ALL THIS FROM CUTTING OVERHEAD PAYMENTS TO UNIVERSITIES? ‘Uncertain, anxious, fearful.’ That’s the mood at 2025’s first big U.S. science meeting. Cutting overhead means more money for grants, not “downsizing.”

Plus:

In addition to fear for their livelihoods and public safety, scientists expressed fear for the longstanding prestige of the American scientific enterprise. Several speakers cited a post-World War II “social contract,” when scientists and government agreed that publicly funding basic research was a good idea and would eventually lead to economic and technological advances.

Was the public a party to that contract? You know, some of us warned during the Covid debacle that it was going to drastically hurt the image of science. Well, here you are.