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Bry, a part of the human condition is the need to explore and grow our body of knowledge. Without thought and experimentation all current knowledge would soon reach the level of fairytales and legand.
Without science and engineering noone would have time to write plays and watch TV (of course TV wouldn't have been invented - the cathode ray tube is based on a forerunner of particle physics).
We would all be too busy scraping a living by gathering wild berries and catching rabbits.
granted in the past it was important for us to develop, but now in the present i dont feel like we need to, life has gone fine the past few decades without this expermient
im not saying dont experiement, i'm just saying when the experiment runs of the risk of destroying the world - why bother?
But the atom bomb and other nasty war fare and nuclear energy was also invented through scientific experiments and humankind is now learning how bad for the environment it is. I agree that our modern lifestyle is only possible because of science and we have had huge benefits, especially in the medical field, but there are two sides to everything, nothing will ever be just good. I am also concerned that there are people in this world who would quite happily misuse science to get their own way and don't give a toss about others.
In a previous post I mentioned that there have been particle acceleration experiments in CERN for decades.
I also mentioned that the research was used to develop PET scans.
This is an extension to existing experiementation, it is not totally new.
The old say goes that we don't know what we don't know.
If we don't experiment we will never know how ignorant we really are.
In the past humans thought that the world was flat, that the sun revolved around the earth.
In the future people will find OUR levels of ignorance just as dramatic.
We don't know what we will discover, and that is the thrill of science.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Perdita
It is true that people misuse science.
Just as the misuse everything else. Before the atom bomb there were still munitions and people still abused and killed others. This goes back as long as history.
Wars are caused by man - not science, and we cannot prevent wars by limiting science.
Ignore is bliss.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trinity
Other than finding cures for diseases, I don't see the need for us to experiment.
Why bother to find out how earth was created? Does it matter? it hasn't mattered for centuries.
We are now in an environment where we can survive comfortably the way we are. If it aint broke, don't touch it!
It matters more than you think... it has to do with religion V's Science.. .do you know how many wars were started due to religion???Quote:
Originally Posted by Bryan
I was never allowed to do evolution at school as it was a catholic school and they forbid it...
Ignorance is .....ignorance.
What we do not know we cannot quantify, we cannot know what applications the results of these experiements will have until the results are in.
Medical physics is a whole branch of physics that is involved in not just developing new scans and new ways of diagnosing diseases - but also new ways of treating diseases such as cancer using light (lasers) and other radiation (x-ray etc).
The results from CERN will increase our body of knowledge and will have applications in the future that we have not yet foreseen.
English science education is failing. All this rubbish about double and triple awards and kids being taught physics by biologists is having an effect on the general knowledge of the population.
One thing that is great about Scottish education is that we are taught physics by physics specialists, chemistry by chemists and biology by biologists. Many more kids in Scotland study science than in England - I wonder why. Perhaps it has something to do with our science teachers actually knowing what they are talking about?
BTW, I do not claim to be an expert, but I did study Physics, Chemistry and Biology at University before specialising in biochemisty.
I also work as a research administrator in a well rated technological university.
Well said, Trinity.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trinity
[quote=Trinity;597591]Quote:
Originally Posted by Perdita
It is true that people misuse science.
Just as the misuse everything else. Before the atom bomb there were still munitions and people still abused and killed others. This goes back as long as history.
True, but in early history, war meant thousands of soldiers fighting. With nuclear warfare developed by scientists a person does not even have to leave an office or put a bullet into a gun - on the push of a button millions are dead and the environment is destroyed, possibly for ever. Science is brilliant - but experiments are carried out by humans and, of course, to err is human. There just is not much room for human regrets if it all goes horribly wrong, is there.
everyone has valid points
but my final say in the matter is - why destroy the world to get answers if we won't be around to know them.
that's my last post about the subject.
60 million people died in the second world war. Of these 66,000 died at Hiroshima and 20,000 at Nagasaki (although this figure is revised to 87,000 if you include people who died of the effects of the atom bomb up to years afterwards).Quote:
Originally Posted by Perdita
Man can kill man quite easily without the atom bomb.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bryan
Which is why it won't. Tabloid journalism has a lot to answer for!
We never were going to destroy the world. It's just hype from Journalists who want to sell papers (After else, what is more sensational than the end of the world?) and people who are too thick to understand that CERN would never have allowed it to happen. These are the best scientists in the world, they have been working on this for years and years - If there was even the slightest chance, they would have stopped the experiment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bryan
As i said a few pages back, it is a load of rubbish. This is the most important experiment we will ever see in our lifetimes. It may show us the very foundations of humanity. We should be embracing it, not rubbishing it as dangerous. Especially when those claims are entirely unfounded.
I thought it was happening tonight.
Well thats what people at college thought too
So what did happen? :confused:
It was started up at 8.31am and everything seems okay.
My form tutor (specialises in Biology) says it will probably be about 6 months or something before they actually bash the two things together :)
Oh right, so what is happening at the moment?
Since it's Science I find the information he mentioned hard to register to my brain :lol: But I think he said they are just going to be circulating and then they will bash them together as soon as they are both circulating at the speed of light :) xQuote:
Originally Posted by Abbie
well the world didnt end
Thank god the world hasn't ended! My little sister who's 7 heard about it on Newsround and started crying as she thought the world would end.
anyone still there?????
If the world did end today im sorry to say that i went down instead of up!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Bad Wolf
Im stuck in a call centre for eternity!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:
my daughter is 13 and she has been very scared! but naturally i have been re insuring her that its a load of rubbish...but deep inside ive been pretty scared myself:lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by DaVeyWaVey
Me too! The Year 13's were counting down to half 8 on Wednesday when it was supposed to happen and I was worried. Somehow the counting bit got out and there were Year 7's walking around saying, "The 6th formers have been having a countdown, it's going to happen!" :lol: This boy in my English class thinks that it's going to kill us all in about 4 months for some reason, there's all these different dates flying around so I say it's a load of rubbish now.
It was stopped yesterday, something to do with positioning of the magnets. It will be started up again in 2 months (who knows, maybe another countdown!) :) x
well i heard that it takes a year for all this to happen