Post

On the topic of funding absurd research by NIH and other federal agencies, they funded scientists: - watching flies fuck - giving rats massages - spending years on why jellyfish glow - tracking penguin poop from space - using horseshoe crab blood

53 reposts128 likes

What djd we get? - Eradicated livestock pest, saved $20B, cut beef prices 5% - NICU massage therapy saving $4.7B/yr, countless preemie lives - GFP revolutionizing biomed research - Found 1.5M unknown penguins + pioneered conservation tech - LAL test protecting every vaccine & medical device we make

Obviously we’re not good at predicting what impacts research will have. I also don’t think it should be just about dollars and lives. Discovery feeds our curiosity as humans, inspires art & science, and reminds us why we explore in the first place. That wonder has value too.