Reading code is regularly useful for discovering language specific idioms/patterns about efficiencies, safety and clarity. That is why you should try to read well written code for learning. Reading poorly written code for any kind of edification is a waste of time.
In this sense code can be used like a well written novel can be used by an aspiring novelist -- to better learn the craft.
There is not a lot of funding for "basic" research any more. Those dollars are now usually sucked up by the most ruthless researchers that have risen to the top of the power pyramid and sit there until they die or retire.
Young researchers coming up through the ranks have very few opportunities to pursue the basic research that may take ten or more years to manifest a rich result. They must serve their mentor's interest through publishing in his/her area, then hopefully land an adjunct position where this process is repeated for the Department/School, then after 12-20 years in academia they may get tenure and have a shot at some freedom if they aren't completely used up and corrupted. At that point it is much easier to just fall back into the patterns of abuse they endured except now it is they abusing their students.
Look at active database research from the 90's. They all had event languages like this. My PhD research was in developing a domain independent event query language (EQL) that was very similar. This was 12 years ago.
The agriculture industrial complex is invested deeply in corn/soy/wheat processed foods and chemicals. Mega billions are at stake. The options for "low effort" and "low price" food are virtually all unhealthy from a diet standpoint. Yet, these foods have been engineered to be nearly addictive. That is why there is rampant obesity. Any diet that largely avoids these foods and maintains reasonable variety is going to be vastly more healthy.