It wasn’t until the 1950 establishment of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the largest funding source for basic research in the country, that America became a powerhouse of modernization. F or most of the past century,

The NSF confirmed the layoffs to The Register in an email, saying it had dismissed 86 employees classified as probationary, and 84 part-time expert appointees. The agency says it has "approximately 1,500 federal employees and 200 scientists from research institutions in temporary positions."