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The War on Science

2025/2/19
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Science Vs

AI Deep Dive AI Chapters Transcript
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J
Jocelyn Kaiser
M
Max Kozlov
W
Wendy Zuckerman
Topics
Jocelyn Kaiser: 我是一名科学杂志记者,在过去几周里,我目睹了美国政府对科学前所未有的攻击。数千个联邦网站上的信息被删除,许多科学家被解雇,重要的临床试验被叫停,研究经费也处于混乱状态。这种混乱和恐惧是前所未有的,自特朗普上任以来,这种变化令人震惊。 Max Kozlov: 我是《自然》杂志的科学记者,我所听到的关于科学家被解雇、经费冻结和解冻以及政府网站被审查的故事令人震惊。这些情况是前所未有的。政府网站上的信息被删除,主要是因为特朗普政府下令删除与性别意识形态、多元化、公平与包容相关的词汇。这种做法效率低下且浪费资源,并且会阻碍未来疫情的防控,因为重要的数据被删除。科学家们正在努力备份政府网站和数据集,以防止数据丢失。 Wendy Zuckerman: 政府对科学的攻击不仅仅体现在网站审查和经费冻结上,还体现在对科研经费申请的审查上。一份来自国家科学基金会(NSF)的清单列出了可能导致科研经费申请被否决的词汇,包括“女性”、“黑人”和“拉丁裔”等。这阻碍了相关研究的经费申请,也对全球公共卫生产生严重影响。美国国际开发署(USAID)的资金被冻结,工作人员被停职,这将严重影响全球健康计划,例如对抗疟疾和艾滋病的计划。USAID资金的冻结导致全球临床试验中断,参与者被抛弃,这损害了美国在全球的信誉。罗伯特·肯尼迪小儿子(RFK Jr.)被任命为卫生与公众服务部部长,这令人担忧,因为他反对疫苗接种。他的立场以及对疫苗咨询委员会的影响令人担忧。

Deep Dive

Chapters
The episode starts by highlighting the unprecedented turmoil in U.S. science, characterized by agency firings, confusion over federal funding, and halted clinical trials. The ensuing chaos and emotional distress among scientists are described, setting the stage for the investigation into the situation.
  • Unprecedented turmoil in U.S. science
  • Thousands of federal websites had information pulled
  • Clinical trials halted
  • Funding for research stopped and restarted
  • Scientists reporting emotional distress

Shownotes Transcript

U.S. science is in turmoil. Amid agency firings and confusion over federal funding, researchers are freaking out. Many can’t do their work, and they have no idea what the future holds. Plus, we’re hearing that all of this could jeopardize medical treatments for people in the U.S. and all over the world. So, what exactly is going on? And how bad is it? We speak with Nature reporter Max Kozlov and Science magazine reporter Jocelyn Kaiser.

Find our transcript here: bit.ly/ScienceVsWarOnScience

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Scientists are freaked out

(02:40) The chaos on government science websites

(11:28) Firings and research funding freezes

(18:09) Flagging words like women, Black and Latinx in grants

(22:20) USAID cuts and vaccine concerns

(27:04) What could be the motivation for all this?

This episode was produced by Wendy Zukerman, with help from Meryl Horn, Rose Rimler, Michelle Dang and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Emma Munger, Peter Leonard and Bobby Lord. Thanks to Lauren Silverman and Nimra Azmi. And thanks so much to all the scientists who shared their stories with us. We appreciate you.

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications.

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