What does Tevatron closure mean for big US science? (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Jason Palmer
Science and technology reporter, BBC News

The last stores of particles circling in the Tevatron this week are in fact a quiet concession: the US has for the moment to cede its dominance in particle physics.

But what does the Tevatron's closure mean for the state of big-ticket American science?

One might think, with the space shuttle programme coming to a close and fitful negotiations for the James Webb Space Telescope ongoing, that perhaps America is slowly pulling down the shutters on its dominance across a number of disciplines.

Patrick Clemins, director of the research and development budget and policy programme at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, sees it a different way.

"I don't think people would say that American science is on a downward trend," he told BBC News.
***
more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15111042




Worth reading the rest of the article -- not too encouraging.

[phantom power]

1. "I don't think people would say that American science is on a downward trend"

I, for one, do say that.

[dtexdem]

2. No big deal -- just part of our general decline.

Just one more swirl on our way down the toilet.