US scientists, don’t lose hope! Congress is so far rejecting the Trump administration’s PROPOSED cuts to NSF, NASA, NOAA, and the DOE Office of Science in its annual appropriations bills.

There are three budget-related processes going on right now in Congress:
1. Reconciliation
2. Recissions
3. Appropriations
#1 is getting most of the media attention, but the big PROPOSED cuts to federal science are all in #3, and there's still hope there.

Like Tatum and Haliburton, I also ruptured my achilles. Here’s what post-surgery recovery looks like:
2 wks bed rest
2 wks no weight
2 wks progressive weight-bearing
12 wks total in a boot
90% by 6 months
100% by 1 yr
It’s a long process! Be careful out there!

If you ever need a good tech bro, maybe more of a tech brother, may I recommend @eluberoff.bsky.social? A more selfless human I have never met. He’s currently getting me groceries before coming to pick me up after I injured myself playing soccer. And his company @desmos.com, has helped so many kids

As important as government funding for basic and applied science is funding to help hard tech startups get over the “valley of death.” This funding is now at risk at DOE in the president’s budget. Making stuff irl at scale is hard and risky! Musk’s companies (esp Tesla) relied on gov. funds to start

Google wouldn’t exist #WithoutNSF. Page and Brin started Google based on NSF-funded research they did at Stanford, which has made Stanford, Google, and lots of other people a lot of money. It’s made the rest of us stupid but that’s another topic.

Solyndra’s modules irl at NREL. Strange to see the physical manifestation of the company that led to so much controversy.

An essential listen about how China has already won on innovating and manufacturing many of the technologies of the future

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/o...

The war against university research continues. www.science.org/content/arti...

I always tease my mom about the things she notices in cities. e.g. “What’s the story with all of these scooters everywhere?” Now I’m in SF and am obsessed with the number of Waymos driving around

While I’m strongly for phasing out fossil fuels, I can’t help but marvel at the beautiful simplicity of storing petroleum in salt domes. Dissolve the salt with water, pump in the oil (which doesn’t dissolve the salt) for storage, and let the natural thermal gradients mix it for you.

The Senate’s proposed reconciliation budget could allow $5.8 trillion! in deficits

www.crfb.org/blogs/senate...

Surprised to see how many men invest in crypto (courtesy USA FACTS)

“The second is that Solyndra had real technology risk, & we don’t take real technology risk anymore at the Loan Programs Office.” - @jigarshahdc.bsky.social in this important interview with @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social. Agreed, & we have a “missing middle” in energy.

www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/o...

Just saw a few people out for a holiday walk with their dogs… and llama. Small town Connecticut has its surprises!

Appreciated the thoughtful discussion on the current state of quantum computing. The field continues to make important advances but still has a ways to go before devices start impacting science, cryptography, etc.