NSF funding choice: Move forward or fall behind
Like clockwork, when the Biden administration announced its support for significant new investments in scientific research through the Endless Frontier Act, the anti-science forces in Congress trotted out their old canards about government waste and inefficiency.
In an opinion piece in The Hill, for example, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), dusted off decades-old claims about wasteful and ridiculous grant-funded research projects. He and I share some concerns about congressional micromanagement of research, but his examples actually make the case for increasing funding under the current system, not decreasing support or changing how science funding currently works.
The senator says that if we'd left decision-making about priorities to Congress, "it's hard to believe that the likes of Apple and Google would be around today." That might be true, but as I show in my recent book, leaving those decisions to the National Science Foundation and the scientific community has paid off handsomely. Google's core technology grew directly out of a National Science Foundation grant and relied on work done under five others.
The iPhone, like every other smartphone, relies on decades of federal investments in science and engineering research. The iPhone is a cornerstone of Apple's current success. Inventions and people who were essential to its development were also directly supported by NSF investments.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/nsf-funding-choice-move-forward-or-fall-behind/ar-AAKiTw4