[michaelt]

> It appears that the development and the consequent publication was driven by vanity, that is the researchers really really wanted to claim the glory for their invention.

Or it's just public science funding working as it's supposed to - scientists with high-impact findings get rewarded with citations, prizes, tenure and further research funding.

To me it's no mystery why an academic researcher would want to publicise findings like this - I'm surprised they didn't rush to publish it 20 years ago!