Trump Administration Cancels Meetings, Freezes Hiring At NIH | What Is A Meme Coin?

16 snips

Jan 24, 2025

Casey Crownhart, a senior climate reporter at MIT Technology Review, sheds light on the confusion and fear at the NIH due to a hiring freeze implemented by the Trump administration, affecting vital research. Meanwhile, Liz Lopatto, a senior writer at The Verge, delves into the rising phenomenon of meme coins, like those launched by the Trump family. They discuss the allure of these digital assets, their ties to cultural memes, and the psychological factors driving their popularity, all while questioning their value compared to traditional cryptocurrencies.

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INSIGHT

NIH Restrictions

The Trump administration's restrictions on the NIH include a hiring freeze, travel ban, and communications blackout.
These restrictions are causing concern among scientists due to their potential impact on research progress.

ANECDOTE

Southeast Snowfall

New Orleans experienced over double the snowfall of Anchorage, Alaska, since December 1st.
This unusual weather was partly due to a "Gulf effect" snow, similar to the lake effect snow in the Midwest.

INSIGHT

Meme Coin Definition

Meme coins are like digital stocks tracking a meme's popularity, not technical innovation.
They're primarily driven by psychology and the hope of selling before the value drops.

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Researchers at the National Institutes of Health say the move has sent fear and confusion throughout the agency. Plus, what's the technology behind meme coins?

Trump Administration Cancels Meetings, Freezes Hiring At NIH

This was President Trump’s first week back in the Oval Office. Along with issuing a flurry of executive orders, his administration has imposed a range of restrictions on the National Institutes of Health, affecting meetings, travel, hiring, funding, and communications. Scientists expressed alarm about what this could mean for ongoing research, with no clear timeline for if or when the freeze would be lifted.

Flora Lichtman is joined by Casey Crownhart, climate editor at the MIT Technology Review, to catch up on this and other big science stories of the week, including what’s coming next this year for nuclear power, why a record amount of snow fell in the Southeast this week, and new research on the surprisingly complex biology of a manta ray tail.

What Exactly Is A Meme Coin And How Does It Work?

A few days before President Trump’s inauguration, he hosted a “crypto ball” in Washington, D.C. That night, he unveiled his very own meme coin—a kind of digital asset that has gained a reputation for facilitating scams. Soon after, first lady Melania Trump also launched her own meme coin. After its launch, Trump’s coin’s market capitalization reached billions of dollars.

This isn’t the first time meme coins have gotten a lot of attention—you might remember Elon Musk joked about another one called Dogecoin on SNL in 2021—but it is the first time that this technology has been used by a sitting president. So what exactly is a meme coin anyway? How does the blockchain play into all this? And how might a president use it differently than an internet celebrity?

To find out more, Flora Lichtman talks with Liz Lopatto, a senior writer at The Verge who covers cryptocurrency and business, about how this market started, how Trump could use meme coins, and where the crypto market could go next.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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