So historically the US government has been a dominant source of funding for basic science. Various government agencies offer grants to scientists to study things that are very “pure science” like the example you gave, to very “applied science” such as ways to use that basic science info to aid national security. The US government funding of basic science grew out of the manhattan project (an example of basic and applied science serving a national security application).

Vannevar Bush, who helped initiate the manhattan project, advocated for a significant role in funding science by the US government after WW2. He’s the reason the US has historically been a titan in scientific research. PhDs from other countries wanted to move to the US because that’s where the best opportunities to continue their research were. This was true even just a few years ago.

The current overhaul and politicization of basic science and the government organizations that fund it has significantly damaged that strength in the US. There have been catastrophic funding cuts in basic science. Many young researchers are looking for jobs in private industry (non research) or moving to other countries. We will suffer the consequences of these cuts for years at a minimum.