There’s no economic return on such a search; and of course, even talking about using gov’t grants for scientists to conduct such searches can yield megatons of nasty comments. :’)
The whole article is quite amusing, btw, he complains about the billions spent on particle physics research, and that he doesn’t like boats. :’D
It's not so much that the gummint shouldn't support the arts and sciences, it's what they actually DO with the money. More often than not, they're stifling progress instead of supporting it. True curiousity is being sacrificed at the alter of government diktats -- with OUR money no less. Just think what could have been done with the BILLION$ thrown at "green" flapdoodles by jug ears and his czars. Add a few more BILLION$ invested in "climate change" and other PCBS and pretty soon we're talking real money. Jug Ears' administration isn't the first by a long shot to throw our money at preferred cronies and projects but they have taken it to new heights.
Ahem, nothing new here; just venting. ;^)