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"Phil Cook" <phi### [at] nospamrocain freeservecouk> wrote in message
news:op.uiaa2diyc3xi7v@news.povray.org...
> > Admittedly not likely at Walmart and Starbucks, but IBM, Apple, Bell (in
> > its
> > heyday, now Lucent to an extent), Xerox, even the newcomer Google... etc
> > have thousands of such inventions for each one that came out of CERN.
Can
> > you name a *second* practical invention that came out of CERN off the
> > top of
> > your head, for example? Can you name a practical invention that came out
> > of
> > Fermilab, RHIC, SLAC... etc? Not that there haven't been, but my point
is
> > that Tim Berners-Lee's is a singular and more or less a random case.
> Except that Bell etc have set up the type of 'open' research departments
> that you are complaining about.
No. I complain about "wrong" type of research. "Open" research is a red
herring brought into the picture by those who confuse practical side
benefits of research in purely academic fields (which may, or more likely,
may not, yield any side benefits) with benefits of directed applied research
which is flexible (which will most definitely yield primary benefits, and
likely side benefits - Bell Labs model). Plus it's a balancing game. If
researching some theoretical avenues in the course of your main activity
costs a few thousand dollars, that might be worth it. It's not the same as
putting $10 billlion into one narrow academic field of research.
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scott nous illumina en ce 2008-09-30 05:09 -->
>> HEP operates in a domain not presently or foreseeably applicable to
>> everyday
>> life.
>
> Heh, didn't someone famously say exactly the same when the transistor
> was invented?
>
>
Not just for the transistor! When the Wright brothers made their first flight or
the first photographs where made, the first computer constructed, the first
vacuum tubes tested, peoples said something like: "It's all good and nice, but
it will never get everydays use" Just remember that the very first steam engines
where made during the Plato era...
--
Alain
-------------------------------------------------
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you;
that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
Mark Twain
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somebody nous illumina en ce 2008-09-26 10:44 -->
> (*) Yes, atomic and subatomic particle physics at one point had practical
> applications. But like I mentioned several times earlier, we long since have
> crossed over that line where practical applications are possible. There's
> always a law of diminishing returns as you get further away. Studying the
> atmosphere of Earth has definite benefits. Studying the atmosphere of Venus
> has little, if any. Studying the atmosphere of a planet 20 LY away (when
> such time comes) is completely useless and wasteful. Similar scales exist in
> any endavour. With particle physics, that scale of practicality correlates
> more or less with energy.
>
>
Studying the athmosphere of a planet 20 light years away can have some benefit.
It can tell us if life can exist there, then if WE can live there. Then, it can
tell us if there is a civilisation on that planet. Then, several years later, we
could send peoples there and establish a colony, or establish some commercial
relationship with that planet's residents.
--
Alain
-------------------------------------------------
I can read your mind, and you should be ashamed of yourself.
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"Alain" <ele### [at] netscapenet> wrote in message
news:48e256aa@news.povray.org...
> somebody nous illumina en ce 2008-09-26 10:44 -->
> > atmosphere of Earth has definite benefits. Studying the atmosphere of
Venus
> > has little, if any. Studying the atmosphere of a planet 20 LY away (when
> > such time comes) is completely useless and wasteful. Similar scales
exist in
> > any endavour. With particle physics, that scale of practicality
correlates
> > more or less with energy.
> Studying the athmosphere of a planet 20 light years away can have some
benefit.
> It can tell us if life can exist there, then if WE can live there. Then,
it can
> tell us if there is a civilisation on that planet. Then, several years
later, we
> could send peoples there and establish a colony, or establish some
commercial
> relationship with that planet's residents.
It's hard to argue with fantasy like that.
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From: Nicolas Alvarez
Subject: Re: End of the world delayed until spring
Date: 2 Oct 2008 18:13:24
Message: <48e54784@news.povray.org>
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Alain wrote:
> scott nous illumina en ce 2008-09-30 05:09 -->
>>> HEP operates in a domain not presently or foreseeably applicable to
>>> everyday
>>> life.
>>
>> Heh, didn't someone famously say exactly the same when the transistor
>> was invented?
>
> Not just for the transistor! When the Wright brothers made their first
> flight or the first photographs where made, the first computer
> constructed, the first vacuum tubes tested, peoples said something like:
> "It's all good and nice, but it will never get everydays use" Just
> remember that the very first steam engines where made during the Plato
> era...
Don't forget lightbulbs. I'm sure Edison was told they had no practical
purpose.
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news: 48e54784@news.povray.org...
>
> Don't forget lightbulbs. I'm sure Edison was told they had no practical
> purpose.
Not sure but Edison said AC had no practical purpose.
Marc
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m_a_r_c wrote:
> Not sure but Edison said AC had no practical purpose.
Marconi didn't know what radio waves were good for either. :-)
--
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
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On Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:49:51 -0700, Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
>m_a_r_c wrote:
>> Not sure but Edison said AC had no practical purpose.
>
>Marconi didn't know what radio waves were good for either. :-)
"One day sir, you may tax it." Faraday's reply to William Gladstone, then
British Minister of Finance, when asked of the practical value of electricity.
--
Regards
Stephen
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"somebody" <x### [at] ycom> wrote:
> Jokes aside, doesn't anybody else find it ridiculous that almost 10 billion
> dollars is being spent on an experiment that will have absolutely zero
> practical benefit to mankind (even if it's spectacularly successful beyond
> imagination)?
Way much better than spending it on weapons research or funding some stupid war
somewere.
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JPGargoyle nous illumina en ce 2008-10-03 06:56 -->
> "somebody" <x### [at] ycom> wrote:
>> Jokes aside, doesn't anybody else find it ridiculous that almost 10 billion
>> dollars is being spent on an experiment that will have absolutely zero
>> practical benefit to mankind (even if it's spectacularly successful beyond
>> imagination)?
>
>
> Way much better than spending it on weapons research or funding some stupid war
> somewere.
>
>
>
I totaly agree with you on that point. Take all those military budgets and
transfert them to just about ANYTHING else! That anything else, even if very
wastfull and useless, will be more usefull.
--
Alain
-------------------------------------------------
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may leave you wondering what the hell
happened to your bra and panties.
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