From PBS NewsHour.

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What can researchers do when a political administration overturns fact-based information without having new science to back up the decision?

"The bedrock of the scientific institution is the reliability of the evidence that you’re citing," said Morgan McSweeney, a scientist and science communicator.

"So when people suddenly gain a lot of power who don’t have any respect for that process and in fact are confident to just totally make up citations to support the arguments, you’ve kind of thrown out the entire bedrock of the scientific process," McSweeney said.

He added that the current moment is a very confusing place for people who are just trying to do the best for their families and their own health.

Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-founder/chief science officer of GetReal Security worries that the U.S. potentially will lose an entire generation of people who may be “lost” to facts.

“I’m not quite ready to give up, but I’m close,” he said. The U.S. is at a fork in the road where emerging tech could double down on misinformation and disinformation, or it could work for us in a positive way, Farid said, though he fears the “dystopian future is the more likely one.”

He added that other countries are working to consider the regulatory landscape for tech, giving “some hope for how to harness the power of technology.”

McSweeney and Farid took part in a special livestreamed Reddit “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) event called “Tipping Point – Turning Science Into Solutions,” hosted by science correspondent Miles O’Brien and digital anchor and correspondent Deema Zein.

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