All posts tagged: Foundation

Trump’s cuts to NASA and the National Science Foundation will have huge consequences

Trump’s cuts to NASA and the National Science Foundation will have huge consequences

Published by skeptic

Artemis I sits at Launch Pad 39-B at Kennedy Space Center Tribune Content Agency LLC/Alamy The Stern-Gerlach experiment is, in my opinion, truly the first test that forced the results of quantum mechanics onto the scientific community. Proposed by Otto Stern and conducted by Walther Gerlach in 1922, it showed that atoms have a quantum structure. Electrons, it turned out, must follow quantum rules. The Stern-Gerlach experiment also highlights a weird feature of the quantum world: it seems that the observer can determine the possible properties a particle can have. If I measure a quantum property known as spin, the fact the measurement happened seems to change the possible values of spin a particle can have later. In other words, whether a particle was observed or not determines its future. In physics, we are socialised to the idea that we are outside of the physical system, watching it. In this experiment, suddenly we aren’t. In my experience, students initially absorb this as a fact they must accept. Only after being forced to think about it …

Freedom of the Press Foundation Threatens Legal Action if Paramount Settles With Trump Over ’60 Minutes’ Interview

Freedom of the Press Foundation Threatens Legal Action if Paramount Settles With Trump Over ’60 Minutes’ Interview

Published by skeptic

Media advocacy group Freedom of the Press Foundation has sent a warning letter to Paramount mogul Shari Redstone, outlining plans to file a lawsuit if the media company settles a suit brought by President Donald Trump against its subsidiary, CBS. “Corporations that own news outlets should not be in the business of settling baseless lawsuits that clearly violate the First Amendment,” Freedom of the Press Foundation director of advocacy Seth Stern said in a statement. Stern issued the warning by asking for a litigation hold on Friday afternoon, demanding that Paramount preserve any documents relating to a potential Trump deal and urging the company not to settle. The nonprofit is able to seek damages because it owns shares of Paramount. It plans to act on behalf of itself and other shareholders, alleging that the settlement would amount to the company’s executives “breaching their fiduciary duties and wasting corporate assets by engaging in conduct that US senators and others believe could amount to unlawful bribery that falls outside the scope of the business judgment rule.” The …

Gates Foundation to open office in Singapore with EDB’s support

Gates Foundation to open office in Singapore with EDB’s support

Published by Sam

SINGAPORE: Bill Gates’ non-profit organisation, the Gates Foundation, will be opening an office in Singapore. Speaking at the Philanthropy Asia Summit 2025 in Singapore on Monday (May 5), the co-founder of Microsoft said that the office will be established to “access the science to partner with the philanthropic community” and “the research being done” in the country. The foundation’s presence in Singapore will be established with the support of the Economic Development Board (EDB). “Singapore’s strategic location and research ecosystem make it a strong platform for advancing healthcare, fintech and (artificial intelligence) innovations that can deliver meaningful impact across the region and the world,” EDB managing director Jermaine Loy said in a statement. Founded in 2000 by Gates and his then-wife Melinda French Gates, the foundation is a philanthropic organisation that aims to improve global health, access to education and inclusive economic growth. Establishing a Singapore presence reflects the foundation’s broader commitment to working alongside countries and partners to help more people live healthy and productive lives and accelerate progress toward achieving sustainable development goals, …

‘Seeing around Corners‘ | Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science

‘Seeing around Corners‘ | Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science

Published by skeptic

From the Richard Dawkins Foundation Newsletter. Subscribe here. Hello! Humanism is grounded in optimism and a fundamental belief that we, individually and as a species, are capable of truly wondrous things. But because we are also inclined toward data and observable facts (rather than simple faith or belief that it’s all “part of the plan”), we’re sometimes painfully attuned to how things can go wrong. It can be tempting to see warning signs of trouble and respond by minimizing them. Oh, you’re just being pessimistic or I’m sure it won’t be that bad. Even when things are already moving from bad to worse. But among the many values of embracing reason and science is the ability to anticipate. To “see around corners,” as it were, and prevent bad outcomes whenever possible. We fight for constitutional separation of church and state, for example, because we’ve seen what happens when theocrats take control of government—and how badly that turns out for people who don’t share their religious beliefs—and often also for people who do. When the Taliban retook …

Tech CEO’s Foundation Gifts M. to California College of the Arts

Tech CEO’s Foundation Gifts $45 M. to California College of the Arts

Published by skeptic

San Francisco’s California College of the Arts (CCA) has secured short-term financial stability through a $45 million fundraising campaign, alleviating an urgent budget deficit that had prompted fears of layoffs and a potential merger. The campaign’s success hinged on a matching gift from the Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang Foundation, which doubled the $22.5 million raised by over 50 donors, including trustees, former board members, and alumni. Jen-Hsun “Jensen” Huang, Nvidia’s cofounder and CEO, structured his contribution to encourage broader support. Related Articles CCA’s financial struggles emerged after a one-third drop in enrollment since 2019, contributing to a $20 million budget gap. In response, the institution cut 23 jobs—10 percent of its staff—and eliminated open positions totaling an additional 4.5 percent of staff roles. This turbulence coincided with the completion of a $123 million campus expansion, designed by Studio Gang, which added 82,300 square feet of studios, classrooms, and exhibition space. Adding to CCA’s woes, the school recently settled a lawsuit with former faculty member J.D. Beltran, who alleged wrongful termination after exposing financial mismanagement. Among …

NIH Funding Cuts Appear to Draw on Heritage Foundation Report That Blasts ‘DEI Staff’

NIH Funding Cuts Appear to Draw on Heritage Foundation Report That Blasts ‘DEI Staff’

Published by skeptic

The 2022 report includes an analysis of 82 universities, the indirect cost rate they receive from federal grants, and the indirect cost rate they receive from private funders such as the Sloan Foundation, Gates Foundation, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Ten of the schools in the Heritage Foundation analysis did not confirm their indirect cost rates for private funders, leaving 72 full entries in the report’s analysis. Of those 72 universities, the report claimed that 67 accepted private research grants with zero percent indirect research cost coverage—exactly the same analysis and finding as in the NIH notice. Got a Tip? Are you a current or former NIH employee, or a scientist who has been impacted by this administration? We’d like to hear from you. Using a nonwork phone or computer, contact our reporters securely on Signal at mattreynolds.45 and emullin.06. The Heritage Foundation report concluded that just three schools in the sample refuse to accept indirect cost rates from private foundations at lower rates than those they negotiated with the federal government. Those schools are …

Matthew Perry Foundation launches addiction medicine fellowship | Ents & Arts News

Matthew Perry Foundation launches addiction medicine fellowship | Ents & Arts News

Published by skeptic

The Matthew Perry Foundation has set up an addiction medicine training fellowship, 15 months after the former Friends star died of a ketamine overdose. Established with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the Matthew Perry Foundation Fellowship in Addiction Medicine allows a doctor to join MGH’s Addiction Medicine Fellowship for the 2025-26 academic year. Dr Sarah ‘SK’ Kler, a resident at MGH, will take up the role in June, tasked with studying addiction treatment and working toward providing addiction care in future work, the foundation said on Instagram on Tuesday. Instagram This content is provided by Instagram, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Instagram cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Instagram cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow Instagram …

DAG Foundation Launches New ,000 Annual Prize for Visual Artists

DAG Foundation Launches New $20,000 Annual Prize for Visual Artists

Published by skeptic

The DAG Foundation has created a new, annual $20,000 award aimed at supporting early and mid-career visual artists working in the United States. “We wanted to try to fill a gap by reaching artists that are at a point where they’ve established themselves and they’re hard-working, but they might not have the resources to reach the next level, and they’re certainly not at the same level yet where everything’s easy and cushy,” DAG Foundation co-founder Alyssa Graham told ARTnews. “The people who have started a career and are somewhat accomplished, but haven’t won the big awards yet or haven’t been rewarded for their accomplishments yet, financially.” Related Articles One artist will be awarded the prize each year. Those considered cannot have won, or been a finalist for, a major national or international art prize. The winner of the DAG Prize for visual arts will be able to use the funds for materials, studio space, exhibition costs, travel for research, or other resources necessary to create and present a new visual art project. There will also …

Freedom from Religion Foundation dissolves honorary board in spat over trans issues

Freedom from Religion Foundation dissolves honorary board in spat over trans issues

Published by skeptic

(RNS) — The nation’s largest freethought organization has dissolved its honorary board after three of its prominent members resigned in an ideological battle over transgender issues. The resignations from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group that fights for church and state separation, included well-known evolutionary biologists Richard Dawkins and Jerry Coyne and psychologist and linguist Steven Pinker. The three resigned after the foundation published, and then removed, an article by Coyne in which he argued that sex is mostly binary (either male or female) and that transgender women are more likely to be sexual predators than other women. The post, which drew intense backlash, was taken down on Dec. 28, one day after it was published, prompting Coyne, Dawkins and Pinker to resign from the foundation. That led the foundation to dissolve the 14- member honorary board. The flap offers a peek at a roiling controversy among a select group of New Atheists who have expressed views that are anti-transgender and more generally “anti-woke.” It is a position taken by another atheist group, the …

BOOK CLUB 2025 | Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science

BOOK CLUB 2025 | Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science

Published by skeptic

This is the 2025 follow-on from the 2023 BOOK CLUB thread, which is now closed, though you can easily refer back to earlier discussions by clicking on the link. BOOK CLUB 2025 has been created to provide a dedicated space for the discussion of books. Pretty much any kind of book – it doesn’t have to be about atheism or religion or science or politics. It doesn’t even have to be non-fiction. All we ask is that, whatever the topic or genre, the books are stimulating, intelligent and thoughtful, so that they are actually worth discussing, and that you post any recommendations along with a commentary giving a bit of background and explaining why you’re recommending it. Clearly “worth discussing” is open to interpretation, but hopefully you get the idea. Books originally in a language other than English are fine too, provided an English translation is available. The only real restriction is that, in keeping with our Comment Policy, users should not use this thread to promote any books they may have written themselves or  …