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Bell Labs Kills Fundamental Physics Research
An anonymous reader writes with this snippet from Wired: "After six Nobel Prizes, the invention of the transistor, laser and countless contributions to computer science and technology, it is the end of the road for Bell Labs' fundamental physics research lab. Alcatel-Lucent, the parent company of Bell Labs, is pulling out of basic science, material physics and semiconductor research and will instead be focusing on more immediately marketable areas such as networking, high-speed electronics, wireless, nanotechnology and software." Jamie points out this list of Bell Labs' accomplishments at Wikipedia, including little things like the UNIX operating system.
Maybe someone's been hob-nobbing with GE? Core business! Core Business! Eliminate waste! Exterminate!
Stick Men
"After six Nobel Prizes, the invention of the transistor, laser and"
This was all technology appropriated from the Roswell Crash anyhow.
"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." -- George Bernard Shaw
"The only thing sadder than a young cynic, is an old optimist." -- Mark Twain (Samuel Clemmens)