As does their entire intellectual process.

quote:

Originally posted by lithos:
You got a second amendment there, Boog - why not use it?

quote:

If it's found and it's mass (energy, same thing) identified, then that will also validate whichever theories predicted that energy.

Ah. Good. Will validate theories. Worth it, then.

Will also improve breakfast drinks.

quote:

Originally posted by lithos:
You got a second amendment there, Boog - why not use it?

quote:

If it's found and it's mass (energy, same thing) identified, then that will also validate whichever theories predicted that energy.

Ah. Good. Will validate theories. Worth it, then.

Valid theories are the first step toward successful methods, practices and productions.

Getting the race off this dying mudball would be nice.

Eventually.

It is people like this, doing things like this that we need more of.

And I do exercise my 2nd amendment.

Responsibly.

I like the LHC because it created demand for helium. That increased my income a little. So black hole or no fucking black hole, it's a good thing. [/Republican]

Helium makes your voice funny.

quote:

Originally posted by shake:
Helium makes your voice funny.

It will also stay liquid at temperatures lower than anything else, so you can get electromagnets colder, using less electricity to obtain a given magnetic force and making Trogdor some more money he will piss away on cheap guitars and donations to liberal politicians.

Well worth a few billion Euro then ...

Validating/disproving theories is important for a couple of reasons. Firstly, even if no applications are immediately apparent, greater understanding of fundamental forces can create applications. Did you know that certain behaviors of semi-conductor technologies (i.e. chips, the kind in the computer you're using) use quantum tunneling? Some electrons will jump over an energy barrier even though they don't have enough energy, classically speaking. This is because of the uncertainty in their position meaning that, sometimes, they just end up on the other side of the barrier by magic.

Quantum effects aren't normally necessary for understanding the "real world". When tunneling was first being theorized about, there certainly wasn't an application for it. But you can't design chips properly now unless you understand it (or at least someone understands it). If nobody bothered to theorize and validate, these technologies would never have become possible.*

The second reason is that knowledge interlocks, especially at the fundamental levels. Differences in the standard model of subatomic physics can lead to differences in calculations related to cosmology, for example, changing estimates of things like the age of the universe. This leads us back to the ultimate goal of Science, which is, as Boog points out, to prove creationists wrong.

_{* Strictly speaking they may have become possible through extensive empirical testing, something like how medieval cathedrals were built, but it would be a slow process of trial and error.}

This message has been edited. Last edited by: colin,

quote:

Originally posted by Biohazard:
Well worth a few billion Euro then ...

Oh yeah. Easy.

quote:

by magic

Quit that, colin.

Getting science-fictional wid it, but if the Higgs boson confirms particular theories about the Higgs field, and the Higgs field is what confers gravity on particles, I guess the potential waaayy out is the ability to mess with gravity. If you can turn off or reverse the grabity of your spacecraft you can save a lot of money on Saturn Vs.

quote:

Originally posted by Bravus:
Getting science-fictional wid it, but if the Higgs boson confirms particular theories about the Higgs field, and the Higgs field is what confers gravity on particles, I guess the potential waaayy out is the ability to mess with gravity. If you can turn off or reverse the grabity of your spacecraft you can save a lot of money on Saturn Vs.

Nope. Mass. The Higgs gives things mass. May or may not give us some clues about gravity. Probably not. We might not have gravity figured out until next century... if we're still technological by then and not eating sseds in the middle of the fucking savanna and wearing mud clothes.

Sorry, I meant to say 'mass' the first time. But gravity is just the space-time curvature caused by mass, so if you can mess with mass you can mess with gravity.

The world would be a much better place if we just all did "creative whiningwriting".

Or if we carried perpetual grudges because we're immature ex-stoners!

What is the space time curvature caused by ass? I'm going to fire up my collider and find out!

Am I the only one who keeps reading "large hardon collider" ?

I just can't help it.

haha, I have that problem too.