Why Are We Here?

[Meem]

By EMMA VANDORE, AP Business Writer Emma Vandore, Ap Business Writer – 1 hr 34 mins ago
PARIS – Scientists behind the European particle collider aimed at uncovering the secrets of the universe don't want to stop there — they want to build an even bigger machine with partners and funds from around the world.
Instead of whirling atoms in giant rings, as CERN, a [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]particle [COLOR=#366388 !important]physics [/COLOR][COLOR=#366388 !important]laboratory[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] outside Geneva, and the smaller Tevatron at Fermilab near Chicago do, scientists want a new-generation machine that will shoot them straight.
Plans for the next step, a euro10 billion ($12.85 billion), 50-kilometer (31-mile) tunnel called the International Linear Collider, were presented to French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a conference in Paris on Monday.
"If we are going to build an ambitious machine, then it's got to be a global machine," Barry Barish, director of the proposed collider, told The Associated Press on Monday.
Depending on who wants to host it — and how much they are willing to pay — the International Linear Collider could potentially be built anywhere in the world.
Barish, a professor at the California Institute of Technology, presented proposals to host the successor to [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]CERN's[/COLOR][/COLOR] Large Hadron Collider in Japan, Russia, the U.S. and at CERN.
He said scientists from China, India, Canada and elsewhere also will be associated with the project,
which hopes to solve
"one of the puzzles of
why we are here."

It's sort of funny, to me, that pretty much right after the LHC has been turned on, there are plans to build a new collider already. But is all this a waste? Is this something science doesn't do, shouldn't do ... "trying to solve ... one of the puzzles of why are we here?"

"Your work represents the oldest dream of man since he tried to understand and transform what goes on around him," Sarkozy said. "Why is there something rather than nothing?"

[SteveA]

Even if there was some way to determine that in a physical/collective sense (and I'm skeptical - it also seems something prone to yet again more propaganda and power plays. It's not like there haven't already been a lot of people stating various reasons for this), I don't think it would ever supply the individual reasons, nor would it replace belief, faith (or even ignorance) with knowledge and understanding unless someone puts the effort into that themself - other people really can't give anything more than pointers or tools in that respect.

Thank you for posting this though, as it is an interesting subject.

[vacuum-mechanics]

It's sort of funny, to me, that pretty much right after the LHC has been turned on, there are plans to build a new collider already. But is all this a waste? Is this something science doesn't do, shouldn't do ... "trying to solve ... one of the puzzles of why are we here?"

Dear Meem and friends,

Once in an ancient time, Maya was told to be civilized people, part because of their ability in calculation and prediction of some celestial events. Based on the concept that the final goal of science is prediction, we could say that they were clever in doing science! Today we know that they do not really understand why the celestial bodies work in that way, so what they had paid is an expensive price by sacrifice their people’s life!

Nowadays, particle physicists seem to do the same thing as the Maya had done before. They are making prediction from the calculation of the standard model of particle physics theory, in which it is rather a mathematical theory than a physical one! And in order to verify the theory, the expensive LHC project was used for hoping to find the Higgs particle, in which it will arise from Higgs field via Higgs mechanism!

It is interesting to note that even the Higgs particle could be found, the bigger LHC still was needed to get the deeper answer. Now the question is this the way that they will get their final answer? Actually, the going way of modern science (physics) theories today was based on a mathematical way; i.e. understanding (how the theory mechanism works) does not need anymore. The crucial problem is how science (physics) could progress without understanding!

In conclusion, we could say that doing science without understanding, you have to sacrifice something. While the ancient Mayahad sacrificed their people’s life, modern particle physicists have to sacrifice their people’s money, don’t they?

Sincerely,
Nimit
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www.vacuum-mechanics.com .