No 145 - State of Scientific Research
Is scientific funding enough?
As a Cosmology communicator, I read a great deal of literature, listen to pod-casts and read about 4 to 5 books on Cosmology and particle physics per month. The task takes up a great deal of time and energy notwithstanding the cost. I am always on the lookout for interesting and new theories which are either coming out of universities or other Cosmology writers, like myself. Perhaps I am missing something of late but there seems to be a drought in publications of Cosmology, have we hit the wall?
The list of outstanding Cosmology unknowns in need of understanding are as follows:
1. Understanding of Dark Matter.
2. Understanding of Dark Energy.
3. Understanding of Gravity?
4. How did quantum fluctuations contribute to the Big Bang in real terms?
5. Was there a multi or parallel universe existing? 6. Why does entropy and the arrow of time go forward only?
7. Will the universe run out of energy in the end? 8. Why is the universe expanding at a more rapid rate than years ago?
9. Will universal inflation get to a speed that will create a universal problem to equilibria?
10. Is there life elsewhere in the universe?
11. When will we stop seeing the stars in the far future? 12. Will the cosmic energy density increase over time? 13. How long will humanity last on Earth.
14. Will we ever find another planet to live on?
15. Why was hydrogen the most prominent gas in the beginning & still is?
These are just a few cosmic questions we are seeking for the future of humanity. Wealthy countries continue to spend huge amounts of domestic funding to tackle many of the above questions but there would never be enough money to finish the outstanding list above. NASA was once the organisation that funded space research along with several other countries. The ISS is still going but now, private contractors are doing the heavy lifting with the Falcon 9 rocket, (with exceptions of two bad launches) the space landscape is changing with NASA concentrating on specific missions which I would guess have a militaristic motivation behind them and in doing so, securing their position as the most dominant power in the world and above in space.
The unsettling war in Europe and the Middle East, will push countries to spend more on defence and less on research however, research these days probably will have strategic objectives to be built in and adopted. With this in mind, what of the future of pure scientific research and is cosmology research getting close to the bottom of the global funding bucket?
It is hard to get a fix on which university is doing what and are they carrying out research in a coordinated fashion? It seems to me that there is no central body with exception for Americas Seed Fund and the NSF - (National Science Foundation.)
NASA funding focuses primarily on space-based missions and research, alternatively NSF funding is primarily on ground based telescopes and associated research, and DOE - (Department of energy) funding on projects dedicated to better understanding of dark matter, dark energy, and particle physics. Each year federal agencies receive funding from the US Congress, known as budgetary resources. In 2023, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), had $32.37 Billion distributed among its 1 sub-components where buy agencies spend available budgetary resources by making financial promises called obligations.
Meanwhile, within Australia, in terms of the impact on science, the Australian budget, released 9 May 2023, is "very bland,"says Les Field, Science Policy Secretary at the Australian Academy of Science in Canberra. The nation's leading scientific association explained, "there are no big spending initiatives but no major cuts," We then seem to be in a holding patten and I think on a worldwide basis, COVID cost governments a great deal putting State Financial Budgetarybalancing, as a priority.
To look forward say 5 to 10 years, this current marking time position probably shall not alter unless the outstanding World Bank loans are paid off far faster than anticipated. So, it is clear each university will be trimming and cutting for many more years to come.
Interestingly, China has overtaken the US as the world leader in both scientific research output and “high impact” studies, according to a report published by Japan's Science and Technology Ministry 2022. The biggest researchers in science are as follows: China, USA, the UK and India. China publishes more quality scientific research than any other country in the world today, this is concerning to me and many other people.
Ref: Top 10 Countries for Technological Expertise - Best Countries Report published in 2021 was:
• Japan – United States & Singapore
Australia doesn’t get a mention however when it comes to medical research, Australia is a heavy lifter. Getting back to our cosmological list, I can see this list not changing for many years to come. These are very profound questions in science and do require big funding to expediate scientific results. Meanwhile, there are some very interesting research programs now for Dark Matter and Gravitational Waves however, still today we are keen to have the most difficult cosmic questions answered please?
Enjoy the reading regards Eden.
