Scientists who turned to OnlyFans to fund marmot research receive crypto boost — SkimNews
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- Daniel Blumstein, a UCLA professor, created an OnlyFans account called "OnlyMarms" in June after watching "Margo's Got Money Troubles," raising about $6,000 through non-explicit marmot footage of burrows and rocky landscapes.
- Julien Martin, a University of Ottawa scientist who co-leads the project, said a Solana blockchain memecoin named $OnlyMarms — created by outside supporters who donated all transaction fees — raised more than $88,000 in just two weeks.
- Combined OnlyFans revenue, memecoin proceeds, and outside donations from people uncomfortable donating through an adult platform pushed total funding past $100,000, enough to keep the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory study running for another year.
- Trump's administration has frozen more than $700 million in National Science Foundation grants, fired the entire 22-person independent oversight board, and redirected research priorities toward AI and robotics under science adviser Michael Kratsios.
- The yellow-bellied marmot study, started by Kenneth Armitage in 1962, is now tracking its 11th generation and has documented climate impacts including longer-summer weight gain and a record die-off after a snowless Colorado winter.
- Martin called it ironic that researchers must rely on cryptocurrency — an area that has personally netted Trump about $635 million through his own memecoin — to replace federal science funding he slashed.
Why it matters: A 60-year continuous wildlife dataset that cannot be replicated is being kept alive for one more year by OnlyFans novelty and viral memecoin fees rather than federal grants, showing how Trump's $700M+ NSF freeze is forcing landmark climate studies onto crowdfunding while AI and robotics are declared the new national research priorities.
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