Terry Tao: “Trump CUT My Funding.” Here's how I am going to react.

Video Description

What happens when a government abruptly cuts off the lifeline of pure science? Imagine canceling Albert Einstein just before he published [E = mc². Terence Tao, the “Mozart of Mathematics,” was one of the unlucky researchers hit when the Trump administration suddenly terminated his federal research funding. Today, I walk and talk with Tao at UCLA to understand how America’s greatest living mathematician found himself blindsided by a bureaucratic earthquake — and what it means for the future of discovery. This is Part 1 of our deep dive into Tao’s work, his warnings about the collapse of U.S. research infrastructure, and why mathematics is the unseen root system supporting all of modern technology. 🎯 What You’ll Learn • How Tao’s grant was abruptly erased — previously approved funding suspended with no scientific justification. • Why foreign researchers now face new barriers entering U.S. institutions. • How arbitrary rule-changes and political whims are destabilizing American research. • How small “trigger” words like inequality have led to grant cancellations. • Why federal support is the only stable backbone for young scientists and long-horizon research. • Why pure math is civilization’s hidden infrastructure, powering everything from fluid dynamics to quantum tech. • How prizes like the [Fields Medal](https://www.google.com/search?q=Fields+Medal) shape research culture, for better and worse. • What the famous [Navier–Stokes](https://www.google.com/search?q=Navier-Stokes+Millennium+Problem) problem really asks — and why a solution might change physics. • Why secrecy spikes when mathematicians get close to a breakthrough. • How Tao sees collaboration, not competition, as the true engine of progress. 🕒 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – *“Canceling Einstein”* — Tao’s funding cut 00:22 – Who is Terence Tao? 01:17 – Grants suspended without warning 01:27 – New hurdles for international scholars 01:38 – UCLA’s sudden funding freeze 03:00 – Was Tao targeted? 03:38 – Arbitrary rule-changing 04:01 – Trivial reasons for cancellations 04:18 – Policy without process 05:06 – Do we need new funding models? 05:27 – Why federal stability matters 05:52 – The limits of philanthropy 08:42 – Math as the root of modern tech 09:11 – Prizes and public perception 11:35 – The seven great unsolved problems 12:13 – The Navier–Stokes question 12:57 – The problem with prize-driven secrecy 13:37 – Collaboration over competition If you care about ideas, discovery, and the future of knowledge itself — this conversation matters. Part 2 drops soon. Subscribe so you don't miss it. Get My NEW Book: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN8DH6SX?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100 Join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/yt to win a meteorite 💥 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Join this channel to get access to perks like monthly Office Hours: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join 📚 Get a copy of my books: Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner, with life changing interviews with 9 Nobel Prizewinners: https://a.co/d/03ezQFu My tell-all cosmic memoir Losing the Nobel Prize: http://amzn.to/2sa5UpA The first-ever audiobook from Galileo: Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican https://a.co/d/iZPi9Un 📺 Watch my most popular videos:📺 Neil Turok https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt5cFLN65fI Frank Wilczek https://youtu.be/3z8RqKMQHe0?sub_confirmation=1 Eric Weinstein vs. Stephen Wolfram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI0AZ4Y4Ip4?sub_confirmation=1 Sir Roger Penrose: https://youtu.be/AMuqyAvX7Wo Sabine Hossenfelder: https://youtu.be/g00ilS6tBvs Avi Loeb: https://youtu.be/N9lUceHsLRw Follow me to ask questions of my guests: 🏄‍♂️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 🔔 Subscribe https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 📝 Join my mailing list; just click here http://briankeating.com/list ✍️ Detailed Blog posts here: https://briankeating.com/blog 🎙️ Listen on audio-only platforms: https://briankeating.com/podcast #universe #podcast #briankeating #intotheimpossible #science #astronomy #cosmology #cosmicmicrowavebackground #intotheimpossible #briankeating #terrencetao