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In March 2002, JASON's future was cast into doubt when the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (or DARPA) announced that it had severed its 42-year-old contract with the group. The group, which has 50 members, relies on a $1.5 million annual budget from the Department of Defense and $2.25 million from the Department of Energy and a variety of federal agencies[2]. After some anxious weeks, the group secured a new contract in June 2002, with the Department of Defense's Directorate for Research and Engineering, which oversees DARPA. Still, the rift has alienated many JASON members, many of whom have expressed fears that the Pentagon's increasingly adversarial attitude towards science may deter some scientific experts from doing research or serving on advisory panels.
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