That all sounds like stuff engineers have done. A scientiest, OTOH, would discover the basic principle behind one of those advances, scribble it on a Post-it note, and it would end up in the trash, leaving it to the cleaning crew to take it to an engineer! ;-)
Well, I think lab books are not exactly Post-it notes, but I get your point. The caricature of the mad, distracted scientist and all that. Too bad it’s not based in reality.
You’ve got it backwards, though. Basic research usually precedes engineering applications - think “transistor.” Or do you think solid state physicists went scrambling to figure out just what makes those computer thingies tick that mere engineers assembled? ;-) (BTW, I consider engineering part of the science fold - and basic research, applied sciences, and engineering enjoy generous areas of overlap.)
Anyway, none of this excuses the misdeeds of Dr. Mann and the rest of the climate cabal. All these crooks need to be removed from whatever positions they hold. As well as all the politicos that use these shams for their own devices.