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Expected Isaias losses unlikely to tip the market: Brokers
Preliminary projected insured loss estimates for Hurricane Isaias range in the mid-single-digit billions, as it moves toward the Eastern Gulf Coast on Friday, according to a reports by reinsurance…
How Texas landowners are fighting back against Trump's border wall
The administration has committed billions of dollars and waived environmental and other protections to plow ahead with the project despite the region’s historically low illegal crossings.
How Texas landowners are fighting back against Trump's border wall
The administration has committed billions of dollars and waived environmental and other protections to plow ahead with the project despite the region’s historically low illegal crossings.
7 US multimillionaire donors gave $189 million to universities in 2026, far more than Africa’s 23 billionaires publicly gave to science and research
Africa’s universities and research institutions continue to operate with far less funding than those in developed economies, even as several of the continent’s richest individuals have added billions of dollars to their fortunes in 2026
Argonne-Led Campaign Aims to Improve Midwest Storm Predictions
A new U.S. Department of Energy research campaign will deploy advanced instruments from Ames, Iowa, to Chicago, Illinois, to study how differences in land surfaces, from farmland to cities, impact the formation and intensity of energy-disrupting storms. LEMONT, Ill., Oct. 7, 2026 — Every year, destructive storms cause billions of dollars of damage to homes, […]
French politicians grapple with protesters' demands for better schools while also cutting spending
Prime Minister Lecornu is pledging to improve schools at a time when the government seeks to save billions. France's dilemma can be seen across the EU: How to cut spending when citizens are demanding more from the state?
Scientists Created a Computer Inside a Water Drop Using Billions of DNA Molecules and It Worked
You won’t believe it, but DNA molecules can turn even a tiny drop of water into a computer.
After success in Ascension with steel plant, Iberville Parish proposes its own industrial zone
Proposed industrial area would abut the RiverPlex MegaPark in Ascension, which has drawn billions in investment and pollution concerns
Sarah Trone Garriott Puts Politics Over Good Paying Jobs
Sarah Trone Garriott just showed Iowans exactly where her priorities lie by voting against the largest steel mill project in American history. The $15 billion steel mill planned for Lee County is expected to create at least 1,750 permanent, good-paying jobs, bring billions of dollars in investment to Iowa, and expand American steel manufacturing. Instead of supporting a […]
Trump bets big on ‘transactional politics’ in midterm sprint
President Donald Trump is leaning into transactional politics in the final month of the 2026 midterm campaign, tying his administration directly to economic benefits in states that could determine control of Congress. This week alone, Trump has promoted billions of dollars in proposed investments in Alaska and Iowa, redirected $20 million in Department of Homeland […]
Help Overlap Zoo Reveal Cosmic Dust
Galaxies, vast collections of billions of stars, gas, and dust held together by gravity, are scattered across the immensity of space. But every so often, a
Mississippi 12th in U.S. for doing business in 2026
The Magnolia State has attracted tens of billions of dollars in announced investments this year.
Pompeii Is Helping Scientists Sharpen the Clocks Used to Date Earth’s History
An ancient catastrophe is helping geologists tell time across billions of years.
Proposed aircraft carrier redesign could delay NNS construction
The Trump administration is considering a potential redesign of the nation's aircraft carriers that could cost billions more dollars.
Scientists Say Earth Needs to Shrink by Billions of People By 2200. But I Think We’re Already Screwed.
Fossil fuels have hidden the true cost of 8 billion people. Here’s what could happen when the illusion ends.
Analysis | Democrats coalesce around a message about the cost of corruption
Their message accuses Republicans of flagrant corruption, tying the attack to the billions President Donald Trump has made during his second term.
An Old Paper Really Did Suggest A Mathematical "Doomsday" On 13 November 2026, But There's No Need To Worry
The paper, written in 1960, suggests "doomsday" will occur on 13 November 2026. But unless there are billions of secret pregnancies out there, you shouldn't be all that concerned.
They discover a lava-covered exoplanet that could reveal what Earth was like billions of years ago
A group led by a scientist from the University of Chicago announced that a "lava world" was discovered.
Columbus hospitals are spending billions on buildings. See what's new in 2026
All four health systems have repeatedly pointed to central Ohio's population growth as a key consideration in their construction over the years.
The longevity boom is getting ahead of the science
Billions are pouring into anti-ageing biotech, but manipulating ageing has risks we are only beginning to understand.
This weather threat costs us billions. And it’s about to get worse.
Scientists are chasing hail to understand what’s happening to these dangerous projectiles.
That fresh cleaning smell could be filling your home with nanoparticles
Researchers found that scented cleaners can react with ozone indoors to create billions or trillions of invisible nanoparticles that can penetrate deep into the lungs. The pollution forms within minutes and, in some cases, may produce an inhaled particle dose comparable to or greater than standing near heavy traffic.
Pioneer of China NewCo model sued in US over trade secret misuse, double-dealing
A legal feud unfolding in New York is putting a spotlight on the work of a business development veteran who is credited for pioneering one of biopharma’s hottest dealmaking mechanism: the China “NewCo” model. In a lawsuit originally filed in New York state court and recently moved to federal court, China’s Lepu Medical Technology has alleged that biopharma business development consultant Su Zhang, who was hired to help shop its GLP-1 weight-loss candidates to Western partners, engaged in corporate double-dealing and trade secret leaks. According to the complaint, while acting as Lepu’s primary dealmaking liaison for a group of obesity and metabolic disease drug candidates, Zhang was secretly double-dipping as the acting chief business officer for a direct competitor, BrightGene Pharmaceutical. “She never adequately disclosed the role, never sought Lepu’s consent, and never proposed any safeguard,” Lepu alleged in its complaint, which was filed in July after Zhang’s consulting firm, CoDevCo, sought certain transaction-based success fees from its angry customer through an arbitration process in Singapore. Lepu, the parent company of Lepu Biopharma, has asked Zhang to pay back its $500,000 retainer and disgorge all benefits she received during the alleged breaches of fiduciary duty, plus other damages and relief. The company has also requested the court grant injunctions to protect Lepu’s trade secrets. The ill-fated partnership officially kicked off in December 2024, when Lepu tapped CoDevCo as its “exclusive business development mechanism” to identify collaborators for the company’s drug candidates. According to Lepu’s complaint, Zhang personally negotiated and signed the agreement as managing director for CoDevCo, which used her home address. Before the Lepu deal, Zhang made a name following a short stint as the global head of business development for Hengrui Pharmaceuticals. It was during her tenure that Hengrui signed a landmark deal granting exclusive rights for a portfolio of GLP-1 assets to Hercules, which was at that time newly established by a group of private equity and venture capital firms. In addition to the regular upfront and milestone payments, Hengrui also gained an equity stake in Hercules, which later became Kailera Therapeutics. The Hengrui-Hercules deal opened a new paradigm, where a Chinese biopharma company spins off certain early-stage assets to investors for further development through the creation of a new company abroad. The “NewCo” model quickly came into vogue as it allows Western investors to access high-potential assets originating from China at an early stage while giving the Chinese licensors an opportunity to reap long-term benefits through equity stakes in the new firms. The NewCo model proved its value when Kailera staged a record-breaking $625 million IPO on Nasdaq this April, merely two years into the Hengrui deal. Related Kailera CEO 'knew we were in a good spot' before obesity biotech's record-breaking $625M IPO On her LinkedIn page, Zhang described her work at Hengrui as “[b]uilding team and capability from the ground up,” forming NewCo and major pharma partnerships worth billions of dollars. Lepu clearly wanted that kind of track record to help boost its own cardiometabolic portfolio, which includes a range of assets for obesity, Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease and muscle preservation during weight loss treatment. “Lepu’s pipeline is very valuable, but only if Lepu could secure the right international partner to expand into the overseas market during the available commercial window,” the company argued in its complaint. The Chinese biotech said it had little knowledge of U.S. laws, customs or business practices in the business development field, and therefore “needed to rely entirely” on the expertise of Zhang and her team as the firm’s first engagement of a U.S.-based BD consultant. “Zhang’s dominating influence on the business development strategy is further evidenced by the fact that she personally controlled the business-development communications on behalf of Lepu with potential partners,” Lepu said in its complaint. After entering the deal, Zhang introduced Lepu to her four associates. According to Lepu’s version of events, all of them were allegedly employed at different time points to perform similar jobs at other Chinese companies that Lepu described as its competitors, while having access to Lepu’s confidential information. As such, Lepu described Zhang’s team as “a roster of individuals whose primary professional loyalty, by virtue of their concurrent full-time employment, ran to Lepu’s competitors.” As well as the specific examples set out in the case, a look at Lepu’s deals over the period suggests Zhang may have been involved in at least one transaction. During their partnership, Lepu, through its subsidiary Shanghai Minwei Biotechnology, also out-licensed its GLP-1/GIP/FGF21 agonist MWN105 to a NewCo called Sidera Bio in the fall of 2025. The deal included an upfront and near-term payment of $35 million, up to $1.01 billion in milestones, and a 9.99% stake in the Danish startup. It seems likely that Zhang facilitated the Minwei deal given that Lepu is on record as having used CoDevCo as its “exclusive business development mechanism.” The big shock for Lepu came in the form of a news article on June 25, 2025. The article, reporting on phase 2 data for BrightGene’s GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist BGM0504, identified Zhang as acting chief business officer of the Lepu rival. Blindsided by her association with BrightGene, Lepu confronted Zhang in July 2025. “Lepu was given assurances that there was nothing to be concerned about and told that Zhang would explain the matter to Lepu,” Lepu alleged in its complaint. “Zhang never did.” Lepu claimed that Zhang had the motive and opportunity to steer potential prospective partners toward BrightGene or other competitors. Later, in February 2026, one of Zhang’s associates joined BrightGene as the vice president for global business development, according to the complaint. Around the same time, Lepu sent written demand letters asking Zhang to account for her BrightGene role, identify what confidential data were shared with the rival firm, and provide any conflict-of-interest or firewall policies during the engagement. According to Lepu, neither CoDevCo nor Zhang answered the questions in their responses. Related Novo vs. KBP: How a $1.3B deal turned into a fraud accusation and an international legal fight In a motion to dismiss filed with the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York on Sept. 4, Zhang’s legal team argued that Lepu’s agreement was signed with CoDevCo, and that an employee of the contractor does not owe fiduciary duties to the client. In its complaint, Lepu said: “That CoDevCo was the contracting entity does not insulate Zhang from personal liability for duties she personally undertook and personally breached.” Taking the argument one step further, the defending party argued that the consulting agreement “does not create a fiduciary relationship even between CoDevCo and Lepu; instead, it identifies CoDevCo as an independent contractor retained to market Lepu’s business to potential western partners.” Although CoDevCo was Lepu’s exclusive business-development contractor, there were no terms stipulating that the consulting firm should serve only Lepu, Zhang’s lawyer noted. As to Lepu’s claims that Zhang misappropriated trade secrets, the defendant argued that Lepu authorized the use of the information so Zhang’s team could perform their service per the agreement. In a rebuttal filed on Sept. 11, Lepu’s lawyer set out why they believe the Chinese biotech satisfied New York law’s misappropriation definition by alleging that the defendant used a trade secret “in breach of a duty or through improper means.” As an alternative to dismissing the suit, the defendant suggested the action should be stayed pending outcomes from the arbitration of a separate case in Singapore. While NewCo pioneer Zhang is defending her business arrangements, momentum behind the NewCo trend has continued unabated into 2026. Through August, Chinese biotech assets have spurred 15 NewCo deals this year, according to local trade publication PharmaDJ.
Fossil-fuel firms in line for billions in benefits after answering Trump’s donation call
Senators’ report says taxpayers face higher bills after ‘bargain’ between president and major polluters
McDonald’s is spending billions to make major changes
McDonald’s is spending billions of dollars to boost its franchises, an effort to cement its title as the leader in fast food amid growing competition.
‘I miss old Google’: readers tell us how they search the internet in the age of AI
A feature called AI Overviews has been a profound change, and the browsing habits of billions of people are shifting
Minecraft Beat Itself After Nearly Two Billion Simulated Years
Minecraft is no stranger to simulations, but it turns out that under the right conditions, the game can beat itself if given billions of years.
Businesses ‘frozen out’ of Trump’s tariff channel with China
The private sector is largely in the dark about the Trump administration's plans for a "Board of Trade" to oversee reductions on billions of dollars worth of duties.
Most firms keep cash from tariff refunds, Fed study finds
The bulk of companies receiving billions in tariff refunds are mostly holding on to the cash, according to a survey released Monday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Of
The front door is still a phone line: What voice AI returned at Virtua Health, Keck Medicine + more
Every health system, from a 15-location clinic group to a national system with tens of billions in revenue, shares the same overlooked front door: the
Zelensky said Trump agrees to speak in New York for diplomatic meeting
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced plans for a high-stakes meeting with President Donald Trump in New York. As the Ukraine-Russia war continues for more than four years, the U.S. has provided support valued at billions. Zelensky and Trump have had a strained relationship as the U.S. president balances relations with Ukraine and Russian leader Vladimir […]
White House Moves to Take Control of N.I.H. Grants
Federal officials are drafting an executive order that would place grants under review by an outside panel, the latest effort to redirect billions of dollars in research spending.
White House Moves to Take Control of N.I.H. Grants
Federal officials are drafting an executive order that would place grants under review by an outside panel, the latest effort to redirect billions of dollars in research spending.
Trump announces all 50 states joining Medicaid drug pricing model
The Trump administration claims that Medicaid will save billions on prescription drug costs as a result of the plan, dubbed the Medicaid “GENEROUS” model. Experts say the savings are unclear since the content of the deals isn't public.
Billions at stake as Texas reshapes business contract program
Texas has dramatically overhauled its Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program in the past year, shifting eligibility toward service-disabled veterans and leaving thousands of minority- an…
The Next Gene-Editing Technology May Also Be the Oldest
Scientists have discovered a powerful gene-targeting system in viruses. Billions of years old, VIPR seems to predate CRISPR and may be even more powerful.
California Eyes Prison Heat Protections That Fall Short of Workplace Standards
California is crafting weaker heat protections for prisons than other workplaces, citing billions in costs to cool aging institutions as climate and health risks increase. It’s a second-class standard, health and safety advocates say, and would leave correctional workers more susceptible to heat illness.
Sabre refinances billions of debt; Thryv to sell parts of Yellow Pages business for $142 million
Southlake-based Sabre is refinancing more than $1 billion of debt in one of several deals that have occurred recently in Dallas-Fort Worth. Others include a $275 million acquisition by a Frisco-based home care company and a $142 million sale of some Yellow Pages and White Pages directories by Dallas-based Thryv. Learn about these deals and others in our latest wrap.
The crypto industry saw Trump as its savior. His crypto business just snagged a key bill
The crypto industry has spent years and hundreds of billions of dollars lobbying for regulation that would more closely weave digital assets into traditional finance. When President Donald Trump made a heel-turn on crypto in 2024, supporters hoped that he’d finally put an end to their regulatory limbo.
Dangote reveals the business mistake that cost him billions 30 years ago after Chinese and Indian imports left nearly 8,000 workers jobless
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has revealed that one of his biggest business mistakes was investing heavily in Nigeria’s textile industry, a venture he eventually abandoned after struggling to compete with imports from China and India
The AI Race Is Moving Too Fast, Its Leaders Warn. Will Anyone Slow Down?
The race to build more powerful AI systems has been moving at breakneck speed. Billions are being spent, new models are arriving every few months, and the biggest AI companies are competing to stay ahead. But now, some of the people leading that race are saying it may be time to slow things down. Anthropic […]
Gates Foundation bets $1B on AI to boost global health, agriculture and education
The Gates Foundation is committing at least $1 billion over the next two years to AI tools for health workers, farmers and teachers. CEO Mark Suzman told GeekWire he expects the figure to grow, but said AI efficiencies cannot make up for the billions governments have cut from global health.
How politics have mixed into college football programming ahead of midterms
Sen. Ted Cruz, the Power Four football conferences and top coaches are pushing a new bill that some athletes say would upend college sports. And ahead of the midterms, billions of dollars are being spent on political ads, including during sports programming. NBC News' Ryan Chandler reports on how Saturdays are starting to look more like an Election Day.
EPA is set to eliminate rule that limits planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to repeal rules that limit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas, an action that Administrator Lee Zeldin has said would remove billions of dollars in costs for the industry and help “unleash” American energy. The rule change, proposed last […]
They created Siri before Apple bought it. They’re still waiting for their original vision to come true
Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer, known for creating an assistant that’s now found in billions of Apple devices, have been thinking about what comes after the search engine for a long time.
Carney Pitches Canada to Global Investors as Trump Tries to Pull Investment South
TORONTO (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump wants factories and investment moving south to the United States. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is betting he can make billions flow north. About 300 CEOs and senior executives from some of the world’s biggest investment firms will descend on the Four ...
After the I.P.O., a Billion-Dollar Bill for Employee Paydays
A compensation strategy at start-ups keeps expenses low until they go public. At that point, the companies may face billions of dollars in catch-up expenses.
Uniting sequence and structure to map the protein universe across billions of years of evolution
An international team of researchers, including those at the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at the Institute of Science Tokyo, has developed a protein language model that brings together two fundamental ...
Former crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried appeals conviction to Supreme Court
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former crypto mogul who was convicted of defrauding investors by secretly diverting billions of dollars of their money, asked the Supreme Court on Thursday for a new trial and to throw out a court order requiring him to pay $11 billion as part of his sentence.
Two Tiny Lifeforms Built a Bridge Too Small to See—and May Have Made Humanity Possible
Stromatolites, formed by microbial mats, hold evidence of a symbiotic relationship that possibly kickstarted complex life billions of years ago.
How Meta’s Billions for Teen Mental Health Can Make a Real Difference
Instead of repeating the mistakes they made with tobacco money, states should set clear goals — and measure outcomes through dashboards accessible to all — for programs addressing social media’s harms to teenagers.
Louisiana concrete companies join forces to capitalize on construction boom
Two Louisiana concrete suppliers are joining forces with two out-of-state companies to pursue large-scale construction projects as billions of dollars in new industrial and technology investment move … Already an INSIDER? Sign in. Already an INSIDER? Sign in
California Wants $7.5 Billion for Science. My Generation Will Inherit
A STUDENT’S VIEW - California may ask voters to authorize billions for scientific research after federal funding cuts. Young Californians have a particular stake in what happens next. California is c
State lawmakers are worried about PG&E's plan to spend less money on projects
California lawmakers and Gov. Newsom face a new hurdle amid the debate over wildfire liability as the state's largest power company prepares to spend billions less than expected on energy projects it had promised.
Text Watermarking in Python: Catch Whoever Copies Your Writing
AI companies quietly watermark billions of words a day. Here’s how to apply the same three families of techniques to your own writing—and what real experiments reveal about which watermarks survive copy-paste, editing, and paraphrasing.
Why Is China Betting Billions on a Secret Science Almost No One Knows? - Futura-Sciences
The Silent Quantum Revolution In the shadows of headline debates about semiconductors and artificial intelligence, a quieter, subtler scientific revolution is underway between global superpowers. In the spring of 2025, China unveiled its ambitious strategy to dominate quantum metrology—the ultra-precise science quietly governing our technological world. This marks a frenetic...
Pentagon agreement with NIH on biodefense draws alarm from Democrats
The deal is being criticized by Democrats who warn it could allow the Defense Department to go around Congress and gain access to billions of dollars meant for infectious disease research.
Scientists detect signals of hydrogen from billions of years ago. Could this help us map out the universe?
"Hydrogen intensity mapping has long been seen as a promising way to map the universe efficiently."
Bundesliga brings the band back together in Premier League's shadow
As the cashed-up Premier League spent billions in another record-breaking transfer window, many Bundesliga clubs were forced to improvise, bringing back former players on cut-price deals. - 'Back home' - As the transfer window slammed shut on Tuesday evening, FIFA figures showed the Premier League had spent more than $3.02 billion (2.6 billion euros), more than three times the Bundesiga's $904 million.
Ancient “living fossils” may reveal how complex life began
A newly discovered microbe living inside ancient stromatolite communities may offer a rare look at how complex life first emerged. Researchers captured the first direct images of an Asgard archaeon physically connected to a bacterium, with the two microbes appearing to exchange nutrients and other compounds. Scientists think similar partnerships billions of years ago may have helped produce the first complex cells.
We've spent billions searching for dark matter and still haven't found it. Why are scientists obsessed with finding something they can't see? | BBC Sky at Night Magazine
If dark matter is invisible and can't be detected, why are scientists spending so much time and money searching for it?
FTC sues Amazon, alleging it overcharged advertisers
The Federal Trade Commission and 22 states on Monday accused retail giant Amazon of deceiving businesses by overcharging prices to advertise on its massive retail platform, pocketing billions for the company.
FTC sues Amazon for allegedly overcharging advertisers on its platform
The Federal Trade Commission on Monday accused retail giant Amazon of deceiving businesses by overcharging prices to advertise on its massive retail platform, pocketing billions for the company.
OpenClaw that Sam Altman spent billions on and claims to have beaten GTA 6 gets 'largest update in its history'
OpenClaw has rolled out OpenClaw 2.0, marking the most extensive software upgrade in the open-source artificial intelligence (AI) agent platform’s history since its debut last year. Announcing the release, the development team playfully referenced Rockstar Games’ upcoming November title launch with the social post, “HA!
Proposed Medicaid Cuts Could Cost Maternal and Children’s Health Care Billions
An estimated $19.7 billion in Texas health care funding is at stake under proposed changes to Medicaid payments. The proposed rules from the Centers for
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman space telescope launches
During its five-year primary mission, Roman is expected to observe billions of stars and galaxies, 100,000 exoplanets, and more.
Businesses are getting tariff refunds. Why aren't consumers getting their cut?
A slew of American companies are getting billions of dollars back in tariff refunds after a Supreme Court ruling. Many consumers, though, may never get anything back.
'Right to repair' bill could free contractors' grip on military
The Pentagon spends billions of dollars fixing equipment, and Republicans and Democrats alike want to bring the work in house
Business, government leaders reach deal to nix highway-funding initiative, dedicate billions to roads in other ways
Rather than reallocate existing sales-tax revenue to roads, the plan would create new sources of funding and a new 2027 ballot initiative.
Blowing Up an Asteroid With a Nuke: Scientists Shocked by Final Result - Futura-Sciences
Asteroids: A Perennial Threat Over Billions of Years The risks asteroids pose to Earth never truly go out of style—they regularly return to the spotlight. And for good reason: these threats are all too real. Unlike any species before us in the 4+ billion-year saga of Earth’s biosphere, we are...
Proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. merger threatens 4,500 Los Angeles County entertainment jobs
Local officials and labor leaders warn that proposed studio consolidation could wipe out billions in business revenue and devastate local vendors. By A new economic report warns the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger puts 4,500 direct Los Angeles County jobs and billions in revenue at risk.
Gavin Newsom’s unfinished wildfire business
His final legislative push is angering insurance companies, wildfire victims and local officials — and billions of dollars are at stake.
Walmart says it will use billions in tariff refunds to keep prices low
Walmart said it received nearly $2.9 billion in tariff refunds and plans to use some of the benefit to support lower prices for shoppers, while the refunds also provided a significant boost to quarterly operating income.
How much of a cancer drug is too much? Patients, researchers challenge FDA-approved dosages
Patients and researchers point to evidence that many cancer drug dosages are excessive, and that reducing the amount and frequency could save billions of dollars and prevent some of the worst side effects.
Amid federal scrutiny, Dodgers owner Mark Walter’s empire shifting billions
The filings offer a window into the finance mogul’s sports and business empire and reveal a loan tied to the MLB club has been paid off.
Spend more on vet services to curb pandemic threat, says animal health body
Head of global organisation says billions of dollars needed to curb risks of mass culls
Ukraine takes aim at Russia’s economy and morale by attacking online retailer
Day after day over recent weeks, Ukrainian drones have pummeled giant depots belonging to Wildberries, the country’s biggest online retailer, burning estimated billions of dollars’ worth of merchandise and bringing the war home to the broad public.
‘Very outdated’: Trump’s directive to revert to steam catapults on new aircraft carrier baffles naval experts
President Donald Trump has directed the US Navy to scrap the modern electromagnetic launch system on an upcoming aircraft carrier and instead revert to an older, steam-powered catapult method — potentially adding billions to its price tag and delaying its deployment into the late 2030s.
Montenegro Wants To Be Europe’s Next Crypto Hub, But Weak Regulation Might Be Costing It Big Business
Montenegro’s crypto market is growing despite regulatory gaps that could deter investors and leave billions in digital-asset transactions beyond effective oversight.
Trump orders Navy to use older system of launching jets off aircraft carriers
The new mandate would likely cost billions of dollars and revert the Navy's most advanced ships to a system that takes more sailors to operate and is more difficult to maintain
White House says more than 40 nations help China dodge tariffs
A new White House report says that China sends billions of dollars worth of goods to the U.S. via third countries in order to skirt Trump's high tariffs.
Group sues AMA seeking transparency over Medicare billing codes
PatientRightsAdvocate.org says it wants to republish the proprietary billing codes that guide billions of dollars in health care payments.
BofA joins banks pouring billions into US infrastructure
Bank of America is the latest Wall Street firm to announce an investment in American infrastructure.
Padilla leads Democrats in push for answers about cancelled wind projects
Over the last several months, the Trump administration has made a series of announcements that the federal government would be buying back off-shore wind leases issued during the Biden administration for billions of dollars.
Oracle is planning another round of job cuts this month
The potential layoffs reduce Oracle's payroll as it racks up billions in debt to fund AI infrastructure.
Political Identity Now Drives Billions In Consumer Funding
Wearables, wallets and scanners show political and lifestyle identity now drives billions in venture funding across a 2x2 consumer market map.
Trump Family Business Empire Faces Fresh Scrutiny as Republicans Join Calls for Answers
President Donald Trump’s family businesses are facing renewed scrutiny over billions of dollars in earnings, a paid service offering faster access to his social media posts and financial transactions ...
How AI-Powered Business Email Compromise Scams Are Stealing Billions
Business Email Compromise scams cost companies billions. Criminals are use AI, deepfakes and voice cloning to commit fraud. Learn how businesses can protect themselves.
These 'five pillars' for living healthier longer are easy and affordable
Longevity has become a bit of a buzz word, and has become increasingly aligned with the tech industry. But while it remains unclear whether the billions of US dollars being invested in life-extending bioscience is something any of us can access, a timely report from Harvard Medical School reminds us what we can do on our own – and it's backed by a huge body of evidence.
Exclusive: Emails reveal Palmer Luckey’s political fundraising as his company wins sole-source contracts
Co-founder of defense firm Anduril has donated $5.9m to Republicans and bundled more, while reaping billions in Pentagon contracts
Trump administration pays back $100bn in 'Liberation Day' tariffs to businesses
It represents roughly 60% of all tariff revenue collected under the policy, with billions still to be repaid.
Negative, false and misleading political ads pollute and undermine the election process
What is your reaction when viewing TV, listening to the radio or surfing digital platforms and there is a political ad filled with false and misleading information that you can neither verify nor confirm? Billions of dollars are spent in a national election cycle. Millions of those dollars are spent by candidates and ballot-measure campaigns […]
If Not AOC, Then Who?
What do we do if Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decides not to run for president in 2028? It makes sense that many leftists are currently focused on calling on her to take the plunge. But the absence of a Plan B, or even much discussion about one, is worrisome. The US Left can’t afford to sit out the 2028 Democratic primary. Doing so in 2024 was a disaster: our abstention self-marginalized anti-billionaire politics from the national conversation and thereby gave space for Harris to pivot to the “center” (i.e. the policy preferences of corporate donors, establishment hacks, and AIPAC). Abstaining again in 2028 would be especially counterproductive since democratic socialists now have so much wind in our sails after our big electoral wins in NYC and across the country. It’s time to deepen our momentum, organization, and profile — not to retreat to the margins during America’s single most important political battle. Even more urgently, keeping Trump’s heir out of the White House may depend on whether leftists and the party’s unprecedentedly disenchanted base can force the Democrats in 2028 to take meaningful steps towards a very angry electorate and away from the corporate-consultant blob that has helped get us into this mess. If AOC (or Abdul El-Sayed) decides to run, we should enthusiastically go all in — DSA, fighting unions, progressive organizations, anybody who wants to see a better country and world. But, as far as I can tell from the outside, there’s a real chance that she doesn’t run. And we can’t just wait and see where she lands before discussing alternatives, since AOC’s decision might not come for quite a while, giving us little time to scramble at the last minute for an alternative. So we should start working now on getting a Plan B into motion, and recruiting a good candidate for the role. Here’s one idea. A Worker Candidate — Healthcare Not Warfare 2028 Run a union worker Leftists don’t need to always run experienced, well-known socialist politicians for high-profile contests. Lula, the current president of Brazil, began his political career as a metalworker militant who ran for governor of São Paulo in 1982. Especially in an era of institutional distrust, it’s possible to lean hard into making a virtue out of a working-class comrade’s distance from traditional politics. Experience abroad shows this clearly. Rachel Kéké — an immigrant hotel housekeeper — ran as the candidate of the leftist La France Insoumise for the National Assembly in 2022, defeating a former minister in the Macron government. The Belgian Workers’ Party in 2024 won its first Flemish seat in the European Parliament by running Rudi Kennes, a three-decade veteran of the Opel Antwerp auto factory. And the South Korean left in 2024 elected auto factory militant Yoon Jong-oh to the National Assembly. If a tiny French Trotskyist organization could make such a big splash in 2002 and 2007 by running a well-spoken postal worker cadre for office — the LCR’s Olivier Besancenot received about 1.5 million first-round votes — it’s not far-fetched to expect that a much larger organization like DSA, together with a broader coalition of the willing, could run this playbook to much greater effect. This is especially the case now that almost everything DSA does immediately becomes a national news story. We don’t need someone famous. We just need a charismatic, well-vetted comrade who works in a relatable working-class occupation — e.g. a nurse, or a worker in auto or construction, or at Amazon. Ideally, they have a compelling personal story or have been part of a significant strike or organizing campaign, but even those criteria don’t necessarily have to be deal-breakers. The main lesson of the Graham Platner fiasco isn’t that we should never run outsiders for office (the momentum he generated proves the exact opposite), but that they need proper vetting and roots in democratic membership organizations like DSA or a union. In any case, there are plenty of ways to signal working-class authenticity without resorting to Platner’s or Fetterman’s performative macho white dude affect. Better to have someone of any gender or race who is actually working class, with firm socialist politics, who can speak from experience about the day-to-day realities of trying to make it in America. There are surely at least a dozen such worker leaders in our movement nationwide; we just need to sit down and convince one that their personal sacrifice for the greater good (i.e. running for president) will be worth it. If we don’t have a frontrunner with a clear path to victory like AOC (or El-Sayed, were he to win Michigan), it’s better to embrace someone whose decision to run in itself tells an important story about US politics: workers have been iced out of our political system and are now fighting hard to break back in. The novelty factor, in itself, would generate press. And it would help democratic socialists signal to the American public that our movement’s defining characteristic is that we represent workers vs. bosses, not that we’re “the furthest left” force in American politics — a framework that suggests we’re extremists and that helps our opponents isolate us from non-college-educated voters by highlighting extremely minoritarian (and misguided) stances included in DSA’s platform like prison abolition. We don’t get many opportunities to speak to tens of millions of Americans; we need to use these opportunities to broaden our appeal beyond those already in our orbit. Run to polarize the 2028 primary and general election around “Medicare for All” and “End All Aid to Israel” Why should democratic socialists use our scarce time and volunteer energy to run in a race we’re unlikely to win? Running in the 2028 primary will not only recruit us scores of members (imagine having a DSA member intervening in eleven nationally televised primary debates!), but — more importantly — it has the potential to be a decisive leap forward towards an America that finally starts meeting the needs of working people instead of HMO and AIPAC billionaire donors. Polarizing litmus tests are good, actually — as long as they’re fought for around popular demands in a thoughtful and strategic way. Democratic socialists have an opportunity and responsibility to make the 2028 primary about two of the most widely and deeply felt issues of our moment: domestically, America’s unaffordable, family-breaking private healthcare system; internationally, America’s bankrolling of the genocidal Israeli government. A candidacy relentlessly demanding Medicare for All and No Aid to Israel would pose a sharp question to the American public, the Democratic Party, and other 2028 contenders: Why can’t working-class Americans afford their healthcare bills at the same time that our government is spending at least $3.8 billion yearly to fund an Israeli regime eager to keep dragging us and the world into more forever wars? Our candidate can agitate around a clear message: I’m running to give voice to all those working-class Americans who are struggling to get by. No matter what state you live in, who you voted for in 2024, or your background, it’s just plain common sense that we should make healthcare more affordable instead of spending billions to enable the Israeli government’s crimes against humanity. Every American who agrees with me when I say ‘Medicare for All — Not a Dime for Israel’ should make their voice heard through our campaign. Racking up a high number of votes for this agenda is a crucial way to show the Democratic Party and the country as a whole that we can’t keep supporting a life-destroying status quo in our healthcare system and in the Middle East. If we want to defeat Trump’s handpicked crony this coming November, we need to speak to ordinary people’s frustrations with the status quo — we can’t keep running the same tired establishment playbook and expecting a different result. For those highly engaged voters (or skeptical media pundits) who raise concerns about wasting votes, the candidate can take the time to explain why this isn’t the case: It's true I'm a long shot. But Zohran showed anything can happen — and voting for me is a pragmatic decision, not a wasted vote. In a heavily divided primary with a large number of candidates and a very discredited establishment, my campaign and the democratic socialist movement I’m part of are positioned to be the balance of power if we can get a large enough number of voters to loudly demand Healthcare Not Warfare. Since there’s a high chance no candidate will get to 50% in the 2028 primaries, the Democrats could very well be heading towards a brokered convention, where a disciplined, principled current committed to breaking from corporate donors can play an outsized role in making sure whoever ends up with the nomination raises the banner of single-payer healthcare and cutting aid to Israel. How exactly could running this sort of primary campaign be translated into actual leverage? The candidate replies: I’m aiming to win the nomination, but if I don’t achieve that goal, my delegates and I will pledge our support in the primary only for a candidate who agrees in the general election to call for ending US aid to Israel and establishing Medicare for All at home. These are both winning planks for November against the Republicans, and the only reason I can see that other candidates haven’t yet raised these is that they’re still more scared of the donor class than they are of the people. That needs to change. If Democratic leaders want young people, workers, and those sick of the status quo to show up in big numbers this November, they need to meet us halfway. In this way, whether or not we win the nomination, democratic socialists could still play a decisive role in 2028. The approach outlined here is similar to what radical left parties periodically do in parliamentary democracies like Denmark or Sweden when they find themselves as a junior partner electorally: they dictate to center-left allies what their terms would be for enabling, from the outside, the formation of a new government. Running a Healthcare Not Warfare candidate will make it significantly more likely that the 2028 Democratic candidate stands with ordinary people instead of donors on these two pivotal planks — a shift that will, in turn, make it easier to achieve the existentially important task of defeating MAGA’s heir in November. Look at how much popular traction the Uncommitted movement got with a similar strategy in 2024 with so little on-the-ground organization — surely we can go much further with a working-class candidate, a much bigger DSA, and a Democratic Party base that has turned against Israel, billionaires, and the hacks in the party who prop them up. Objections and Responses There are quite a few objections to this proposal, many of which are very reasonable. Let me briefly address each here. Socialists shouldn’t waste their scarce time and resources on a candidate unlikely to win. This is a good rule in general, but there are important exceptions, and presidential elections are the main one. There’s no other political contest that gets anything like this level of attention and engagement in the US, so if you want to be a serious force in nationwide politics, you basically can’t afford not to have a candidate. Far from being an overall drain on our resources, running a dynamic 2028 campaign would likely result in a major net increase in members and capacity. In that spirit, the very pragmatic Milwaukee sewer socialists — who mostly ran to win at home in Wisconsin — supported Eugene Debs’s propagandistic presidential campaigns, which they correctly saw as a crucial means of recruiting to the Socialist Party. And now that the (post-1972) Democratic Party gives more weight to voters than party operatives in determining its presidential nomination, it’s become feasible to run as a socialist in primaries without risking a split in the vote against the Republicans in November. We should just support Ro Khanna, who also supports M4A and ending aid to Israel. I like Ro Khanna and would enthusiastically vote and canvass for him for president were he to get the nomination. But there’s a real chance that Khanna’s bid for office doesn’t catch on; he lacks the grassroots organizational apparatus of DSA, and, because he’s not really of the Left or labor (despite his current very good positions), he’s unlikely to generate the type of buy-in and enthusiasm that a DSA candidate would. Moreover, Khanna would be running as an individual, not as someone emerging from and building an organized movement — his campaign would not likely focus on building sustained power from below, nor would it likely polarize the 2028 primary around M4A and Israel aid. Also, and not inconsequentially, the poor electoral results for Tom Steyer and Saikat Chakrabarti this spring suggest that there’s perhaps not much of a popular appetite in the Democrats’ base to support multi-millionaire class traitors. Much better, then, to run a democratic socialist worker. If by Super Tuesday it’s clear that our campaign has captured the main left lane in the primary, Khanna should drop out and endorse us; conversely, if he’s managed to capture this lane, DSA could at that point transform its Healthcare Not Warfare campaign into an independent campaign to elect Ro Khanna focused on winning (and holding him accountable to) those two critical planks. An openness to consolidating an anti-corporate candidate by Super Tuesday is a necessary component of the strategy I’m proposing, because otherwise we risk splitting the primary votes (per DNC rules, you need at least 15% to get any delegates to convention). We should convince Shawn Fain or Sara Nelson to run for president instead. I agree it’d be great if either ran for president, but my impression is that there’s basically no chance that will happen in 2028, because both are firmly focused on their union leadership duties (and, in the case of Fain, beating back a federal witch-hunt). This plan could have DSA end up endorsing a non-socialist, non-DSAer for president. That’s against our principles. It’s a myth, and bad politics, that socialists can’t ever support candidates who aren’t members of their organization and/or who don’t call themselves socialists. Bernie, after all, was not a DSAer. And socialists abroad regularly make tactical decisions about if and when supporting a non-socialist candidate makes sense from the standpoint of promoting working-class interests, defending democracy, and building a socialist current in the process. If your “principles” prevent you and DSA from helping achieve the momentous stride forward of having a Democratic candidate in 2028 run on Medicare for All and ending aid to Israel, those “principles” are not very good. In fact, they actively undermine the causes they’re aiming to support. We shouldn’t confuse principles (working-class independence) with tactics (the best way to advance this in a given context). In my recent article in Catalyst on Milwaukee sewer socialism (I’ve uploaded the full text here), I have a section showing how similarly rigid rules about endorsements had to be eventually discarded in the old Socialist Party nationwide after WWI because they tended to lead socialists towards a sectarian abstention from broader anti-corporate electoral insurgencies beyond their party’s control. For what it’s worth, Lenin’s current under Tsarism frequently backed bourgeois candidates in the second round of elections and Lenin himself advocated that British Communists support Labour Party candidates; for his part, Kautsky in 1912 defended the German Social Democracy’s electoral pact with the Progressives in the runoffs. If our predecessors could be that tactically flexible in an era before the limits of their underlying strategic assumptions about intransigent class politics in capitalist democracies were made clear, then there’s no need to insist on being more tactically rigid today, after a century’s worth of accumulated experience. As long as you maintain your own political profile and organization while engaging in broader coalitional efforts, there’s zero inherent contradiction with the principle of political independence. More specifically: DSA and allied organizations should enthusiastically back Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed if AOC declines to run and he throws his hat in the presidential ring. (I have no idea whether he’s even considering this path, but there’ll surely be chatter about it if he wins his Senate race this November.) Though he doesn’t call himself a socialist, El-Sayed is a principled Berniecrat, a consistent fighter for Palestine, and would have a clear path to victory. Using the “s” word is far less important than whether a campaign fights for the interests of working people at home and abroad — and whether actively participating in it can grow the organized working class and the Left. And the same holds true if a less anti-corporate candidate were, under pressure, to adopt our two Healthcare Not Warfare planks. Why focus only on M4A and ending US aid to Israel? There are so many other important issues to fight for! Obviously there are many pivotal issues beyond healthcare and Israel, and our candidate — and especially our organizations involved in the campaign — should be prepared to speak on all of these. But one of the crucial lessons of the Zohran campaign is that you have to relentlessly stay on message if you want to cut through the noise. CNN and Fox News will want to talk about DSA’s views on Venezuela and abolishing the police; we need to polarize the debate on the widely and deeply felt issues that are most favorable for growing the Left, isolating our opponents, and winning urgently needed changes. One recent poll found 63% of Americans support M4A, even after respondents were told it would raise taxes and eliminate most private insurance. Another found that 74% of Democrats opposed “providing additional economic and military support to Israel.” And focusing on two demands sets the campaign up to be able to leverage its mandate to make clear demands upon other candidates (which we can’t do if we run with a laundry list of demands). Talking about a Plan B is a distraction from the more urgent work of building a groundswell of calls on AOC to run. It’s good for DSAers, fightback unionists, and progressive organizations to try to convince AOC to run. This proposal is meant as an addendum to pushes to get AOC to run and to line DSA up for that eventuality, not as a substitute for those efforts. But I’m worried that, like in 2024, we might eventually find ourselves with no time to find a viable alternative unless we start now. DSA, with its abundant deliberative processes, moves slowly. The approach you’re suggesting seems risky. If a DSA candidate runs but doesn’t receive a lot of votes, it’ll undercut our current national momentum. This is a reasonable worry. All big initiatives always carry risks, and the path I’m advocating is certainly not free of these. That said, if a Healthcare Not Warfare campaign doesn’t catch on like we envisioned, it’s a pretty simple pivot in March 2028 to explain that in the future we really need our standard-bearers like AOC, or our growing bench of national electeds, to step up in presidential primaries. Moreover, it’s worth noting that the risk of my Plan B proposal is on the whole significantly less than the risk entailed by an AOC run. We should all back her if she runs, since she’d fire up the base, provide huge openings for organizing, have a real shot at defeating a Republican (especially given MAGA’s unpopularity), be a great standard-bearer for our issues, particularly M4A and ending aid to Israel, and be less willing than mainstream candidates to capitulate to any anti-democratic machinations from Trump and co. But it’s also true that AOC could lose, which would be a devastating setback to the country and the Left. Or she could win and find herself unable to pass much, if any, of her (and our) program, a demoralizing prospect. So if we’re willing to take these risks with AOC (and we should), it follows that we should be able to take lower-level risks if she doesn’t throw her hat in the ring. What’s Your Plan B? The US Left is facing its biggest opening for growth and influence since the 1930s. Initiatives that would have been impossible a few months ago are now potentially feasible. A President AOC is now easier to imagine, but if she ultimately assesses that the risks aren’t worth the potential reward in 2028, we can’t be left flat-footed. So even if you’re not convinced by the specifics of my Plan B, I hope you can at least agree that it’d be a disaster for us not to have one — and not to start getting a Plan B into motion. Hopefully other organizers and political currents will put forward their responses and alternative ideas ASAP. The stakes are too high to just wait and see. More As always, please share this article widely. This newsletter depends on all you lovely people to get the word out. Thank you! I uploaded the full text of my Catalyst article on Milwaukee sewer socialism here (it’s updated and 3x as long as the version published earlier on this substack). If you haven’t yet, please make sure to subscribe to Catalyst here; I read every issue front to back, highly recommend. 🌹🎵 Ivan Lins (arranged by Arthur Verocai) — “General da Banda” 🌹🎵
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The new "science golden age" looks suspiciously like a grift
This edition of PN is made possible by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ 🚀 Subscribe to PN 🚀 The Trump regime is trying to usher in a “Golden Age in Science” where scientific research is run like a Trump family business, artificial intelligence is all that matters, profit is everything, and expertise is for chumps. Or at least that’s the vision emerging from a new 123-page “Report to the President” from Michael Kratsios, the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In a normal administration, you could probably skip over learning about a science policy document — but this is no normal administration, and this is no normal science policy document. Instead, it’s Trump’s attempt to end the actual golden age of science that was kicked off in 1945 with the publication of '“The Endless Frontier” by Vannevar Bush. [ ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/harmeet-dhillon-portland) [ Harmeet Dhillon demonstrates danger of posting through it ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/harmeet-dhillon-portland) Liz Dye · Jul 29 [ Read full story ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/harmeet-dhillon-portland) Bush, at President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s request, laid out a vision of federal support for science that centered on funding universities to do basic research, saying that as long as those institutions were “vigorous and healthy and their scientists are free to pursue the truth wherever it may lead, there will be a flow of new scientific knowledge to those who can apply it to practical problems in Government, in industry, or elsewhere.” Kratsios’s report is supposed to be the successor to Bush’s, and even apes the format, but this isn’t really a document about science policy. It’s one about ending science research as we know it in favor of shoveling cash at big tech companies. While it might be temping to wave this away as an aspirational policy document, Trump has already begun to shift billions in research funds to AI projects and has taken a hatchet to science funding across the board. He’s teed up the shift Kratsios proposes here, and since neither Congress nor the Supreme Court seem inclined to stop him from doing whatever he wants with taxpayer money, it isn’t doomering or hyperbole to say we are staring down the barrel of a world where the only “science” the government intends to support is for-profit tech and defense advancements. Science for dummies Part of how you can tell this isn’t a document about science is that you are immediately faced with an absolute wall of business-speak of the worst sort. Did you know we must “tightly couple our science and technology enterprises to ensure that groundbreaking ideas invented in the United States are rapidly prototyped, tested, manufactured, and scaled domestically”? You do now! That tone isn’t surprising, because Kratsios has no background in science or research. He has a bachelor’s in political science and spent most of his career working for Peter Thiel at Thiel Capital. After a stint in the first Trump administration as Chief Technology Officer, where he also did not do any science, Kratsios was tasked in 2020 with overseeing the Pentagon’s research budget for a brief time, a position that, as the Wall Street Journal put it, “carries a great deal of power in terms of dictating investment allocations.” He spent the Biden years at Scale AI as “head of strategy,” which you will also note is neither a science nor a research job. But Scale AI has contracts with the Department of Defense and, as the Washington Post wrote in 2023, “has been aggressively pitching itself as the company that will help the US military in its existential battle with China.” And now you have the necessary background for our new golden age, which is going to be a golden age of taking money away from scientists and universities and giving it to companies like Scale AI. A note from Aaron: Working with brilliant contributors like Lisa takes resources. If you aren’t already a paid subscriber, please become one to support our work. 👇 Subscribe In a genuinely galling move, Katsios spends a lot of time slamming universities because of “administrative burdens on researchers” and the “well-documented inefficiencies” in academia, the message being that those damn universities waste the time of amazing researchers with paperwork. Except it’s the administration that is attempting to impose inefficient, unnecessary burdens on those researchers with a proposed Office of Management and Budget rule that would require senior political appointees to approve every science grant and ensure it aligns with Trump’s personal priorities. Researchers would also have to seek prior government approval to attend conferences or publicize their research. And political appointees could terminate any grant at any time if they feel like it. [ ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/omb-rule-science-funding) [ The murder of expertise ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/omb-rule-science-funding) Lisa Needham · Jun 11 [ Read full story ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/omb-rule-science-funding) But when it comes to AI, we’re going to “restore permissionless innovation.” The report proposes to give lucky ducky innovators a pile of cash up front for grants lasting five years or longer, saying “awards should be fully-funded in year one, with all resources earmarked upfront, to minimize administrative burdens and reduce pressure for researchers to generate intermediate results to secure continued funding.” Yeah, wouldn’t want to have to make the Very Special Tech Bros show results or get money parceled out year by year like the plebes at universities. The report also proposes that we should have “fast grants” with “simplified applications requiring just a few pages of writing” because that is definitely how science works, just writing a bit off the dome and getting some cash. [ ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-ai-action-plan-altman-llms) [ Tech elites are turning AI into ChatGPTrump ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-ai-action-plan-altman-llms) Paul Waldman · July 29, 2025 [ Read full story ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-ai-action-plan-altman-llms) Oh, and we should have prizes and challenges, where multiple teams compete. The proposed prizes include incentives like “advance procurement commitments,” which means the federal government agrees to buy whatever is being developed. There’s also “regulatory fast-tracking,” making sure all those great AI thingies don’t have to wait too long to be unleashed on a market. These aren’t incentives to do science. These are incentives to develop things with tax dollars that you can then sell to the government for more tax dollars. In the suggestion that might be the most unhinged, the most very opposite of how both government and research work, our new age will include “golden tickets.” That’s where an individual reviewer in an agency — yes, just one person — can “recommend unconventional proposals that may not pass consensus-driven review panels” because somehow this will “surface valuable ideas too divisive for committees and attract higher quality reviewers by empowering them to exercise independent scientific judgment.” Yes, that’s saying that a random person in an agency should be able to shovel money at some idea even if it can’t pass a review panel, and that the opportunity to do so will attract better employees because apparently all the best minds in science are chomping at the bit to be allowed to unilaterally fund AI research based on their personal vibes. But that isn’t at all how actual science works, and actual scientists aren’t unhappy about review panels. They work collaboratively, not siloed in some secret race to create the next AI chatbot. A 2020 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research examined whether peer review panels succeed in helping agencies predict which research ideas will best advance science. Peer review was better at finding “diamond in the rough” applicants than a single government program official. How about that. Trump always wants a taste It’s painfully clear that what Katsios is trying to do here is turn the whole of government science research and funding into the sort of “move fast and break things” paradigm that is the hallmark of big tech. That method works to line the pockets of tech executives, but it isn’t science. There’s a reason the government funds different kinds of research than private tech companies do. What Katsios either fails to understand or deliberately ignores is that the federal government is the main funder of basic research precisely because it can take a long time for it to bear fruit and is not intended to be profitable as such. “Basic” here does not mean rudimentary or simple, but rather research that is designed to advance scientific knowledge instead of achieving a specific outcome or product. Big tech companies don’t widely fund that sort of research, because it doesn’t make them money. Industry dollars account for only about 20 percent of basic research funding, while the government contributes around 60 percent. Big tech companies and startups do, however, rely on and benefit from that basic research. A 2019 study found that 35 percent of all patents obtained by venture-backed startups from 1976 to 2016 cited federally supported research. Basic research funded by the NIH contributed to every single drug the FDA approved from 2010 to 2016. [ ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-saudi-nuclear-deal) [ The Saudi nuclear farce and governance by whim and meme ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-saudi-nuclear-deal) Noah Berlatsky · Jul 27 [ Read full story ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-saudi-nuclear-deal) Unlike inventing the next ChatGPT, actual science is slow and iterative. Government funding of research that, on its face, would not appear to lead to any big new invention is actually what underpins those big new inventions. If the government hadn’t funded research into desert lizard venom, we wouldn’t know about semaglutide, and we wouldn’t have Ozempic. If research scientists hadn’t studied how bees optimize nectar foraging within a colony, we wouldn’t have the algorithm that assigns internet traffic across computer servers. The report assiduously ignores that a symbiotic, profitable relationship between the federal government, universities, and private companies already exists. Each federal research dollar generates about $1.50 to $3.00 in long-term economic benefits. The $36 billion the government awarded in NIH research funding in fiscal year 2025 generated $94 billion in new economic activity. Trump’s proposed new golden age is intended to strip those billions from universities, resulting in the dismantling of departments and the shuttering of labs. But Katsios has a plan for that: Universities should just become trade schools to churn out no-show STEM degrees! “Require universities and community colleges to embed practical technical training and externships into STEM curricula. Let hands-on experience and industry credentials count toward degrees.” It’s quite the feat to, on the one hand, strip schools of funding for scientific research while simultaneously demanding to control what is taught and, oh, also, colleges need to give degrees to employees at big tech companies just for being employees at big tech companies. The new golden age would also exacerbate the brain drain Trump’s policies have already caused. Nature found that in the first quarter of 2025, US scientists submitted 32 percent more job applications abroad than in 2024. A March 2025 poll by Nature of roughly 1,600 scientists found that over 1,200 said they were considering leaving the country. Europe is investing $565 million to make it a “magnet for researchers” and provide funding for scientists who relocate. The new golden age is also about embedding Trump’s xenophobia into the fabric of American science. The report complains of an “over-reliance on foreign students” that “creates a security challenge our institutions are ill-equipped to address” and that a “reliance on foreign talent sidelines American students.” This is, to put it mildly, nonsense. International students pay far higher tuition and often receive no financial aid. Their tuition dollars are what make it possible for American students to get financial aid. In the 2023-2024 school year alone, international students contributed $43.8 billion to the US economy and supported over 378,000 jobs. Those 1.1 million international students accounted for only six percent of the total number of students in higher education that year, but were such an economic engine that for every three international students, one job was created or supported. It’s impossible not to wonder whether part of Trump’s loathing for universities and their leading role in scientific research is that there is no way for him to corrupt the process and make money off it in the same way he can by giving millions and billions to Silicon Valley types who, in turn, give him millions in cash. There’s no way for his children to invest in universities that the government then gives no-bid contracts to, fattening the family’s bottom line, which is pretty much the Trump sons’ current venture capital practice. Trump and Katsios’s view of science is narrow, cramped, and wrong. We’re not in a crisis, we’re not a failed state. We’ve been a science superpower for decades, and the only thing that threatens that is Donald Trump. Tech bros are already living high off the hog in this administration. They don’t need any more of our tax dollars. Hopefully this new golden age never comes to pass. Thanks for reading Public Notice. This post is public so feel free to share it. Share We’ll be back with more tomorrow. If you appreciate today’s PN, please do your part to keep us free by signing up for a paid subscription. 🚀 Subscribe to PN 🚀 Thanks for reading, and for your support.
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