US Science To Be Decimated Next Year?

[Atheist-Lite]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2 ... fails.html

Cuts loom for science as 'supercommittee' fails

After three months of wrangling, the congressional "supercommittee" charged with lopping $1.5 trillion from the US federal budget deficit over the next 10 years conceded today that it has failed to agree on a plan. According to the rules laid down when the committee was established in early August, cuts totalling $1.2 trillion over a decade should now be triggered automatically across the federal budget from 2013 onwards.

Exactly what that means for science won't become clear until next year, but the required cuts are so large that major projects and research facilities are likely to find themselves on the chopping block. Space missions, national laboratories and "big science" efforts in fields like ecology could all be threatened.

"It's going to be real bloodletting," says Michael Lubell, head of public affairs with the American Physical Society. "Everything is up for grabs."

Half of the cuts will fall on defence and national security. Spending to provide a safety net against poverty, including Social Security, is protected. So that means a roughly 8 per cent cut all around for other programmes, says Patrick Clemins, who analyses the federal budget for the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

(continued,or is that dis-continued?)

[Schneibster]

Bit early yet.

Kinda like usual for you.

Just sayin'.

[Atheist-Lite]

Bit early yet.

Kinda like usual for you.

Just sayin'.

I have a reputation to maintain here.

[Robert_S]

In good US science news,the Blue Waters project is back up after IBM wussed out. Cray has stepped up.

[Clinton Huxley]

8%? So the defence budget will drop from around $600 Billion to $550 Billion - hard times indeed...

[Atheist-Lite]

Looks like US tech & pharma stocks took a big hit on the news?

http://www.stltoday.com/news/science/st ... 89bca.html

[Robert_S]

Looks like US tech & pharma stocks took a big hit on the news?

http://www.stltoday.com/news/science/st ... 89bca.html

As long as the bright kids at the universities are thinking up cool stuff, we don't have to worry that much. Corporate R&D tends to be too focused on making things consumer friendly.

[Atheist-Lite]

http://www.itif.org/publications/atlant ... titiveness

[Clinton Huxley]

Looking a bit wobbly for the James Webb space telescope. Be a shame if that gets axed.

[FBM]

Good. I never liked decimals, anyway. I'll be glad to see them go.

Edit: I pledge to start making sense in 1.37 years or less.

[Schneibster]

Looks like US tech & pharma stocks took a big hit on the news?

http://www.stltoday.com/news/science/st ... 89bca.html

Stocks took a big hit because the market just figured out that the Democrats can't figure out how to maneuver the Republicans into allowing any stimulus. AKA, the "debt supercommittee" just "failed."

[maiforpeace]

When it comes to science in the US, this is what scares me:

Religious Lobbying Groups Have Dramatically Increased In Washington: Study

[Atheist-Lite]

Yeah. It's gonna be bad...how did the tail ever manage to take control of the dog like that? A few decades ago the US had men on the moon and now it looks like a primitive cargo cult is taking over the shop?

[maiforpeace]

Yeah. It's gonna be bad...how did the tail ever manage to take control of the dog like that? A few decades ago the US had men on the moon and now it looks like a primitive cargo cult is taking over the shop?

I don't know Crumple...I'm from California, we're a different country.

[Atheist-Lite]

Yeah. It's gonna be bad...how did the tail ever manage to take control of the dog like that? A few decades ago the US had men on the moon and now it looks like a primitive cargo cult is taking over the shop?

I don't know Crumple...I'm from California, we're a different country.

The US could well fragment. The viable parts would be surrounded by the equivalent of failed theocratic states, willing to fight for resources and their invisible friend.