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Maybe you are being glib. If not then that's how basically all science works, someone gets money or creates a space to study something seemingly innocuous and weird that probably goes nowhere or makes something curious but with no real world use. Then 5 years later another scientist comes across it by random and realises it's exactly what they need to finish a new prototype of particle accelerator.
And yeah they've told us how to stop climate change but 20 quid ryanair flights, PS5s and same day Amazon deliveries are quite handy so sorry future generations 🤷
Genuine story too!
https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/dead-birds-get-new-life-new-mexico-researchers-develop-taxidermy-bird-drones-2023-04-13/