[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

I am sure there was a concerted effort by the bureaucrats at NASA to seize upon global warming research as their next cash cow.

"Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity."

- Eisenhower 1961

[Wonder Warthog]

"Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity."

Eisenhower was wrong. The solitary inventor is still the engine for innovation. Corporate R&D spends a lot of money to bring the innovations of those inventors to final fruition, but small business is still the spark plug.