A whole lot of seemingly useless science does end up being useful later on in ways we don't imagine. I doubt Mersenne and Fermat envisioned their work being used to secure banking transactions. However, mathematics is typically harmless to animals, so it doesn't really matter if it never ends up being useful. This study was both immediately useless _and_ harmful.

The UofM ethics board must really be a rubber stamp if it approves asphyxiating and shocking to death a bunch of rats just to study near-death experiences.