From beginning to end, 2025 was a year of devastation for scientists in the United States.
January saw the abrupt suspension of key operations across the National Institutes of Health[1], not only disrupting clinical trials and other in-progress studies but stalling grant reviews and other activities necessary to conduct research. Around the...
Before 2025, science policy rarely made headline news. Through decades of changing political winds, financial crises and global conflicts, funding for U.S. research and innovation has remained remarkably stable[1], reflecting the American public’s strong support[2] for investing in basic science.
In his first year back in office, President Donald...
A young woman starts to become suspicious of her cellphone. She notices it listing Wi-Fi networks she does not recognize, and the photos on her contact cards seem to mysteriously change at random times. One day she tries to make a call and just hears static on the line. She begins to think that someone – or an entire organization –...
Despite the nursery rhyme about three blind mice, mouse eyesight is surprisingly sensitive[1]. Studying how mice see has helped researchers discover unprecedented details about how individual brain cells communicate and work together to create a mental picture of the visual world.
I am a neuroscientist[2] who studies how brain cells drive visual...