In a segment of the Fox News program Huckabee, the former GOP presidential candidate rails off on how a scientific study that watches how shrimp function on treadmills is “not the only stupid thing that my tax dollar pays for, but it may be the most outrageous.”

“I don’t want my shrimp going to the gym,” he says. “I want them going to the grill or the oven, and then to the table. … I say, let’s send Forrest Gump to Congress. He knows what to do with a shrimp.”

The thing is, Huckabee—researchers weren’t trying to see whether the crustaceans could work off their midsections, but were analyzing how recent changes in the oceans could potentially affect the ability of marine organisms to fight infections, which can have a tremendous impact public health.

Such scoffing of frivolous-sounding federally funded scientific research helped fuel the creation of the Golden Goose Award, which recognizes the achievements of work that “may have been considered silly, odd, or obscure when first conducted but has resulted in significant benefits to society.” The brainchild of Congressman Jim Cooper, the award was launched in 2012 was a way to illustrate the value of funding for basic science, and was the topic of a recent discussion in Reddit’s Today I Learned community.

Reddit user jhshiode is one of the current primary staffers working on the award, and showed up to the discussion to share some insight and dispel some myths about federally funded scientific research—one being that money is distributed recklessly.

“Most federal science funding agencies give funding to fewer than 1 in 4, and in some cases more like 1 in 10 proposals for research projects,” the redditor writes. “The process is incredibly rigorous and competitive. For example, average success rate for proposals at the National Institutes of Health last year was 18%, with some large programs below 10%.”

Science is weird. But you don’t discover new things by doing the same old thing.

Here are some of the studies that seemed odd at the time, but led to phenomenal breakthroughs.

Massaging Rat Babies to Help Human Babies

The study: Scientists rubbed the backs of infant rats with a tiny brush.

The impact: The work led to the finding that massage could promote the survival and growth of premature human infants. Infant massage therapy is now used by nearly 40 percent of NICU’s nationwide, helping thousands of preemies survive, thrive and go on to live healthy lives.

Using Poisonous Lizard Spit to Treat Diabetes

The study: In 1992, Dr. John Eng discovered a new compound in the Gila monster’s venom, which he named Exendin-4. The compound stimulates insulin-producing cells in the pancreas to produce more insulin when glucose levels are high, keeping the body’s blood sugar levels at a steady, normal level while minimizing the risk of levels going too low, compared to an insulin shot.

The impact: The medication, now marketed as Byetta, has been prescribed to millions of people with diabetes, helping them manage their chronic condition.

Withholding Marshmallows From Children to Understand Self-Control

The study: In Dr. Walter Mischel’s famous marshmallow experiment, administered at the Bing Nursery School at Stanford in the 1960s,

a research team would present a child with a treat, such as a marshmallow, and tell him that he could either eat the one treat immediately or wait alone in the room for several minutes until the researcher returned, at which point he’d be rewarded with two treats. What Mischel discovered was that the longer the kid could delay gratification, the better he would fare later in life in several areas, from academics to health to overall happiness.

What critics were saying: Dr. Walter Mischel was told he should seek funding for the test from a candy manufacturer, not the National Institute of Health.

The impact: Through the decades, the research has shown both children and adults can learn mental techniques to strengthen their self-control. The study has impacted everything from K-12 curriculum—particularly at the award-winning KIPP charter schools—

to retirement planning programs to Sesame Street episodes (it turns out that Cookie Monster can wait for that delicious cookie if he just puts his mind to it).

Studying the Color of Jellyfish to Make Discoveries About Human Genetics

The study: In 1962, researchers gathered thousands of jellyfish known as Aequorea victoria off the coast of Washington to study their luminescence and isolate a protein that glowed light green in daylight and fluorescent green in UV light.

The impact: The research has led to advances in genetics, cell biology, developmental biology, and neurobiology, and has given scientists a better understanding of cancer, brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, and other human diseases.