Stephen Pincock has written an interesting editorial about his recent trip to Cambridge, Massachusetts where he visited the robotics labs of MIT. He had a particularly insightful conversation during the trip, not with the scientists of MIT but with the cab driver who took him to the train station. The Bertrand Russell quoting driver debated the potential benefits to poor countries of money spent on robotics and AI. They also discussed HIV research and other topics. In the end, the conversation pointed out one of the biggest problems facing US scientific research - participation in the US research community is becoming much harder for foreign students and scientists.