News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science... by SoftTalker on Monday December 22, 2025 @11:58AM (#46355910)
Why is "make a boatload of money doing something obscenely profitable and distribute the money yourself" off the table?

Companies and wealthy individuals can and do fund research, maybe not as much as in the past but why not encourage it?

Re:The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science... by ghjv on Monday December 22, 2025 @12:00PM (#46355934)
It's certainly on the table, I'm only pre-empting it as a clever answer since it's one I'm already aware of.
Re:The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science... by light_hue_1 on Monday December 22, 2025 @12:02PM (#46355963)
Companies and wealthy individuals don't fund the same research as the government.

The government funds research that other scientists think is important. That's long term, often not flashy, meat and potatoes kind of stuff.

Companies tend to have very short time horizons. And wealthy individuals want splashy things. None of these are an option if the federal government is going away.

Re:The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science... by thrance on Monday December 22, 2025 @03:06PM (#46358355)
In the end, charity, philanthropy and patronage can't achieve much more than help us feel good about massive inequalities. Not that it is completely useless, but if we want to have actual institutions carrying serious research we need public funding.