The discovery of a “monster1′ by Chinese scientists has become a good argument on why more fundings need to be dedicated to fundamental science research. The research gained instant impact and received media coverage because scientists had always argued that it was impossible for such a massive black hole to exist in our galaxy.
The latest discovery of a “monster” black hole in the Milky Way by Chinese scientists has gained international media coverage and resulted in a conversation about science research in China.
The discovery has helped boost the argument about the funding of fundamental research. It has also highlighted the importance of fundamental science research which should be taken seriously.
Lack of fundamental science funding
In China, applied technology has been the focus of the government for a long time. A lot of resources have been dedicated to research dealing with practical technologies with the latest investments being in the 5G technology which has given China a competitive edge in the technology market.
However, the discovery of the black hole named LB-1 and located 15,000 light-years from Earth, which until its discovery, scientists had argued it was too big to exist in our galaxies, has led to a conversation about the need to invest more in basic science research.
The black hole was found to be 70 times the size of the sun and belongs to a common class called stellar black holes.
China’s spending on science has been on the rise in the past two decades increasing from less than one percent of GDP twenty years ago to about 2.5 percent this year. This falls short of other developed nations such as the US which has 2.78 percent of its GDP going into research.
China’s science research comparison with other countries
The amount spent by China on fundamental science research only accounts for 5 to 5.6 percent of the overall research and development funding.
In contrast with the US which spends 18 percent of its research budget on fundamental science research, the country needs to increase its funding in this area. On average, other developed countries use 15 to 20 percent of their research funding in fundamental science research.
The need for more funding
China’s emphasis on applied technology has resulted in an imbalance of funding that would go a long way in helping projects such as the discovery of other black holes in our galaxies.
This discovery by the Chinese scientists has proved that China can be able to compete on both fronts, applied technology, and basic science research.
Featured image by Pixabay
