The LHC must never be allowed to open!

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Jocephus
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Re: The LHC must never be allowed to open!

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ghostrunner wrote:
I'm pretty sure I just saw this in that Deja Vu movie with Denzel Washington. They use it to look back in time and zap pieces of paper into the past.
it reminds me of something on the millennium falcon

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Re: The LHC must never be allowed to open!

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Last edited by jim on July 28 16, 3:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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sighyoung
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Re: The LHC must never be allowed to open!

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jim wrote:
Secret Weapon wrote:And what exactly kind of information do we get out of doing this stuff? Is it really worth the 8 billions dollars spent on building the machine and also risking the end of the universe to get this info?
The transistor and World Wide Web came out of high energy physics research. You can't predict the uses that will come out of pure research, but if history is any guide than the benefits will be great.

Plus, ending the universe would be SO COOL!!!!!!
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clevername
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Re: The LHC must never be allowed to open!

Post by clevername »

jim wrote:
Secret Weapon wrote:And what exactly kind of information do we get out of doing this stuff? Is it really worth the 8 billions dollars spent on building the machine and also risking the end of the universe to get this info?
The transistor and World Wide Web came out of high energy physics research. You can't predict the uses that will come out of pure research, but if history is any guide than the benefits will be great.
I don't know that some people will ever understand the great value of serendipity gained by man attempting to understand the universe. It all sounds like obscure insignificant talk until you're using it to cook your food.

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Re: The LHC must never be allowed to open!

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Last edited by jim on July 28 16, 3:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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ghostrunner
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Re: The LHC must never be allowed to open!

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clevername wrote:
jim wrote:
Secret Weapon wrote:And what exactly kind of information do we get out of doing this stuff? Is it really worth the 8 billions dollars spent on building the machine and also risking the end of the universe to get this info?
The transistor and World Wide Web came out of high energy physics research. You can't predict the uses that will come out of pure research, but if history is any guide than the benefits will be great.
I don't know that some people will ever understand the great value of serendipity gained by man attempting to understand the universe. It all sounds like obscure insignificant talk until you're using it to cook your food.
Well, just to play devil's advocate, it's worth questioning whether we really needed the internet or a new way to cook food isn't it? The aim of most major household inventions has been to save time and perhaps give us more time with our loved ones. It seems like that doesn't really happen though. Much of the hard work was done as a cooperative effort and people socialized in the process. Now we bank online, order off the web, etc..... We don't need the help of the family to cook, so we let them go do what they want to do by themselves. That's oversimplifying, but we didn't have all this pollution 200 years ago.

Obviously, I'm on this board frequently, so I don't agree with that perspective. But it's arguable I think, and it's reasonable for people to object to the spending even if they take advantage of past developments.

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clevername
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Re: The LHC must never be allowed to open!

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that's getting more into a value argument than a "does research lead to new, useful technology?". I understand it's all intertwined, but I think the fact that these things are used daily by the masses makes it all too difficult to tease out whether it's right or wrong. Whether or not they were invented as direct offshoots from other research isn't up for question, though.

How about this: where would we be without x-rays, CT scans, MRI, nuclear medicine, etc.?

Research offshoots provide more benefits than items of convenience.

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ghostrunner
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Re: The LHC must never be allowed to open!

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clevername wrote:that's getting more into a value argument than a "does research lead to new, useful technology?". I understand it's all intertwined, but I think the fact that these things are used daily by the masses makes it all too difficult to tease out whether it's right or wrong. Whether or not they were invented as direct offshoots from other research isn't up for question, though.

How about this: where would we be without x-rays, CT scans, MRI, nuclear medicine, etc.?
Dead, only sooner.

That sounds flippant, and obviously a few extra years is extremely valuable to individuals, but is society improved by people living longer?

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clevername
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Re: The LHC must never be allowed to open!

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some might argue that's less preferable than the alternative.

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Re: The LHC must never be allowed to open!

Post by clevername »

living longer than what? 30? 40?

Besides, these techs are used on children, as well. It's not as simple as living to 85 instead of 80.

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