Spacetrawler, audio version For the blind or visually impaired, May 24, 2023.
Right up to the upload time tonight, didn’t finish coloring the background or adding shading. Tomorrow! [Edit: Updated!]
Applying for grants is such another set of morals and reasoning compared to everything else, it’s like talking about how objects behave in normal world physics, and then a grant writer walks in drunk and tries to explain quantum mechanics.
When dogs do it, we cal it begging for treats. I guess scientists would feel a bit miffed being that honest (an yes, I do have a background in academia, how did you know?).
I couldn’t quite figure out whats changed (other than the colors) until you mentioned the lack of shading. I didnt realize there was a shading before, but the lack of it is actually quite refreshing to me.
And taking credit for lab assistants’ work.
Or blatantly sabotaging careers when experimental results threaten to overturn their previous conclusions (and pet theories); Especially when new techniques threaten their funding by resolving the actual problem.
Grant writers! Quantum Mechanics!
Been there, done that. (Retired physicist / aerospace engineer)
Oh, we finally did figure out exactly where Einstein made his mistake when he failed to develop his Grand Unified Field Theory. But then three other theoretical mathematical physicists went insane attempting to revise the math.
Grant writing is a highly developed set of skills about halfway between writing a comedy monologue and drafting the outline for an improv sketch. I never developed the skills needed, so I was forced to conform to facts and explanations that fit the top half of an email for easy comprehension. But like sales, it’s a ridiculous job without which the flow of capital would freeze like a dumped beer in a Buffalo gutter. And scientific progress and research would freeze with it. All hail the grant writers! You kept the next Depression out of reach!
Well, until this week, really.
Should Aitana feel insulted that she’s not being considered the equal to “a really good grant”?
Not really. That’s fairly high praise.
I would have thought it was a pretty low bar, myself, but I applaud the honesty.
Anybody who thinks science is immune to political pressure has never been near the grant system.