Originally posted by happinness
What is this LHC all about? I'm more worried about where we are going not where we came from! Surely all that money could have been put to better
uses.
I posted a links that explain the LHC if you'd care to check them out, but in essence the LHC is a machine that breaks apart the basic particles of
matter and simulates the energy state of the universe immediately after the Big Bang. If they see what they have predicted what they will see, then it
will lend much support to the current models of the basic workings of the universe. If not, then it will move forward our understanding thereof.
It may seem like looking at the beginning of the universe has little to do with our current problems, and will provide few practical applications;
however, basic research rarely presents its future applications in an obvious way. James Clerk Maxwell set out the equations that would later lead to
the invention of the television and radio in the mid-19th century. There was no way anyone, even Maxwell, could have known that his equations would
have led to the invention of the internet (and many, many other things). That is why companies rarely fund basic research, and why governments
must.
If everyone would sit back and let science take its course (or better, go to school and become an active participant in the process) then you would
see that the dividends far outweigh the costs. The technology that could one day arise from discoveries made by the LHC are most likely unimaginable
to us.
