There's a substack for deepdives on research labs. 

Lockheed: https://www.freaktakes.com/p/managing-lockheeds-skunk-works

Bell Labs: https://www.freaktakes.com/p/how-did-places-like-bell-labs-know

YC: https://www.freaktakes.com/p/an-alternative-approach-to-deep-tech

Characteristics of "Golden Problems" from Bell Labs

Rare: “Among a thousand scientific problems, a hundred or so will be interesting, but only one or two will be truly rewarding — both to the world of science and to us.”

Dual value: “Our fundamental belief is that there is no difference between good science and good science relevant to our business.”

Latent leverage: “A synthetic plastic created by Bell chemists to replace the existing telephone cable sheathing saved Bell more than the total research budget of Bell Labs for the decade in which the innovation was worked out.”