While Nigerian scientists cannot get money for research, the U.S. agency, National Science Foundation, responsible for shaping US science policy is accused by a US Senator that it is wasteful in a robotic research.
In a recent report, Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma takes aim at the National Science Foundation, the premier source of funding for science and engineering in the United States, raising questions about the agency’s management and priorities. In one section of the report, Coburn criticizes the NSF for squandering “millions of dollars on wasteful projects,” including three that involve robots. “A dollar lost to mismanagement, fraud, inefficiency, or a dumb project is a dollar that could have advanced scientific discovery,” the report says.
Do not read any meaning into this. He is a politician and they are trying to score points here. Yet, one thing is certain, there are many lawyers ruling America that one will ask if they understand what is happening in the world. Without a robot, the nuclear disaster in Japan will not have any chance of being abated. The BP Oil spill will still be spilling crude. It is only robot that can do those dangerous things. Sometimes, researchers wander and get lost, but that is the fun. Not all turns out to be great but they learn. For a Senator to say that NSF is wasteful, it is simply telling you that America could be in decline. Save the money, no science, and let us go hunting. Then after few years, cry over when Chinese are taking over the world.