It would be nice if the proof of work could do something like SETI at home did, or work on some other big problem like analyzing data from particle accelerators

It would be nice if the proof of work could do something like SETI at home did, or work on some other big problem like analyzing data from particle accelerators. It seems like such a waste to do work for works sake, just to generate money, but I guess there is some kind of commentary in the whole thing that reflects the true value of money. i.e we waste a lot of time chasing something that at it's core is immaterial. To me that would be an amazing currency, one that is generated by fueling progress, the more we contribute to solving problems the more the money supply grows. I am no economist but that sounds like a win/win. I wonder how hard it would be for Bitcoin to retrofit something like that for the proof of work. Another cool idea would be to allow people to choose which project they wanted their cycles to work for. It would be pretty cool to be able to choose "analyze cancer genomes" or "search for new matter" and be paid for contributing.