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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[–] Iceman@lemmy.world 21 points 6 days 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.

[–] DaCrazyJamez@sh.itjust.works 22 points 6 days ago

I, too, am a source of gravity.

[–] dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works 11 points 6 days ago

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

"Wow." - dream_weasel’s wife

[–] peterg75@discuss.online 9 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days 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.

[–] Randomgal@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 days ago

Please be Aliens bro. Please.

[–] PacMan@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)
[–] WeeneyTodd@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

I was expecting something along these lines

[–] rodneylives@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

They can't even manipulate their own fool heads.

[–] Lighttrails@sh.itjust.works 219 points 1 week ago (2 children)
[–] thesohoriots@lemmy.world 30 points 1 week ago

Perfect. No notes.

[–] ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 150 points 1 week ago (2 children)

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

[–] radix@lemmy.world 49 points 1 week ago (2 children)

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

[–] Infernal_pizza@lemm.ee 3 points 6 days ago

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

[–] Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org 37 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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 1 week 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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[–] PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat 16 points 1 week 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 1 week 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 1 week 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 1 week 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 1 week 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 1 week ago
  • General Relativity 1905
  • Special Relativity 1905
  • Assclown Relativity 2025
[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 33 points 1 week ago

Nothing will meaningfully improve until the rich fear for their lives

[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 26 points 1 week ago
[–] Frjttr@lemm.ee 22 points 1 week ago

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

[–] BmeBenji@lemm.ee 22 points 1 week 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 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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

[–] impudentmortal@lemmy.world 21 points 1 week ago

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

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago

if true this explains soooo much.

1000001416

[–] MithranArkanere@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week 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.

[–] Wilco@lemm.ee 13 points 1 week ago

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

[–] Tronn4@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago

Too bad they have it set to 1930's germany

[–] Docandersonn@lemm.ee 9 points 1 week ago

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

white house discovers cannabis

[–] badbytes@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago

Idiots just threw a wristwatch.

[–] alphapuggle@programming.dev 7 points 1 week ago

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

[–] Jaysyn@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago

It's ketamine, isn't it?

[–] MyOpinion@lemm.ee 7 points 1 week ago

It is called the MAGAt field of stupidity.

[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

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

[–] KaRunChiy@fedia.io 5 points 1 week ago

Oh god, the space age larpers took over

[–] DogPeePoo@lemm.ee 5 points 1 week ago

Amphetamines are a helluva drug

[–] Ioughttamow@fedia.io 5 points 1 week ago

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

The pseudoscience and grift administration has embraced the Montauk Project

[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Then go get everyone’s 401k money back

[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 4 points 1 week ago
[–] obvs@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week 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.

[–] ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

He who controls the past, controls the present.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 3 points 1 week 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."

[–] wise_pancake@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 week 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.

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