Modern scientific societies are increasingly vulnerable due to their dependence on membership fees and journal subscriptions, which are being challenged by the rise of virtual networking and open-access publishing.
The fewer solicitations you have, the less time grant applicants have to figure out which of our pigeonholes they fit into. In the past, a solicitation might have been for an individual program, which means it's attached to an individual program officer and a specific dollar amount. Now, instead of going to one program officer's area, the NSF will use technology to better route applications to wherever within the agency they can best be reviewed.
One of the US government's top scientific research labs is taking steps that could drive away foreign scientists, a shift lawmakers and sources tell WIRED could cost the country valuable expertise and damage the agency's credibility. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) helps determine the frameworks underpinning everything from cybersecurity to semiconductor manufacturing. Some of NIST's recent work includes establishing guidelines for securing AI systems and identifying health concerns with air purifiers and firefighting gloves.
Over the years, I've worked as a consultant on numerous federal grant projects from the US Department of Agriculture and elsewhere that focused on local economic development and were granted to nonprofits serving their communities. But since the 2024 elections, the focus of my work-and that of the small New Mexico-based consulting firm, Prospera Partners, that I lead-has shifted to help nonprofits develop strategies to sustain themselves despite federal cuts in funding and to programs that once supported their work.
The freeze could have a major effect on the financial health of child day care centers across Silicon Valley, with the region already struggling with a dearth of providers. One provider who operates a day care center in East San Jose said 80% of her clients rely on these federal subsidies to put their children in her care - and a majority of her business operates with federal dollars.
For nearly 100 years, the United States has been the world's leader in a wide variety of scientific fields. No other country has: invested as much in fundamental scientific research, has made more scientific breakthroughs and scientific advances, has attracted more scientific researchers to move there to conduct their research, or has conducted more projects and been home to more scientists that have won Nobel Prizes.
NASA is quietly ending financial support for independent planetary science advisory groups, according to a letter posted to the agency's website on January 16. The affected groups have historically offered feedback to the space agency on science efforts ranging from the exploration of Mars and ocean worlds to the storage of extraterrestrial samples, and more. According to the letter, signed by Louise Prockter, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, funding to support these Analysis and Assessment Groups will end toward the end of April 2026.
The mock funeral was a protest against the university administration's plan to overhaul the college by consolidating its departments into four thematic schools including one devoted to human narratives and creative expressions, encompassing what was previously taught in the English, classics, languages and Latino Studies departments, among others. Fears over the future of the humanities aren't limited to New Jersey's second-largest public university.