Scientist warns cash woes 'devastating' to science

By JON GAMBRELL , Associated Press Writer, General Science / Other

In this Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007 file photo, Richard Leakey speaks in Nairobi, Kenya. Leakey warned Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008 that the worldwide credit crisis will be "just devastating" to scientific research in coming years, as endowment interest income drops and companies cut donations.(AP Photo/Khalil Senosi)

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(AP) -- Famed scientist Richard Leakey warned that the worldwide credit crisis will be "just devastating" to scientific research in coming years, as endowment interest income drops and companies cut donations.

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Posted by lengould100 10/09/08 08:04

Rank: 3/5 after 1 vote

Well really, isn't the DJIA only down to where it was two years ago?

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Posted by Modernmystic 10/09/08 09:11

Rank: 3/5 after 2 votes

Hmmmm...food and housing or postponing reasarch that's going to be done in the future at some point anyway....

Let me thing about that one a bit.

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Posted by Neophile 10/09/08 12:04

Rank: 3/5 after 1 vote

>Well really, isn't the DJIA only down to where it was two years ago?

More like five years ago.

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Posted by x646d63 10/09/08 16:01

Rank: 4/5 after 2 votes

It's under 8600 right now. It first cracked 8600 in early 1998.

Like businesses during recession, the science that will survive will be useful science, or science that has excellent marketing. Junk, unnecessary and poorly marketed science will fail to find funding.

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Posted by thales 10/09/08 16:04

Rank: 4/5 after 1 vote

"Science" is an awfully broad term. No doubt some branches will be hit harder than others. I think we'll see that the more "practical" sciences will be more protected against economic realities.

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Posted by NotParker 10/09/08 17:31

Rank: 5/5 after 2 votes

"Global Warming" has proven how money hungry "scientists" are.

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Posted by WillB 10/09/08 17:43

Rank: 3/5 after 1 vote

I didn't know companies can donate to scientific studys. Isn't that sort of thing frowned upon? Or is it only if the money is coming from big tobacco or big pharma?

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Posted by GrayMouser 10/09/08 18:18

Not rated yet.

I didn't know companies can donate to scientific studys. Isn't that sort of thing frowned upon? Or is it only if the money is coming from big tobacco or big pharma?

It's only frowned upon if it comes from someone with an opposing agenda.

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Posted by CWFlink 10/09/08 20:21

Rank: 5/5 after 2 votes

We need inventions to bail us out... we have been violating every reasonable law of finance since the great depression by overspending, virtually never saving, and simply printing money whenever things get tight.

The only thing that has been saving us, over and over again, is productivity improvements through invention. It started with WW-II (aircraft, radar, computers, electronics, manufacturing discipline, nuclear energy, etc.) boosted in the case of the United States by being virtually the only industrial country not destroyed by the war. It continued through the Moon Shot (transistors, miniturized electronics, television, communications satellites, remote medical monitoring, etc.) It exploded with personal computers, cell phones and networks.

And frankly, if we don't learn to manage our money better, our only hope is continued and accellerated invention: micro nuclear reactors, solar cells, hydrogen cars and other things to make energy dirt cheap.

But it is NOT SMART to keep expecting government to print more money to fund "science"... we need to encourage open markets to invest for profit in technologies that advance societies. That is where the real productivity improvements have come from. Tampering with markets buys us "bubbles" from which recovery is painful.