I do wonder about the begging bowl. There's just way to many "what if", "maybe", "possibly" in all this. Someone wants to play "woulda', shoulda', coulda' " under the guise of research and probable while getting paid for it.
This not to criticize thinking, dreaming, or speculation. There's just too many unknowns that would need to come together at the right time and in the right order for this to happen and too many things not there to prevent it from happening.
