Sadness ... but understandable

[optical communications/.](http://slashdot.org) reports on a wired story which covers the demise of fundamental physics research at Bell labs. For those who aren’t aware, your ability to read this on your electronic device is directly as a result of fundamental physics research at Bell Labs. The vast majority of computers these days are based upon transistors. Which was invented at Bell Labs. Yeah, you might say “so what”. Curiousity driven research can sometimes pay back in a big way. Not always, but when it does, it does it quite well.