this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2025
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A comment by White House science adviser Michael Kratsios has gone viral after a speech in which he claimed U.S. technology can “manipulate time and space,” prompting online speculation.

Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, made the remark during a policy address at the Endless Frontiers Retreat in Austin, Texas on April 14.

“Our technologies permit us to manipulate time and space. They leave distance annihilated, cause things to grow, and improve productivity,” Kratsios said during prepared remarks published on the official White House website.

While the statement was likely intended as aspirational language about technological progress, it has since circulated widely online, with some interpreting the comment literally.

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[–] kreskin@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Manipulating time and space, hrm. I'm going to guess they bought themselves a snowglobe.

[–] Lighttrails@sh.itjust.works 220 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)
[–] thesohoriots@lemmy.world 30 points 2 weeks ago

Perfect. No notes.

[–] ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 149 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Well they're right: it really feels like 1934 Germany right now.

[–] radix@lemmy.world 49 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

It's been 88 days since the inauguration....oh shit.

[–] Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org 37 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

Hitler's birthday is in two days. Let's see if Trump randomly declares war on Poland or something to commemorate it.

[–] Captainvaqina@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

It's the day that the clown traitors he appointed to destroy our intelligence agencies are supposed to hand him a report on if they can fake a reason for the filth to enact martial law.

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[–] ComfortablyDumb@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 weeks ago

Canada/Mexico are already shivering.

[–] Infernal_pizza@lemm.ee 3 points 2 weeks ago

Fucking hell it's not even been 3 months!?

[–] PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat 17 points 2 weeks ago

The scenes I've seen of people around Trump, making sure to kiss his ass and over-emphasize with nervous straight faces what a genius he is and how well things are going, are the stuff of nightmares.

[–] skhayfa@lemmy.world 65 points 2 weeks ago

The time distortion first came when a huge number of dense people gathered at the same spot in the white house.

[–] captainjaneway@lemmy.world 58 points 2 weeks ago

“Our technologies permit us to manipulate time and space. They leave distance annihilated, cause things to grow, and improve productivity”

I - too - can walk, garden, and drink coffee.

[–] PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat 42 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

In the speech, Kratsios emphasized the importance of American leadership in emerging technologies and criticized regulatory burdens that, in his view, had slowed progress. "We have weighed down our builders and innovators," he said. "But we are capable of so much more."

"Can we get some comments from the innovators?"

"No we fired them."

[–] BeNotAfraid@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

He's Talking about regulations on Big Tech in terms of data collection, monopoly and social engineering. We need to remove these people from the sphere of political influence. Break up Alphabet, Delete Meta, tax wealth not work.

[–] Marthirial@lemmy.world 35 points 2 weeks ago
  • General Relativity 1905
  • Special Relativity 1905
  • Assclown Relativity 2025
[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 33 points 2 weeks ago

Nothing will meaningfully improve until the rich fear for their lives

[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 26 points 2 weeks ago
[–] Frjttr@lemm.ee 22 points 2 weeks ago

Sure, sure… Even a plane can “manipulate time and space”.

[–] BmeBenji@lemm.ee 22 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It manipulates space by “moving everything around you until the space around you is not the USA, but El Salvador,” and it manipulates time by making it seem like no time has passed as the space moves, almost like you were put to sleep with a tranquilizer (but that’s definitely not what it was)

[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

It manipulates time by sending the entire country back 100 years, and it manipulates space by making it seem like the middle of Europe

[–] DaCrazyJamez@sh.itjust.works 22 points 2 weeks ago

I, too, am a source of gravity.

[–] Iceman@lemmy.world 21 points 2 weeks ago

Our technologies permit us to manipulate time and space. They leave distance annihilated, cause things to grow, and improve productivity

Ok, so your on drugs. It's not a particularly unique technology tho.

[–] impudentmortal@lemmy.world 21 points 2 weeks ago

To be fair, these last 3 months have felt like 3 years so maybe they're on to something.

[–] MithranArkanere@lemmy.world 17 points 2 weeks ago

I can too.

I can move through space all the way to next to my nightstand and change the clock's time with a little wheel behind it.

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 17 points 2 weeks ago

if true this explains soooo much.

1000001416

[–] Wilco@lemm.ee 13 points 2 weeks ago

Yea, its called creative accounting ... or fraud.

[–] Tronn4@lemmy.world 12 points 2 weeks ago

Too bad they have it set to 1930's germany

[–] dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 weeks ago

I'm just gonna quote my wife here when I talk about outlandish work stuff:

"Wow." - dream_weasel’s wife

[–] Docandersonn@lemm.ee 9 points 2 weeks ago

"Prompting online speculation" ... This line can be thrown into literally any news article.

[–] peterg75@discuss.online 9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Growing up in USSR we had a saying: a comrad comes to you with a shovel, points to a patch of land and says: "you will dig from here and until supper".

I bet White House, with it's ties to Putin's Russia, means something similar.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

white house discovers cannabis

[–] alphapuggle@programming.dev 7 points 2 weeks ago

If they had the technology to manipulate time and space they'd just use it to commit election fraud

[–] badbytes@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

Idiots just threw a wristwatch.

[–] MyOpinion@lemm.ee 7 points 2 weeks ago

It is called the MAGAt field of stupidity.

[–] Jaysyn@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

It's ketamine, isn't it?

[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

did someone just explain to this guy the half a century old tech scanning tunneling microscope that uses quantum tunneling for imaging

[–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

The pseudoscience and grift administration has embraced the Montauk Project

[–] DogPeePoo@lemm.ee 5 points 2 weeks ago

Amphetamines are a helluva drug

[–] Ioughttamow@fedia.io 5 points 2 weeks ago

The cake is a lie! They shouted, certain they had grabbed the cultural zeitgeist by the tail

[–] KaRunChiy@fedia.io 5 points 2 weeks ago

Oh god, the space age larpers took over

[–] obvs@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

There is ZERO reason to believe this.

Or at the least there is ZERO reason to believe it in the way that it was interpreted.

[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

Then go get everyone’s 401k money back

[–] wise_pancake@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I never considered the world where we invent the ability to accelerate time, and just use it for making workers work more shifts so they die even younger just to extract more value relative to those without the technology.

[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 4 points 2 weeks ago
[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 3 points 2 weeks ago

Reminds me of the poster for the Terry Gilliam classic "Time Bandits."

They could travel anywhere in time or space. They just couldn't tie their own shoes."

[–] PacMan@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
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[–] ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago

He who controls the past, controls the present.

[–] CetaceanNeeded@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Come with us now on a journey through time and space. To the world of the Might Bullshit.

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