ACEIZE Tracking the current state of Science and Technology

According to this article from the Guardian, NASA is getting ready to close the Atlanta based Institute for Advanced Concepts (Niac). The Niac was responsible for several notable ideas including growing crops on Mars, the Space Elevator, and a planet finder (which has been incarnated as COROT, among other projects). Budgetary shortfalls are claimed as the culprit for the possible closing of the division.