IT IS budget crunching time in Washington DC. Scientists and their defenders in Congress are negotiating how much they get to spend in the next fiscal year. Each side knows the other’s moves like an old couple on the dance floor. The White House says scientists are spending too much, while they say scientific enterprise is what makes the economy go round.
What is unusual this year is where some of the cuts are aimed. The Bush administration appears to be dissing the energy big shots that helped put him in office. Money for oil and gas research will disappear.…
