The US Senate subcommittee that oversees funding of the National Science Foundation and other research agencies has "voted [on] an appropriations bill that would cut NSF's current budget by 2.4 percent, or $162 million," reports ScienceInsider's Jeffrey Mervis. This, he adds, is ostensibly the "clearest indication yet that 2012 will be a very tough year for scientists seeking funding" from the agency.