Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (Full Version)

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velvetears -> Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 12:03:01 PM)

Can anyone explain this - is there a physicist in the house?   Doomseday is always around the corner it appears [8|]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24556999/?GT1=43001



Mercnbeth -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 12:15:15 PM)

If I were you, I'd take a 'Black Hole' day.



meatcleaver -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 12:17:08 PM)

If the collider gobbles up Switzerland you should stay at home and celebrate.



popeye1250 -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 12:48:36 PM)

This is exactly the type of thing I don't want my Taxes paying for.
When do the Taxpayers start getting a say in how *our* money is spent?
(It's NOT "the government's" money, it's the Taxpayer's!)
As long as Taxpayer Dollars are involved "research" goes on "forever!"
"Ok, we found the cure for cancer, close all the labs and lay off 100,000 scientists and hundreds of thousands of support personel."
Of course they always say that "the cure for cancer is closer than ever" or some such nonsense!
Just like the t.v. preacher with a bad haircut telling us that we're in the "end times" because of "global warming" or some other nonsense.
But,.....in the *meantime*, keep that $money$ rolling in!



kittinSol -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 1:02:11 PM)

quote:



As the atom-smasher at Europe's CERN research center is readied for its official startup on Wednesday... <snip>



Even when it's irrelevant, you say you don't want to pay for it [:D] .



housesub4you -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 1:06:04 PM)

Yea, I don't believe any US taxpayer money is being used......yet....however if it fails to make money, I'm sure we will be asked to kick in a few billion to save the earth from Black Hole Death



popeye1250 -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 1:14:45 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: kittinSol

quote:



As the atom-smasher at Europe's CERN research center is readied for its official startup on Wednesday... <snip>



KittinSol, in the U.S. "government" is supposed to work "for the people".
I'd much rather see that money going into housing or good-paying jobs.
A "Government/Big business "partnership" usually isn't a good thing unless you're a stockholder in one of those "big businesses."
Damn, you're sounding more and more like a Republican!
How long have you been here now?

Even when it's irrelevant, you say you don't want to pay for it [:D] .



corysub -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 1:25:56 PM)

Open a bottle of good wine, have a great dinner...and enjoy. 
Plan on going to work would be what I'm gonna do. 



pahunkboy -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 1:31:46 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: popeye1250

This is exactly the type of thing I don't want my Taxes paying for.
When do the Taxpayers start getting a say in how *our* money is spent?
(It's NOT "the government's" money, it's the Taxpayer's!)
As long as Taxpayer Dollars are involved "research" goes on "forever!"
"Ok, we found the cure for cancer, close all the labs and lay off 100,000 scientists and hundreds of thousands of support personel."
Of course they always say that "the cure for cancer is closer than ever" or some such nonsense!
Just like the t.v. preacher with a bad haircut telling us that we're in the "end times" because of "global warming" or some other nonsense.
But,.....in the *meantime*, keep that $money$ rolling in!



check my profile diary journal-- I just wrote congress.

we have plenty of holes here at home



DomKen -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 1:48:05 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: popeye1250

This is exactly the type of thing I don't want my Taxes paying for.
When do the Taxpayers start getting a say in how *our* money is spent?
(It's NOT "the government's" money, it's the Taxpayer's!)
As long as Taxpayer Dollars are involved "research" goes on "forever!"
"Ok, we found the cure for cancer, close all the labs and lay off 100,000 scientists and hundreds of thousands of support personel."
Of course they always say that "the cure for cancer is closer than ever" or some such nonsense!
Just like the t.v. preacher with a bad haircut telling us that we're in the "end times" because of "global warming" or some other nonsense.
But,.....in the *meantime*, keep that $money$ rolling in!

That's terribly short sighted, not that I shold be surprised.

This sort of basic scientific research is vital to progress but is too far from immediate commercial applications to be funded by industry. The computer you typed that post on is the result of many millions of dollars in basic scientific researche funded decades ago. I suggest you show us all your moral superiority by refusing to use it anymore.



bipolarber -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 2:43:38 PM)

Science touches every single part of out lives. It is infinitely more important that mere religion, which is a "feel good" measure, at best. (self delusion, at worst).  Try to get up in the morning and try to NOT use anything that is the product of scientific research done in the last 75 years. The span of a single human lifetime. I think you'll find, that you can't. From the lights you turn on, the clock by the bedside, the electricity to run them, you shaver, the toothpaste, the water system that supplies you with clean, healthy agua from the tap, the TV you flip on to get the news, the satillites that supply you with accurate information on the next coming hurricane, the food you prepare for breakfast, the car you drive to work (including the metals and plastics and synthetics that make up the car itself, and the clothing you wear) the medications you pop to keep your blood pressure level, or cure that pesky headache, or gave you that wonderful stiffie that your gf enjoyed the night before... and the tools and systems you use in your daily employment... ALL of them are the products of basic scientific reseach...

And that research is then used to fuel an enconomy made of of industries that USE that fucking information as the basis for creating new, better, and more competative products.

So kindly STFU about how you want to kill the god-damned economy, and send the US to the back of the line when it comes to being the leader in new and better ways of doing things, just because you gripe about how the NSF charged you the equivilent of one can of beer in your precious tax money.

Seriously, your luddite attitude is just making you look like an ass.




popeye1250 -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 3:19:38 PM)

Hmm, perhaps I could apply for a government "grant" to do experiments to turn bisexual and leftist men into women.
(Just a thought.)



seeksfemslave -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 3:20:24 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: kittinSol
quote:


As the atom-smasher at Europe's CERN research center is readied for its official startup on Wednesday... <snip>

Even when it's irrelevant, you say you don't want to pay for it [:D] .

I am not sure and carnt be bothered to check whether the US contributed to this particular extravagence but I am absolutely certain that the US has contributed financially and in hardware/expertise  to CERN.

adding: since I was speaking from memory here's an example.
http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/2003/bnlpr012103b.htm

just to clarify the Brookhaven Lab is financed by tax dollars OK?



samboct -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 3:42:30 PM)

Oh, it's much worse than that.  The US passed up its lead in high energy physics years ago when Reagan pulled the plug on the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) even though it was sited in Texas.  Most of the cutting edge high energy physics is now being done in Europe.  The bright Chinese physicists that used to emigrate here- well, they've started going back to China.  Guess what they managed to build- the first mag-lev train.  Anybody who thinks that the US has a technological lead over the rest of the world has just stuck their head in the sand- it's been squandered. 

I will point out that there is no such animal as a wealthy country based on real estate.  Every country has land.  Technological skills (in the broader sense- not just IT) and the ability to manufacture high value added products is what makes a strong economy- and to do that you need cutting edge research.  Its the old bumper sticker-"If you think education is expensive- try ignorance."  Well, clearly we've done the ignorance bit with the current administration- does anyone think they are better off now than 8 years ago?

There really aren't that many scientists working out there anymore.  When last I checked, the number of chemistry Ph.Ds employed in the US was less than 30k- and I think there are fewer physicists.  Popeye- if you'd care to find out a few facts you might discover that very few students want to go into science anymore because it sucks as a career- it's a decade or more of training post college, and there are no guarantees about getting a job.

In terms of the world being swallowed up by a black hole- well, they're out there in space too- are you losing sleep that the planet might run into one?


Sam



seeksfemslave -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 3:51:46 PM)

I agree with the thrust of your post but it was Clinton who closed the Texas facility.

I know I am a bit of a nerd but the first commercial Mag Lev train was built at Birmingham Airport UK.
Germans had one running a bit earlier I think.
Japs have made one travel at either 350 mph or kph
Kilometres  per hour I should think



subtee -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 3:53:18 PM)

And I would like to say to you, Sir, that your post can thrust any time you would like it to. [;)]



faerytattoodgirl -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 4:01:57 PM)

i am praying that a black hole swallows me up and drops me into lynnxz's hands.



seeksfemslave -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 4:03:06 PM)

subtee: hehehehehe if only I had the strength.
I could levitate on a magnetic field tho' and end up to my neck in virgin territory

Faery: in future wait till my post has been posted OK?



thornhappy -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 4:15:31 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: housesub4you

Yea, I don't believe any US taxpayer money is being used......yet....however if it fails to make money, I'm sure we will be asked to kick in a few billion to save the earth from Black Hole Death

We've got money in it, along with a copperative relationship.  We didn't want to pay for one ourselves.

"On December 8, 1997, representatives of the United States and CERN signed an International Cooperation Agreement Between the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Department of Energy of the United States of America and the National Science Foundation of the United States of America Concerning Scientific and Technical Cooperation on Large Hadron Collider Activities.

DOE Secretary Federico Peña and NSF Director Neal Lane signed the Agreement on behalf of the United States, and Director General Christopher Llewellyn-Smith and Council President Luciano Maiani signed on behalf of CERN. OSTP Director Jack Gibbons presided over the ceremony."



samboct -> RE: Should i bother going to work tomorrow? (9/9/2008 4:38:59 PM)

OK- the SSC was cancelled on Clinton's watch- but wikipedia had this to add " However, in 1993, Clinton attempted to prevent the cancellation by requesting that Congress continue "to support this important and challenging effort" through completion because "abandoning the SSC at this point would signal that the United States is compromising its position of leadership in basic science..." [2]   Seems like he was right.

In terms of maglev trains- while the current system in China is still not breaking even financially, if the track is extended which is apparently under consideration for sums comparable to highway construction, in all likelihood it will happen and ridership will increase dramatically.  China may be later to the party than the UK, Germany, or Japan, but they look like they are the furthest ahead in terms of commercialization.  I will also point out that had the US pursued the SSC, much of the technology would have been applicable to maglev trains.  In terms of the current energy crunch with liquid fuels- maglev trains offer a very attractive alternative to short haul aircraft.

Sam



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