It's an interesting question. I'd look at it from the angle of ability to marshal resources for an to meet constantly arising but unanticipated threats and oppo

It's an interesting question. I'd look at it from the angle of ability to marshal resources for an to meet constantly arising but unanticipated threats and opportunities. So not the Genome Project, we always knew we'd need to figure that out, same with how to beat cancer, same with fusion, etc. I'm talking about when internet transaction started becoming an opportunity, there was already a well developed (if esoteric) field of cryptography that could build solutions for that application... and it turned out that was the tip of the iceberg of what crypto is doing nowadays. On the threat side, there are many examples of Soviet jet can do X, therefore the US has to dip into research on say allow metals, to build a jet that can do Y and counter the threat. We don't know what grand projects are tractable with today's or tomorrow's technology - beat cancer or invent fusion first, anyone? We know in the future we'll need answers to questions we haven't even asked yet; that's what you're really buying with your research dollars.