a) It was done in the states
perhaps you would prefer pure science research ceased, taking away the modern world at a stroke?
United States are in a much worse state than us last time I checked. I don't think science research should stop, not for curing diseases and the like. But novelties such as how many frames a second can we shoot in isn't what we need to be doing right now. How is this going to benefit anyone?
Don't get me wrong, its very impressive work, that impressive that I watched the whole 11 minutes of it. But it seems to be money could be used better else where just for the time being.
Thats fascinating work - very impressive.
Regarding whether or not money should go into such projects. In recent history there has always been a strong correlation between a country coming out of recession and investment in science. The result of a lot of research goes forward to provide new optimisation for industry, ways to save, highlights new products with which you can gain a competitive advantage and drive an economy out of its troubles.
Cutting investment in science is a very short term view and would have a huge detrimental impact on the long term health of the economy. Unfortunately that is exactly what the govt is currently doing and we are now one of the worst countries in europe in terms of how much is invested. Its not good