[Carry_Okie]

The fact that it has (at the moment) no practical value is precisely why the Federal government should fund it.

I've been listening to that rationale for fifty years. Find it for me in Article I Section 8.

You don't know what the practical aspects of this research are.

Neither do you. I DO know what research into the soil microbiome or hydrology could yield, for example, at a pittance compared to this work involving high-dollar equipment.

There is a lot of research to do. It all costs money. We're broke. I want what is spent to foreseeably yield a profit with which to fund more research. It is knowable what the likelihood a particular project might yield within an acceptable time frame. When the elements under consideration are so ephemeral it is knowable how little.

Because we're broke.

[pierrem15]

You could make the same Article 1 argument even about the Department of Agriculture. Most of what the US gov does is highly dubious under Article 1, Section 8.

I understand very well the budget problem, but that could be solved by simply removing a lot of entitlements, subsidies and tax breaks, and especially reforming the DOD procurement system. That's simple to see and impossible to do politically.

I strongly suspect nothing will be done about any of it until we face national bankruptcy or a major war forces a complete reorganization.