Posted on

Fires, how do they cease?

There’s a netherworld aspect to living in the box that won’t allow for observation. The nuclear decay device – in this case, purported enriched uranium, actual nuclear weapons-making stuffs – occupies both the need and raisin debt at the center of the conflict. Learn from one thing to understand another, not just another party trick but try it at home. Impress your friends:

On Thursday the White House released long-anticipated draft regulations that, if enacted, would give political appointees the final word on federal research grants and other funding across government agencies.

Scheduled to be officially published in the Federal Register on Friday, the 412-page proposal on federal spending rules would centralize Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control over releases of government funds, including for scientific research grants.

The new rules would mandate political appointees at scientific agencies to sign off on all research awards for compliance with presidential priorities, including those on race and gender.

And at scientific agencies, the proposal states that “senior appointees must conduct these reviews and apply specific principles when evaluating proposals,” a departure from past practice whereby apolitical expert review committees approved research grants.

Many people are saying a clown moved into a palace doesn’t become a king – the palace becomes a circus. This lack of pretense for caring to understand, readily transferable to all policies foreign and domestic, constitutes an undoing and should be acknowledged as such in the strongest terms available. Put people in charge who don’t know what they are doing are defiant in pushing back clocks to yesteryears and suddenly we are all looking around for someone to push back on the madness, to explain in gentler terms that will shake the comfortable from their stupor. The unwelcome news: You are the someone.

The welcome news: you’re more ready than you think. The groundhog day coup d’etat where we wait for new explanations of what’s happening from people media who don’t want one did not emerge from a rift in time. Its origins are a dereliction of responsibility, an allergy to action, against uncomfortable words and calling out ignorance, racism, and misogyny. The Strait won’t open because the vandals handed-over the handle.

Fire with fire, friends. Unless or until then, it’s cognitive tests all the way down.

Posted on

Secret Science Nights

… might make science a little less secret. Imagine going to a rock club (yes, suburbanites, people do actually leave their homes in the evening) maybe a little earlier than a show usually starts. You line up outside the door with generally the same kinds of people you usually see, plus a few others that you might not. You get inside, get a drink, but instead of noticing the first act’s gear set-up on stage, there’s a screen with a podium in front, maybe the little apple is already glowing. Then a bearded fellow comes on stage, fires up his power point and starts bouncing around the periodic table or conjuring Pleistocene megafauna to the all-too-interested gathering. It could happen.

The crowd is young and hip, mostly in their 20s and 30s, eager to gain entry to tonight’s hot-ticket entertainment event. Once the doors open, about 50 lucky people secure chairs, while another 50 stand four-deep around the room, and another 50 are gently turned away at the door.

“This is the third time I haven’t made it in,” a disappointed young woman sighs.

A mixtape of music plays through the speakers and the audience sips drinks from plastic cups while waiting for the featured act to begin. It won’t be the latest indie band, or an up-and-coming comedian. This is not the typical New York club scene. This is the monthly meeting of the Secret Science Club.

Really… what’s the answer to a disinterested/confused populace but making science more available and accessible? Particularly within in the confines of a nightclub. It might turn dull really quickly, but who’s fault would that be? The ‘nerdy’ connection in the article is unnecessary, as is the strict limitation to science (you could just as well sneak in some secret philosophy). But now is when we need to mix it up (in a pugilistic sense) the most, and especially if there is a stock supply of expertise in your town that goes home in the evenings just to sit at home and watch cable. Create a venue and they might come.

Bonus: would there be any side benefits to academicians facing a pop audience? Knowledge-as-power flows in both directions.