Remember the State of the Union pledge to put science front and center in building the nation’s economy?
That was then, this is now: Fermilab is cutting projects due to reduced federal funding. The U.S. is ceding pre-eminence in particle physics to CERN in Europe, or anyone else who will simply spend the money.
Dorigo has the details and links, at A Quantum Diaries Survivor.
It is clear that the US congress does not believe pure research in subatomic physics something useful for the Nation. Let’s face it: we lived through sixty years of good funding on the standing wave of nuclear weapons research, but we do not seem to manage to fool anybody anymore: no more deadly tools from muons and neutrinos. So, no dough. Sad, but true. I only hope that Europe will be smarter and that particle research at CERN will continue as strong as it has been recently shown to be.
Regret to start your weekend on down notes; science does best if syncopation is not limited, however. Get out there and play.
Posted by Ed Darrell 
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 