Science is no longer science. “Scientists” are political retards in search of government grants who will “prove” anything you want them to”prove” for the right price.
I have two daughters in PhD programs. I know what they do. It's the real thing.
The reason for so many papers is that nature is so complex, with so many variables that are impossible to measure in situ with current technology that they are constrained to studying idealized pieces. When one gets into the biochemistry going on between plants, fungi, and bacteria in soil for example, it will be a century before we come to grips with what is going on.
Really. It's that big.