Why?

utexas_61

utexas_61

500+ Posts
i got in a semi drunken argument (really drunk) last night with my best friend about the uses of science. i somehow brought up the large hadron collider and i was trying to explain it to him. he basicially said it was stupid and won't contribute anything to humanity. We then somehow got into whether or not money should be more wisely spent on other areas of research, such as cancer, and that NASA is pretty much a joke.


We ended the argument with him pretty much saying by the morning just give me one thing that has helped mankind that has came out of NASA, landing on the moon, space travel etc. I really can't think of anything. And he won't buy any "well it can help lead to something in the future". Give me something that has directly benifited us in the last 40 or 50 years.
 
Note the additional links at the bottom of the page Hornius linked to:

# Apollo Inventions Benefiting Home
# Apollo Inventions Benefiting Work and Safety
 
It is relevent to seperate the two things you discussed (LHC and NASA). The LHC is a product of physics (Quantum Mechanics) and is an endeavor of discovery. NASA has an exploration charter. While making signifiant contribution to physics, most of NASA's breakthroughs have been in engineering. Both have been central to our current way of life, responsible from everything from the discovery of helium to the invention of the microprocessor. Discovery, through science or exploration, has been the life blood of all great civilizations throughout history. Innovation is a core requirement for influence.

Over the past quarter of a century our country has begun to turn its back on manufacturing and science. If we aren't discovering or building the technology of tomorrow, it has to make you wonder what our contribution will be.
 
Our universe is bathed in cosmic rays, particles with hundreds of thousands times the acceleration of anything the LHC has the potential to produce. That the universe has survived for +13 billion years, should be considered strong evidence of the safety of the LHC.
 
Cosmic rays collide with matter all the time. In fact, astronauts in space are bathed in them, and can "see" them when they hit their eyes. High energy collisions are a fact of the cosmos... and the cosmos is capable of dishing out FAR more energetic collisions than the LHC ever will hope to.
 
Zero gravity toilets.

Believe me, if the time should ever come that you need one you will regard every dollar that has gone into the space program as money well spent.
 
Telecommunications.


Duh.






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I'm trying to figure out how the topic of satellites which give us better access to information, faster communication, and shrink the world weren't mentioned (maybe they were in the links, I didn't click on them).
 
NASA has given us a lot. The advancements in minaturization pioneered there have made most of modern technology possible.

The new Hadron Collider, however, seems like not the best application of research funds. Eight billion could do a lot more in other areas.
 
BT, I just don't know how you can quanitify that "Eight billion could do a lot more" anywhere else. The LHC could redefine how we understand physics. The practical application of discovery is unquantifiable until AFTER you know what there is to be learned. The risk is money, the reward is potentially limitless in both monetary returns as well as quality of life.

I would guess that there are at least 10 things within 10 feet of you right now which would not exist without an initial investment in pure science for its own sake. That 8 billion dollars is money well spent.
 
How about giving us that story of the crazy beeatch driving wearing a diaper cross country?

That was a pretty good contribution to society right there I say.
 
Uninformed, no doubt that short-term interests should, at times, usurp long-term possibilities. I'm not arguing that the LHC was definitively the best possible use of the money. I'm just saying it is exceedingly hard quantify the worth of a tool meant for discovery. It is not impossible that the discoveries from the LHC could influence the next several generations of nuclear plants.
 
I thought the total cost of the LHC was $8, and the US contribution (government) has been around $500 million. Personally, I think the US funding of the sciences across the board is pretty pathetic, even before the cuts we've seen over the last few years.
 
Actually, the best use of the $8B might very well be the collider. There's really very little else you could do with that little money. In the whole scheme of things, $8B doesn't buy squat elsewhere.
 
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