Orders from the Trump administration affecting science and health in the United States — and from there, the world — are coming thick and fast, affecting a myriad of institutional and personal decisions that depend on accurate information provided by the U.S. government. This ranges from websites disappearing to the prohibition of dictionary words from federal scientist research papers. Now researchers and data nerds are rushing to preserve this vital information before it’s lost.
Meanwhile, many public communications have been paused as well. For the first time in sixty years, the federal health agency, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), has stopped its own publications, including the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). This comes on top of a communications gag order preventing its scientists from sharing any new findings — from new insights in cancer treatment to potential new pandemics like Ebola — with the public.
