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Sure, string theory is kind of a gimme.
Other things that I would include for being either dumb or dangerous:
I would also take a hard look at the publish-or-perish mindset of academia that is leading to the reproducibility crisis in journal submissions across the board.
The last bullet above is a part of this, and I want to elaborate further. This is one of the things where "studies" are being cranked out that don't advance, and in fact pollute and damage the fields. A good example would be Jonathan Pruitt's publications on spider behavior. It also begs the question that even if the spider behavior studies were valid, what useful information would we glean? Similarly, pulled from recent news, why would anyone spend a million dollars on studying if cocaine makes Japanese quail more sexually active?
This doesn't even touch the insane level of administration positions found in academia, which should also be trimmed, but that's not the focus of this thread.
(If you want to watch a longer YouTube about the spider issue, I highly recommend Angela Collier's telling of the tale: https://youtube.com/watch?v=qlas3TOi_CQ. She's a physicist and a great (IMO) storyteller and educator.)
Because both quail and quail eggs are delicious. Farmers raising quail for food, or quail hens for eggs, are definitely interested in what makes quail more sexually active, especially if it can be made economically viable to incorporate into feed.
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Yes, but many cosmological theories can and have been tested.
Gave us the Ebola vaccine
I have been able to find things saying that we now have a couple of Ebola vaccines but nothing for a lay audience about their method of development. Do you have a link for this?
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Conversely why shouldn't someone with a million dollars fund research into whether cocaine makes Japanese quail more sexually active? How can we know what we will learn from quail or spider behaviour if we don't research it?
I think this new plan in New Zealand is a good idea - we shouldn't get rid of those studies, we should just stop funding them. If they can secure private funding they should be able to study whatever they like.
Absolutely! Anyone can spend their money however they please, and no one has a say in that matter. If I want to fund a study on if meth makes earthworms horny, I should 100% have that right. But insisting that the taxpayer spend that money (in whatever country) is bordering on insane, in my opinion.
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