‘The two-word phrase unleashing chaos at the NIH’
Katherine J. Wu at The Atlantic
The “phrase scientifically justified appeared several times in a statement by NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya,” and “NIH-backed studies should be justified in scientific terms,” says Katherine J. Wu. But the “demand that Bhattacharya lays out has no formal criteria attached to it.” Scientific justifiability is “imprecise at best and, at worst, a subjective appraisal of research that invites political meddling.” The “insistence that ‘scientifically justifiable’ research will be allowed to continue feels especially unconvincing in 2025.”
‘How Meta became uniquely toxic for top AI talent’
John Herrman at Intelligencer
While the “market for star AI engineers is extremely hot, the truly exceptional offers are only coming from one company: Meta,” says John Herrman. Other “firms are fighting to retain their AI talent, of course, but none are matching Mark Zuckerberg’s nine-figure bids.” Meta is a “strange reputational outlier: a company with high ambitions and near-infinite resources that apparently needs to outbid its competition by multiples.” And “most of all, its models aren’t competitive.”
‘Free cash to poor families isn’t helping the kids’
Naomi Schaefer Riley at The Boston Globe
Does “having more money make it easier to raise children? Intuitively, the answer would seem to be yes,” says Naomi Schaefer Riley. But a “study found that unconditional cash transfers of $333 to low-income mothers beginning shortly after their child’s birth did not affect the child’s development by age 4,” and “this data comports with other evidence on the effect of money on parenting.” Having “more money doesn’t reduce the stress of parenting, because parenting is inherently stressful.”
‘Miami gives the GOP a chance to prove conservatism protects the American Dream’
Mary Anna Mancuso at the Miami Herald
Miami residents are facing the “erosion of property rights, individual liberty and the American dream itself,” says Mary Anna Mancuso. Trump “voters are watching their property investments — their slice of the American dream — slip away.” Politicians “who are serious about representing the working class should be alarmed. I’m looking at you, GOP.” If the “GOP wants to remain the working-class party, it must deliver on issues voters care about — affordability and opportunity.”
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
