Michele Stockwell of  the Bipartisan Policy Center penned an opinion piece about the importance of funding basic science.

The value of basic research to applied technologies cannot be overlooked.

Federal funding for research led to discoveries as fundamental as the universe’s smallest known particle and the first human cancer gene. It’s given us life-altering technologies we rely on every day, from the internet to lithium batteries.

And despite difficulties in calculating the direct return on investment in science, researchers have found that 80 percent of such research can be linked to practical advances.