Not many links this week! Just two: most Americans support increased funding for research once they realize how little we spend on it, and an upcoming one day celebration of science and scientists.
From Meghan:
Good news for scientists: Most Americans support increased funding for research once they realize how little of the US budget goes to research and development. Bethany Brookshire (a.k.a. Scicurious) wrote a summary of a study that was done in 2014. She writes:
When participants received no information about how much the United States spent on research, only about 40 percent of them supported more funding. But when they were confronted with the real numbers, support for more funding leapt from 40 to 60 percent.
The piece reports that the US federal government spends 1.6 percent of the budget on nondefense spending on research and development (~$67 billion).
Science-a-thon is a one day celebration of science and scientists that will happen on July 13th. From their website:
Participating scientists will share the ups and downs of 12 hours in science. Each scientist will post 12 photos over 12 hours — morning routines, work commutes, research instruments, class projects, after-work fun. Yes, some scientists spend the day in white coats… but many also spend the day climbing mountains, in museums, on ships, working in teams, and much more!
The event will raise money to support the Earth Science Women’s Network. More information is available here.
UPDATE: bonus link from Jeremy:
The inflation rate of US higher education tuition has long been higher than the overall inflation rate-until now. The former has been dropping for over a decade and is now equal to the latter, an annual rate of increase of about 2%. (ht Economist’s View)
Dynamic Ecology 