The amount of grands they get is enough to understand how one might be inclined to continue/prolong the research project they are doing. On the other hand there is the sunk cost fallacy. They spend all this time and effort on a research subject basically staking their whole carriers on it being right or giving results and they can't give up. I'm guessing most is doing it because of the sunk cost fallacy.

This reminds me of der rote liste, the big directory of all pharmaceutical drugs. during the 90s I opened the huge book on random pages and read the details of ~200 drugs. i concluded that maybe 1/50 prescription drugs are truly beneficial.

Daniel Suelo should do science