Super slump

When the US Congress voted to cancel the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) last year, a lot of money had already been sunk intothe project. Now with the biggesttechnological project in science definitely dead, the state of Texas -which had given 650 ha of land andabout US $500 million to the project- is trying to auction off some remnants of the SSC (Science, Vol 269).

A US $65 million linear accelerator and about 14,000 square metresof office space are to be auctioned.The other major contributor, thedepartment of energy, has writtenoff its US $2 bilhon investment.