"We learned something interesting, and now we're going to go find out if its easily practically useful or currently just a curiosity."

I don't see how that's "wishful thinking" or "faith-based" or anything like that.

i think the important point, as discussed in the comments at the top, is that they had a genuine knowledge breakthrough. for those of us wishing for immediate technological change, it may not sound like a lot, but for the scientists who have been working on this issue for decades, it is huge. & yes, we don't know yet, but hopefully it will lead to something more soon.