The Trump Administration is turning science against itself

In recent days, the Trump administration’s assault on science has taken a disturbing turn. Their latest project does not involve firing researchers or removing funds, although there are still plenty of those happening. It’s the inversion itself. Here’s the way it works. Media frenzies when three “dire wolves,” born in an unknown location in the continental United States. This is a big deal for Game of Thrones fans and anyone interested in the “de-extinction,” or promise of bringing back long extinct species.

This is a complex issue: Are these dire-wolves really dire-wolves? They’re technically greys with edited genes. Not everyone is convinced. Is this a publicity stunt, or a momentous discovery? If we stay in the Song of Ice and Fire universe can we do ice-dragons next?

These are all more or less reasonable responses. Then there’s Doug Burgum, the secretary of the Interior. A former software executive and investment banker, Burgum is now responsible for managing public lands across the US. Burgum wrote on X that the marvel of ‘deextinction’ technology could help create a future in which populations are never threatened. “The revival is a new era in scientific wonder. It shows how the concept of de-extinction can be used as a foundation for modern species conservation.” The International Union for Conservation of Nature, a nonprofit organization, has calculated that scientists can slice and dice back their genes. It’s a bit like playing Contra with the infinite lives code but for the global eco-system.

The logic is wrong and the argument is bad. It’s a type of upside-down takeaway which will be used to not advance conservation efforts, but to repeal them. Oh, fracking could kill the California condor off? Here’s a mutant bird to make up for it.

Developing genetic technology cannot viewed as a solution to human-caused species extinction. Especially not when this Administration is actively destroying the habitats and legal protective measures that imperiled species require. Statement“We are seeing anti-wildlife and pro-business politicians vilify Endangered Species Act, and claim that we can Frankenstein ourselves into the future.”

Donald Trump made a show on Tuesday by signing an executive order to promote coal production in the United States. The EO explicitly cites a need to power data centres for artificial intelligence. AI is indeed energy-intensive. They’re right. The appropriate response to this fact could be “can we make AI energy-efficient?” Or “can we push AI firms to draw on renewable sources?” Instead, the Trump Administration has decided that the linchpin of technology of the future will be driven by energy source of the previous. You could just as well tell UPS to only deliver by Clydesdale. Nothing makes sense and everything is twisted.

The nonsense Jujitsu is absurd but is it sincere?” In some cases it’s difficult to tell. In other cases, it appears that scientific illiteracy is used to cover up retribution. The Commerce Department cancelled federal funding for three Princeton University climate research initiatives this week. One of these programs was canceled because the Commerce Department cited that it promoted exaggerated climate threats. This has led to a phenomenon called “climate anxiety” among America’s youth.

Commerce Department you’re so near! It is important to be on the lookout for climate anxiety in young people. It is probably not the best thing to do to tell them to close their eyelids and put their fingers in their ear while the world burns. Wait until half of Miami will be under water before you realize how bad their climate stress really is.

This situation has two important contexts. Donald Trump doesn’t believe in climate changes, so his administration acts as if it didn’t exist. Second, Princeton University President Christopher Eisengruber suggested the federal government should not routinely swindle academic institutions to stop antisemitism. Two weeks later, Trump’s administration suspended dozens research grants totaling hundreds millions of dollars to Princeton. Now, “climate fear”

is being pushed by a government that has as its top health officials Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Mehmet OZ, two men whose careers have been built on spreading unscientific nonsense. The Trump administration has made it clear that they will not stop with the destruction and degradation scientific research in the United States. It will also misrepresent it, misinterpret it, and bastardize to achieve distinctly non-scientific ends.

These dire wolves won’t solve anything. They’re not reintroduced into the wild and they’re certainly not going help thin out deer or elk population.

But hidden in the announcement, there was something that might make a difference. Colossal cloned red wolves, a species that’s critically endangered but not extinct. The goal was to increase genetic diversity in the population. It doesn’t bring back a species that the human race has exterminated. It helps you survive.

The Chatroom.

Is the United States losing its position as the leading home of scientific innovation?

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