Mostly not; they were awarded through competitive process. It’s remarkably hard to get something frivolous through that.
What does happen a lot is that basic science isn’t immediately impactful but has a modest chance of producing something really useful. For example the GLP-1 drugs were developed as a result of a study into gila monster venom. Nobody is going to say “gila monster venom is useful” but the basic research into how gila monsters regulate appetite turned out to be very meaningful.
While I agree this administration went too far in not funding stuff, there were A LOT of grants that were useless and frivolous.
Mostly not; they were awarded through competitive process. It’s remarkably hard to get something frivolous through that.
What does happen a lot is that basic science isn’t immediately impactful but has a modest chance of producing something really useful. For example the GLP-1 drugs were developed as a result of a study into gila monster venom. Nobody is going to say “gila monster venom is useful” but the basic research into how gila monsters regulate appetite turned out to be very meaningful.