Proposal funding breakage notwithstanding, are you saying that there is a working procedure for figuring out what &quot;profitable&quot; research should be? (It&#x27;s not even clear to me what you mean by that, should it be profitable to the government, to a few individuals, or to the nation as a whole?)<p>Personally, I think you&#x27;ve got it completely backwards. I&#x27;m confident that we can leave the commercializable science to those wanting to make a buck. Public funding for basic science is the only workable way.<p>Sure, nonprofits help in certain areas, but those are also usually &quot;earmarked&quot; for specific fields or tasks. I don&#x27;t think society&#x27;s avenues of exploration should be decided by a few rich people.