Curiosity Matters: the Discovery of a Powerful Type of Stem Cell [Science Philanthropy Alliance video]
Janet Rossant discusses the nature of basic science, and how the study of blastocysts led to the discovery of the […]
Categories for Why Basic Science
Another Nobel Prize for the Fruit Fly [via New York Times]
“time and again, it has been a foundational understanding of how animals (and plants, fungi and microbes) work that leads […]
Curiosity Matters: LIGO Researcher Finds New Ways of Looking at the Universe [Science Philanthropy Alliance video]
Nergis Mavalvala reflects on the moment her team first detected gravitational waves and how it broadened the scope of research […]
Curiosity Matters: Science that Creates Industries [Science Philanthropy Alliance video]
In this video, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan shares how a fundamental physics discovery facilitated his Nobel Prize-winning work in chemistry and discusses […]
Curiosity Matters: How the study of insects can help us discover cures and manage our environment [Science Philanthropy Alliance video]
In this video, May Berenbaum explains how a brown moth helps control a pervasive roadside weed, and how the study […]
Why curiosity-driven research? Four scientists speak on the need for basic science [Science Philanthropy Alliance video]
Scientists May Berenbaum, Nergis Mavalvala, Janet Rossant, and Venkatraman Ramakrishnan reflect on how breakthroughs in science have led to new […]
The Miracle Machine [Eric Lander and Eric Schmidt opinion piece]
This video illustrates the May 5, 2017 Washington Post commentary by Eric Lander, president and founding director of the Broad Institute and […]
Private Funding is Unlikely to Replace Government Funding of Basic Science
Marc Kastner, president of Science Philanthropy Alliance, recently wrote in a San Jose Mercury News op-ed: “With many recent high-profile announcements […]
America’s ‘Miracle Machine’ is in desperate need of, well, a miracle [Washington Post op-ed]
Eric S. Lander, president of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University and Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet, […]
Science in Turbulent Times [Scientific American blog]
Robert Kirshner, chief program officer for science at our founding member organization, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, writes about the importance […]
How to Maintain America’s Edge: Increase Funding for Basic Science [via Foreign Affairs]
L. Rafael Reif, president of MIT, writes about the economic impact of basic research and the important role the government plays […]
Nautilus features Alliance stories about basic science discoveries in “Luck” issue
Read about how basic science research changed the game, in the following five stories commissioned by the Science Philanthropy Alliance […]
The Dividends of Funding Basic Science [via Wall Street Journal]
In this op-ed, L. Rafael Reif, president of MIT, describes the importance of funding basic science research. “Scientists are like […]
2016 Nobel prizes demonstrate the importance of basic research
Congratulations to this year’s Nobel Prize winners for their breakthrough work in basic science! A Japan Times story about this year’s Nobel Prize […]
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative News Roundup
Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement on September 21 generated a lot of buzz in the science and philanthropy communities. […]