There will always be those who will undermine scientific discovery. Unless there is an application behind the discovery or breakthrough, they feel there was no point doing it. When I see such comments or questions, I highlight the importance of the research and list some of the applications that come with it. In many cases it works, but sometimes you’re talking about knowledge that doesn’t have a direct tangible application. For example, scientists discovered organic matter in a space cloud in another galaxy. What can we do with that? The answer is, it will help us learn about how life originated on our planet and whether carbon-based life form is abundant in the universe. As you can see, not everything needs to have an application to be exciting or interesting. Sometimes these discoveries help us fill gaps in our knowledge, which alone is a convincing reason to do it.