I'm not convinced looking for aliens is basic research. Its more like applied science. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_research https://en.wikipedia.org/wik

I'm not convinced looking for aliens is basic research. Its more like applied science. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_research https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_research Life expectancy for the US is dropping. Multiple modern issues of maladjustment are likely causes. Spending searching-for-aliens money on schools, education etc instead would be actually beneficial. Schools have active shooter drills now. That is NOT an indicator of increasing quality of life. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/09/us-life-expectancy-has-been-declining-heres-why.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/09/us-life-expectancy-has-been-... Plenty of cracks in society. Pure research might actually help. We actually know far less about nutrition than we could - thats just one example. We're much better off going to the moon, mining asteroids and living in space rather than searching for aliens. Plenty of the tech, knowledge and experience from even attempting to live in space has already had tangible benefits for those on earth.