1. Hundred light years is not a great distance in cosmological scale. " I don't see any outcome of these studies .... investing trillions of dollars .... research and grants .... papers being published every now and then ....... Let that money go to Africa and Asia to feed the poor. " I agree to you that we have to do something to uplift the condition of poor countries but I don't agree to the means you have suggested as it is not plausible and even if it is put into action, I don't expect it to give the desired outcome. Every scientific research and endeavors get criticisms until some practical applications are derived. Before such applications are derived, it can be hard to speculate the form of such applications. Had there been no such research, there would be no sajha, no internet, no computer. Computers are a result for the need for extensive numerical computational tools, basically for research similar to what you have described above. And, now you see the world has changed and I think computers and internet can potentially change the poor nations as well.