<div></div><div>While some research may be silly or even wasteful, it is very difficult to predict what that research is in advance by scientists, let alone politicians. Indeed, the history of science shows us that many research proposals initially deemed silly, proved to be immensely important to our understanding of the world, as well as for financial gains.</div><div></div><div>Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson highlights a few such cases:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>In 1955, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
funded a study named, ``The Sex Life of the
Screwworm.'' This grant was mocked on the Senate floor
as an example of government waste, and instigated the
creation of a ``Golden Fleece Award.'' Screwworms feed
on living tissue, often killing the host, and were a
huge menace in the cattle industry. The initial grant
was for $250,000. The outcome of that grant saved the
cattle industry $20 billion in the U.S. alone,
resulting in a 5 percent reduction in the price of
beef. The Senator who mocked the grant later
apologized.</div><div></div><div>In the early 1960's NSF and NIH funded a
marine biologist to study why jellyfish glow green, a
topic that would surely have caught the attention of
our Majority as being ``unworthy'' of federal funding.
When this biologist, who was just following his
scientific curiosity, isolated the green fluorescent
protein from jellyfish in 1962, neither he nor his
funders had any idea that his work would one day lead
to advances in genetics, cell biology, developmental
biology, and neurobiology, to a better understanding of
cancer, brain diseases such as Alzheimer's, and other
human diseases, and methods used widely by the
pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. In 2008,
this work won a Nobel Prize.</div><div></div><div>In 2006, NSF funded a $147,000 study named,
``Accuracy in the Cross-Cultural Understanding of
Others' Emotions.'' In 2007, this grant was mocked on
the House Floor as an example of government waste. In
notable contrast, the Department of Defense and the
Department of Homeland Security were both keenly
interested in this research because of its application
to soldiers operating among potentially hostile foreign
populations, and to Transportation Security agents
trying to detect any potential terrorists among
travelers coming from all over the world. The scientist
behind this work has been invited to speak to officials
at both agencies many times.</div></blockquote><div><div>Research funding is a complex issue that is consistently a point of contention amongst scientists and the government. Calls for more new methods of review (<cite class="ltx_cite" data-bib-text="@article{Ioannidis_2011,
doi = {10.1038/477529a},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/477529a},
year = 2011,
month = {sep},
publisher = {Nature Publishing Group},
volume = {477},
number = {7366},
pages = {529--531},
author = {John P. A. Ioannidis},
title = {More time for research: Fund people not projects},
journal = {Nature}
}" data-bib-key="Ioannidis_2011"><a href="#Ioannidis_2011">Ioannidis 2011</a></cite>) to campaigns humanizing scientists (<a href="http://www.ascb.org/show-congress-face-biomedical-research-face/">#WeAreResearch</a>) have sought to increase the funding pool and to improve how it is disbursed. Since much of the work is taxpayer funded senators have demanded that work be in the interest of the nation. <b><i>Can "silly work" be in the interest of the nation?</i></b></div><div></div><div>Maybe not, but maybe so. It is the chance that it could that must be defended. Basic research needs freedom to ask questions for better understanding, not for better bottom lines. The internet grew out of scientists trying to share work amongst each other. Treatment for premature babies, termed "preemies," was fostered into the United States through <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/coney-island-sideshow-advanced-medicine-premature-babies/">a sideshow on Coney Island</a>. Washing your hands before surgery with a disinfectant was ridiculed, landing Ignaz Semmelweiss out of a job and in an <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/01/12/375663920/the-doctor-who-championed-hand-washing-and-saved-women-s-lives">insane asylum</a>.</div><div></div><div>In hindsight, it is easy to say how foolish we were to <a href="https://www.authorea.com/users/8850/articles/117724/_show_article">reject these breakthrough ideas</a>. Arguably, not all the ideas scoffed at by Flake and others will turn out to be revolutionary, but freedom to explore ideas with curiosity and imagination as the only constraint is <i>necessary for science to progress. </i></div><div><div></div><div>We welcome research from the outsiders, from students, from basic scientists, from political scientists, from citizen scientists. Write your next "silly" manuscript on <a href="http://www.authorea.com">Authorea</a>.</div><div></div><div></div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div></div><div></div>
