I'd be much more worried about any terrorists that had a big enough bomb.. the LHC is buried 100m down in nice Geneva rock.
yeah.. I can see how not striving to expand mankind's knowledge would be a good thing. What a better world we'd live in had scientists not discovered electricity or magnetism.. what a better world it would be without solar panels, computers, magnetic resonance imaging , coffee machines, autotellers, shoe polishers, penguin sorters.. (ok I made that last one up.. but heavens knows we need to sort penguins into alphabetical order.. )
it is.. very
Yes it does.. Understanding the nature of matter.. of space.. of time could push mankind though boundarys hitherto consigned to the realms of science fiction. When Franklin supposedly flew a kite in a lightning storm with a key attached did anyone then percieve where we'd end up? Supercondutors could allow batteries to power devices almost indefinately.. Image a mobile phone or PDA.. or any other battery device a red blooded female may have on her person.. never running out of juice?
No they're not..at least no more than we're already at risk from all manner of risks.. A meteor may crash into the planet and wipe everything but the hamster out of existance, a super bug may turn us all into one giant oozing puddle of biogloop.. we may all be destroyed when the climate goes nasty. all of these are much much more likely than the LHC blasting us into oblivion.
ok.. let me point this out.. even if they DO NOT find the Higgs boson.. or the extra dimensions that they suspect.. or string fragments.. super symmetry.. the meaning of life.. etc etc THAT STILL is an epic result. It means our current thinking is flawed and it would fuel a massive push towards more radical plans.
and besides.. No matter how much money they pour into other sciences.. it doesn't guarentee anything. Give me 5 billion and I'll guarentee you'll live for ever.. if you die.. I'll give you the money back .. honest.
EVERY science is justified. No Science exists in isolation. Cancers are now being cured by beams of directed energy.. what science came up with these beams of energy? Physics. Who knows what the LHC may bring.. I have not got a crystal ball (or a wormhole to the future) but it may ultimately lead to currently magical sounding devices..
Antigravity? perhaps .. but not for a while!!
what about a material as soft abd flexable as silk , but as tough as tungsten? who knows it may happen..
New forms of communication? smoke signals.. jungle drums.. telegraph... radio.. bluetooth.. gsm.. neutrino ?? we just do not know where this may lead. Mankind must constantly strive to step forward.. if we don't go forward we stagnate.
I for one think it's facinating and I don't mind my tax dollars being spent in part on this.
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