Jeffrey Mervis, Eliot Marshall
The budget battle that shut down much of the federal government for 3 weeks--compounded by the "Blizzard of '96," which shut down Washington for another 3 days--has left an impact on science programs that could linger for months. Grants from NIH and NSF have been delayed, federal officials are faced with a mountain of paperwork, and many critical peer review and planning meetings have been postponed. NIH alone could take 6 to 9 months to get back on track.