Useless Science?

[☭proletarian☭]

Ever wonder why your Doberman circles five times before sitting down or eating? So did the researchers at Tufts and UMass, who spent about $70,000 to find out. ...


Tufts and UMass aren't alone in their dedication to strange science: Governments frequently spend money on research projects of questionable utility to mankind. Last year, scientists released a study on the physics of bumps in rugs. A few years earlier, scientists analyzed the mini tornado within a shower that causes the shower curtain to act all funny.
In 1999, a study in Perception magazine determined that with appropriate training, human observers can identify the gender of cat faces at an above-chance level. Oh, really?
Wacky research topics are nothing new, of course. In 1966, William C. Waggoner and George V. Scott of the Colgate-Palmolive Company published a monograph explaining how they had measured, with a fair degree of precision, the sound of a comb being dragged through a hank of hair.
Scientists looking for additional funding have nothing to fear, of course; just finding the chromosome's location doesn’t mean the issue is solved, does it? Someone still has to cure all those tail-chasing, bowl-circling Dobermans! And to do so, they'll need a study, and additional funding….

FOXNews.com - Scientists Learn Why Fido Circles the Bowl

 

[Baruch Menachem]

I am all for finding out more and more interesting stuff. And people are always interested in the weird and wonderful ways of dogs and cats.


But if you asked if someone should be obliged to give up lunch money to find this out, I think the answer would be no.

 

[rdean]

Science is never "useless". One discovery always leads to another. The reason many Republicans see science as "useless" is because it's really, really "hard".

 

[asaratis]

Science is never "useless". One discovery always leads to another. The reason many Republicans see science as "useless" is because it's really, really "hard".

You generalize so well.

The dog study was not useless. Some studies are. I will be back with a list before the morning tide.


on edit: here's one that might not be totally useless, but do look at the cost...a large portion of it likely paying a nice salary to a tax leech or two. Let private industry fund the research in the areas they choose.

DIALOG(R)File 265:FEDRIP
Comp & dist by NTIS, Intl Copyright. All rts. reserv.

0173834
CS=, FS= IDENTIFYING NO.: 9421491 AGENCY CODE: NSF
/TI Pollutant Exchange Processes at Active Water-Sediment Interfaces
AU=, IN= PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Brooks, Norman H Dr.
AU=, IN= ASSOCIATE INVESTIGATORS: Morgan, James J
/CO,CO=,CS=,PO= PERFORMING ORG.: California Institute of Technology, Keck Lab of
CY=, ST=, ZP= Hydraulics & Water Resrcs, Pasadena, CA 91125
PM= PROJECT MONITOR: Edward H. Bryan
/CO, CO=, SP= SPONSORING ORG.: National Science Foundation, DIV OF BIOENGINEERING &
ENVIRON SYSTEMS, Washington, D.C., 20550
SD=, CD=, FY= DATES: 950315 TO 980228 FY: 97 FUNDS: $391,809 TYPE OF AWARD:
TA= Continuing Grant
/AB SUMMARY: 9421491 Brooks This is an award to support research, the
objective of which is to obtain an understanding of the fundamental
physical and chemical processes that control the interchange of substances
in alluvial sediments of flowing water streams with the water as affected
by the sediment bed forms such as ripples and dunes. The basic approach
being taken in this research is the conduct of experiments in recirculating
laboratory flumes under very carefully controlled conditions of flow, water
quality, the bed media and the nature of the substances dissolved or in
particulate form being exchanged at the bed-fluid interface. This is a
renewal of research previously conducted under NSF Grant No. 91-05965.
Results of this research may be applied to answering important questions
relating to the pollutional effects that substances in bottom sediments
of water bodies have on the overlying water quality. This knowledge is
likely to be applied in environmental engineering practice to determine
approaches to removal of potential water pollutants and contaminants from
sediments and in determining locations for wastewater treatment plants that
would minimize the undesirable effects on environmental quality of their
effluent discharges and management practices for residual sludges.
/DE DESCRIPTORS: Environmental NEC


Top 10 weird grants - AskMen.com Canada