by large groups of well-funded physicists who have, for three decades, unsuccessfully sought the recreation and detection of axions in the laboratory, using high-energy particle accelerators.
Lovely. I think it's great to pay for "scientists" who don't know what the hell they're doing.
Seriously... Every place I know has a few people running the show, and everyone else can 'fake it' just enough to get by.
I suppose that goes for any organization, not just laboratories.
What are you griping about?
Look at Columbus. He didn't know where he was going, when he got there he didn't know where he was, and when he returned he didn't know where he had been. (And he did it all on a woman's money.)
But it turned out pretty well, didn't it!
These scientists are coming up with some good stuff. Cut them some slack.