The president of the Royal Society has reignited a row over Elon Musk’s association with the body by arguing that fellows should only be ejected for fraud or other defects in their research.
In an interview with the Guardian, Paul Nurse defended the academy’s decision not to take action against Musk – who was elected a fellow in 2018 – despite claims the tech billionaire had violated its code of conduct, including by his role in slashing US research funding as part of the US “department of government efficiency”.
