This is concerning

[JuntMonkey]

I read about something like this several years ago.

[matt2500]

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What part of
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The Cernier Company or CERN, the world’s largest physics research firm, is currently in the process of building what would be the world’s largest working supercollider.

[/ QUOTE ] don't you understand? They are a privately funded research firm and can spend their money on whatever the [censored] they want.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, they're not a privately funded firm. They are publically funded by a 20-nation consortium (the US is NOT included). It was originally created to do research in nuclear physics in 1953 (when the hydrogen bomb was being/just had been created). Now they do particle physics.

Trivia: the Web was invented at CERN as a way for all the physicists to easily share research data.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cern

[superadvisor]

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But the people who fund this kind of research stand to make a lot of money from this kind of technology. I have a feeling that the same companies that fund particle accelerators wouldn't quite make the same kind of money by finding a cure for cancer.

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What type of technology are they striving for???

I'm really ignorant in this field.

Seems like this type of technology might lend itself to weapons or transportation... can't think of much more beyond that???

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Weapons and transportation, is there any other business in the world that is more profitable?

[Borodog]

CERN is not privately funded. It is funded with tax money from its 20 odd member states.

Edit: Oops. What matt said.

[gumpzilla]

High energy physics isn't my specialty, but I'm not too worried about this. I think it cuts both ways. If you believe the theory enough to believe that it will actually spawn miniature black holes, why not also trust the theory that says that they are likely to evaporate? I also tend to think that higher energy events (like, say, a big gamma ray burst) are happening elsewhere, so I don't think this is likely to be quite as singular (har, har) an event as that article seems to be suggesting.

[felson]

[ QUOTE ]
What part of
[ QUOTE ]
The Cernier Company or CERN, the world’s largest physics research firm, is currently in the process of building what would be the world’s largest working supercollider.

[/ QUOTE ] don't you understand? They are a privately funded research firm and can spend their money on whatever the [censored] they want.

[/ QUOTE ]

CERN is funded by European gov'ts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CERN

[Bicycles_Biatch]

superadvisor... I think in your attempt to be smug... you somehow messed up your quote.

[superadvisor]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
But the people who fund this kind of research stand to make a lot of money from this kind of technology. I have a feeling that the same companies that fund particle accelerators wouldn't quite make the same kind of money by finding a cure for cancer.

[/ QUOTE ]


Really....you dont think anyone would pay for the cure to cancer huh?

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How many cancer cure pills are you going to sell once there is no more cancer?

[matt2500]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
But the people who fund this kind of research stand to make a lot of money from this kind of technology. I have a feeling that the same companies that fund particle accelerators wouldn't quite make the same kind of money by finding a cure for cancer.

[/ QUOTE ]

What type of technology are they striving for???

I'm really ignorant in this field.

Seems like this type of technology might lend itself to weapons or transportation... can't think of much more beyond that???

[/ QUOTE ]


It's pure scientific research at its most basic, with no specific applications in mind. They're looking into stuff like black holes, the big bang, etc. They created anti-matter there in the 1990s.

[matt2500]

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How many cancer cure pills are you going to sell once there is no more cancer?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know, but someone's still selling polio vaccine.