Crisis meeting: scientific community no longer wants Musk in the Royal Society

World-famous entrepreneur Elon Musk is currently the target of a series of attacks. If it's not his electric car brand Tesla, it's his role within the Department of Government Efficiency (the DOGE) that's causing controversy.

More than 3400 scientists from the UK and around the world, including Nobel Prize winners, have signed a petition against Elon Musk, calling for his expulsion from the Royal Society, the oldest scientific academy in the UK, reports Futura-sciences.

Published last February, the open letter accuses Trump's right-hand man of promoting “groundless conspiracy theories”, violating the Royal Society's code of conduct. Stephen Curry, who initiated the petition, also highlighted a tweet by Musk containing several insults towards a British politician, which is also against the scientific academy's code of conduct.

Stay vigilant

At the beginning of March, a crisis meeting had to be organised to assess the situation. Among the Royal Society's primary concerns are the budget cuts Musk has made in the field of scientific research in the United States; cuts he's making as part of his mission within the DOGE.

The winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics, also a member of the Royal Society, Geoffrey Hinton, believes the head of Tesla should be expelled “because of the enormous harm he's causing to scientific institutions in the United States”. Following this meeting, the Royal Society issued a statement in which it announced it would “stay vigilant about any further actions he may take” in order to “counter misinformation and ideological attacks against science and scientists”.

Officially, Musk still remains a member of the Royal Society.

(MH with Manon Pierre - Source: Futura-sciences - Picture: ©picture alliance / NurPhoto | Allison Bailey)