3 Fascinating Things You Probably Didn't Know About Microsoft Corporation -- The Motley Fool

Over the years, Alphabet and Facebook have invested in everything from walking dog robots to autonomous high altitude wind turbine planes. While not always directly related to their core business, these investments provide an outlet for generous cash flows and could open up future business opportunities. At the very least, crazy science projects generate buzz for the company, which certainly doesn't hurt. However, these two aren't the only tech companies that invest heavily in far-off scientific endeavors in hopes of big payoffs. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) employs hundreds of scientists through the powerful entity known as Microsoft Research, which has contributed to nearly every product sold by the company in the last several decades.