty and distress about what's happening. Nothing like this has ever happened before in these agencies. Everyone involved in these areas is just fearful of what might come next. Meanwhile, at the NSF,

Yeah, I have been. I've had a number of them communicating with me over several different channels. Morale is as low as it could possibly be. There's just this tremendous amount of uncertainty and distress about what's happening. Nothing like this has ever happened before in these agencies. Everyone involved in these areas is just fearful of what might come next. Meanwhile, at the NSF,

They were told that they are looking to downsize between a quarter and a half of the entire NSF workforce. Wow. And the CDC has had a lot of its public-facing databases just taken down. These are vast amounts of public health data that have been accumulated, in some cases, over many, many years. Now, some of the pages on the CDC...

They were told that they are looking to downsize between a quarter and a half of the entire NSF workforce. Wow. And the CDC has had a lot of its public-facing databases just taken down. These are vast amounts of public health data that have been accumulated, in some cases, over many, many years. Now, some of the pages on the CDC...

They were told that they are looking to downsize between a quarter and a half of the entire NSF workforce. Wow. And the CDC has had a lot of its public-facing databases just taken down. These are vast amounts of public health data that have been accumulated, in some cases, over many, many years. Now, some of the pages on the CDC...

Websites that went offline last week have since reappeared, such as the tool used to track rates of infectious disease. That disappeared, but it's now back. But some pages have been scrubbed of categories or words. There are a lot of people apparently working right now, like as of today, systematically comparing their archival versions with the updated datasets.

Websites that went offline last week have since reappeared, such as the tool used to track rates of infectious disease. That disappeared, but it's now back. But some pages have been scrubbed of categories or words. There are a lot of people apparently working right now, like as of today, systematically comparing their archival versions with the updated datasets.

Websites that went offline last week have since reappeared, such as the tool used to track rates of infectious disease. That disappeared, but it's now back. But some pages have been scrubbed of categories or words. There are a lot of people apparently working right now, like as of today, systematically comparing their archival versions with the updated datasets.

So people are now trying to figure out how extensive these changes are and what else might have been scrubbed.

So people are now trying to figure out how extensive these changes are and what else might have been scrubbed.

So people are now trying to figure out how extensive these changes are and what else might have been scrubbed.

Yes. No doubt about it. Yes. And this is just a shame beyond my ability to express because the U.S., I'm not just waving the flag here. The U.S. really has been the world leader in so many areas of basic and applied science for so long that you get to think, well, it's just kind of a law of nature, isn't it? It's always been that way. It always will be. It doesn't have to be. We can screw it up.

Yes. No doubt about it. Yes. And this is just a shame beyond my ability to express because the U.S., I'm not just waving the flag here. The U.S. really has been the world leader in so many areas of basic and applied science for so long that you get to think, well, it's just kind of a law of nature, isn't it? It's always been that way. It always will be. It doesn't have to be. We can screw it up.