Slashdot Mirror
New 'Mystery Meson' Sub-Atomic Particle Discovered
securitas writes "The BBC reports that scientists in Japan have discovered a new sub-atomic particle that defies current theories of matter and energy. The 'mystery meson' X(3872) was revealed while studying beauty quarks at the KEK High Energy Accelerator Research Organization Tsukuba meson factory. 'It weighs about the same as a single atom of helium and exists for only about one billionth of a trillionth of a second before it decays into other longer-lived, more familiar particles.' Scientists say the lifespan 'is nearly an eternity for a sub-atomic particle this heavy' and may require a change in current theory. Possible explanations for this include the particle being comprised of two quarks and two antiquarks, instead of the usual one-one pairing. More explanation and illustrations at KEK."
Yeah, right. I've always been amazed at how Big Science constantly rakes in billions and billions of dollars without any real applications on the horizon. It's like the collider-boys sitting in their comfy chairs have a such an big and expensive machine that there's no way their research will ever be closed down. It would be too embarrasing to the ones who started funding them in the first place...
Spend the money on Earth sciences or, heck, build a dozen stations on the moon and start beaming energy down here. That would benefit the whole world and it can be done NOW.
The owls are not what they seem
(See my reply to another poster above)
As someone who runs his own lab, I know perfectly well that there is technology (engineering), applied research and basic research.
There's nothing wrong with mixing these three, but you've got to do it right. First you do applied research and use that research to guide your basic research. The applied research will guide your basic research to problems that are worth investigating both in the acadmic and applied sense.
That's the best of both worlds, unless you believe that getting ideas for basic research by looking at problems the applied research and the engineers are having is somehow unkosher? Tainting the sanctity of science, perhaps? How else should one select topics, then? By rolling a dice? "Because it sounds interesting"?
The owls are not what they seem
Ah, scientists have discovered George Bush's attention span.