America’s Scientists Are Disappearing

Summary

Neil deGrasse Tyson argues that cuts to U.S. science funding and the loss of government scientists threaten the country’s scientific leadership and future innovation. Drawing on his experience in graduate school in the 1980s, he recalls that many science students in U.S. programs came from abroad and often stayed to work in America—a pattern that benefited the United States but could leave their home countries short of scientific expertise.

He describes several ways public support connects science to society:

• Government science and advisory roles: Scientists from universities have served temporary positions in agencies and advised government bodies. Tyson says many of these roles have disappeared.
• University research grants: Agencies such as the National Institutes of Health fund research at universities, which hold expertise the government may not have in-house.
• Basic, curiosity-driven research: Its eventual uses are often impossible to predict in advance. Tyson gives the examples of research on Gila monster venom contributing to the development of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, and physicist Ed Purcell’s work on nuclear magnetic resonance leading to MRI technology.
• Foundational physics: Research into atoms and quantum physics, pursued without a clear commercial goal, eventually enabled technologies for creating, storing, and retrieving digital information.

Tyson says that, in the previous two years, more than 15,000 scientists had left the federal government and that reduced grant funding was making it harder for U.S. laboratories to support researchers, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers. He warns that other countries—including Germany, France, Spain, and China—may attract scientists and build stronger research systems as U.S. labs lose capacity. In his account, the resulting loss of expertise could weaken innovation and, in turn, national health, wealth, and security.

He also argues that commercial research and development cannot replace public investment in basic science. Businesses generally focus on projects with nearer-term prospects for revenue, while foundational discoveries may take decades to yield practical applications.

Historical Examples of National Mobilization

Tyson cites two examples to illustrate how the United States has rapidly organized science and technology around a shared goal:

• After the Soviet Union launched Sputnik on October 4, 1957, the United States created NASA within a year and went on to orbit and land people on the Moon.
• Following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the country mobilized scientific, industrial, and military resources. Tyson points to the rapid development of plutonium and the atomic bomb as an example of what coordinated effort can accomplish.

He concludes that science is not inherently partisan, even though political choices influence what research receives funding. He calls for renewed investment and cooperation, arguing that the United States can rebuild its scientific capacity if it recognizes the goal and commits the necessary resources.

Researchers and Sources Featured

• Neil deGrasse Tyson — narrator and commentator.
• Ed Purcell — physicist and Tyson’s former professor; Tyson discusses Purcell’s work on nuclear magnetic resonance and its connection to MRI.
• Ronald Reagan — quoted from a 1987 speech to the United Nations about how an alien threat might unite humanity.
• Organizations and programs mentioned: NASA; the National Science Foundation (NSF); the National Institutes of Health (NIH); Hubble Space Telescope; James Webb Space Telescope.
• Historical events and research examples mentioned: Sputnik’s 1957 launch; the Pearl Harbor attack; the Manhattan Project and the Trinity test; research on Gila monster venom and GLP-1 medicines.