US budget sequestration expected to have severe consequences for science

Ars Technica : As of today, if the US Congress cannot agree on a 2013 federal budget, spending cuts affecting all departments and programs will be imposed across the board. Because the federal government is the single biggest funding source for science, US scientists and scientific organizations are preparing to face the worst. One way the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology plan to deal with the potential funding loss is to cut back on the number of grants and amount of money awarded in the coming fiscal year. NSF, for example, expects to fund 1000 fewer new grants than it did last year. As a result, competition is expected to be fierce for what grant money there is, writes John Timmer for Ars Technica.