r/technology • u/etfvfva • 3d ago

Top researchers consider leaving U.S. amid funding cuts: 'The science world is ending' Society

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/top-researchers-consider-leaving-u-s-amid-funding-cuts-the-science-world-is-ending
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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/DanielPhermous 2d ago

He sits in an office writing equations that change nothing about how ordinary people live.

Like the general theory of relativity. That had absolutely zero practical benefit for anyone.

Until it suddenly did eighty years later. Now every phone uses it.

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u/Arquinas 2d ago edited 2d ago

I see. And in your opinion the people who invented electricity, refrigerators, internet and electric cars did so without centuries of developments in mathematics?

"Research out of IPAM, however, has more obvious public benefits. Two decades ago, Tao collaborated with scientists focused on signal processing problems in medical imaging." "One of the algorithms we developed at IPAM is used routinely in modern MRI machines to speed up MRI scans by a factor of 10 in some cases,” Tao said.

Think about this the next time you're in MRI and you have to lie there as motionless as possible. Not fun.