Posted on 08/31/2015 7:42:51 PM PDT by Sir Gawain
/johnny
Besides scratching the curiosity itch, how does this benefit humanity?
Turtles all the way down, well except for that 4th layer down, that isn’t a turtle it is a Alligator...
There really is no way to tell. I expect that if we wver truly do understand the way the universe actually works at a fundamental level, we will be shockdd at the implications. I’m not yet convinced that we are really even on the right track.
Probably isn’t going to make any difference at all for another 200 years.
But what it all leads to then might be kinda cool.
Until then, I will bide my time.
I am a bit prejudiced when it comes to these sorts of things having done this sort of research at the post doc level. The immediate data sets which draw this information are there to scratch the curiosity itch. But there is an underlying technology below, in the accelerator physics, that does benefit humanity in many ways. Superconducting RF cavities, the detector itself, the beam injection methods, as well as the synchrotron radiation (high intensity X-rays that cannot be duplicated with a Cathode Ray Tube and PWM generator) are used in other experiments. They are in many ways the precursors of today's radiology machines which are now well beyond what was available even 20 years ago. These are the things that benefit humanity as a direct result of this sort of investigation.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. An answer I can live with.
I knew when I posed the question I would probably get many a snaky response (all the while hoping I would get and intelligent one). And beyond hope, one of the first responses I received was the one I was hoping for.
Anyone who goes to YouTube and types in ‘CERN’ will find a whacklotta videos that all claim there is something absolutely demonic going on, CERN workers doing some sort of weird occult dance celebrating the Indian deity ‘Shiva’, some extremely strange stuff, up to -and- including the theory that the LHC has actually been built to open up the Biblical ‘abyss’ from which all sorts of apocalyptic creatures will emerge as foretold in the Book of Revelation.
In any event, if there was ever something where the saying “Your Mileage May Vary” applied, this is it.
"The immediate data sets which draw this information are there to scratch the curiosity itch. But there is an underlying technology below, in the accelerator physics, that does benefit humanity in many ways. Superconducting RF cavities, the detector itself, the beam injection methods, as well as the synchrotron radiation (high intensity X-rays that cannot be duplicated with a Cathode Ray Tube and PWM generator) are used in other experiments. - They are in many ways the precursors of today's radiology machines which are now well beyond what was available even 20 years ago. These are the things that benefit humanity as a direct result of this sort of investigation."
Besides scratching the curiosity itch, how does this benefit humanity?
...
It’s fundamental knowledge. We build upon it and achieve greater knowledge and technology.
When stellar aberration was first observed in the 1700’s nobody had any idea how it would eventually play a role in relativity. And then relativity played a role in nuclear energy and so on.
I guess that is the response from most people. However, I've read that it may lead to the creation of new super-elements that won't decay to nothing in a split second. There's a lot that can be done with a new range of elements in electronics, construction, spaceflight, etc. A breakthrough can lead to something akin to the Industrial Revolution in years past, elevating humanity to new heights. Maybe. A big maybe.
“Besides scratching the curiosity itch, how does this benefit humanity?”
We’re now able to manipulate electromagnetism fairly well, and we can primitively work with the weak nuclear force in nuclear reactions. We have yet to understand how to use the strong force and we don’t really even know what gravity is, but imagine what we could do if we could control gravity.
09/23
Moonman62; roadcat; Ouderkirk; VanShuyten
Even at my age (69), I’m still able to learn ... thanks to my friends on FP.
Sorry, didn’t post the correctly.
Even at my age (69), I’m still able to learn ... thanks to my friends on FP.
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