Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Richard Milner on a new U.S. particle accelerator

news.mit.edu

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 63 posts

Re: Richard Milner on a new U.S. particle accelerator

#11

Post by oh_sigh »

tanderson92 wrote: post #8
adventured wrote: post #5

The top 20 universities in the US are sitting on over a quarter of a trillion dollars in endowment money (including MIT at $15b), which continues to perpetually increase. I'd like to see them step up and almost entirely fund the creation of the EIC (the US Government could still kick in billions of dollars with little hassle). Far better to be directing their wealthy donors toward important projects like this, than a…

This is an argument against public investment in science and a reliance on private donor-based science. Is that really the direction we want for our country and the entities in which we want to entrust the future R&D decisions of our country?

It sounds more like just an argument for private donor-based science than an argument against public investment.

Re: Richard Milner on a new U.S. particle accelerator

#13

Post by tanderson92 »

oh_sigh wrote: post #11
tanderson92 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an argument against public investment in science and a reliance on private donor-based science. Is that really the direction we want for our country and the entities in which we want to entrust the future R&D decisions of our country?

It sounds more like just an argument for private donor-based science than an argument against public investment.

It is an argument for private donor-based science instead of public investment.

Re: Richard Milner on a new U.S. particle accelerator

#15

Post by sandworm101 »

wpasc wrote: post #14

Find a way to call it "The largest/most powerful/biggest ever accelerator" otherwise you won't get Trump to do it

Personal politics is a larger dynamic than scientists like to admit. When you are planning something big, something international, you have to think about access. In 2030, will this facility be accessible to the international community? Will Chinese involvement become a security issue? Will data be shared openly? Those decisions are made by the executive branch, subject to the whims of whoever is in charge at the time. Planners think about this stuff.

Re: Richard Milner on a new U.S. particle accelerator

#16

Post by oh_sigh »

tanderson92 wrote: post #13
oh_sigh wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds more like just an argument for private donor-based science than an argument against public investment.

It is an argument for private donor-based science instead of public investment.

But OP said that the government could also pony up billions of dollars for the project. The main point seemed to be that universities are wasting their endowment with fancy buildings instead of doing science.

Re: Richard Milner on a new U.S. particle accelerator

#17

Post by NegativeLatency »

sandworm101 wrote: post #15
wpasc wrote: post #14

Find a way to call it "The largest/most powerful/biggest ever accelerator" otherwise you won't get Trump to do it

Personal politics is a larger dynamic than scientists like to admit. When you are planning something big, something international, you have to think about access. In 2030, will this facility be accessible to the international community? Will Chinese involvement become a security issue? Will data be shared openly? Those decisions are made by the executive branch, subject to the whims of whoever is in charge at the tim…

To continue your line of questioning: Will scientists be granted visas?

Re: Richard Milner on a new U.S. particle accelerator

#19

Post by sovande »

I thought particle physics were coming to an end? After CERN found the Higgs boson then nothing. The ROI of a more powerful accelerator is abysmal. It is impossible to know how large a new collider needs to be and if anything interesting will be found. Use the money on a moon-base instead and then mars.

Re: Richard Milner on a new U.S. particle accelerator

#20

Post by danharaj »

sovande wrote: post #19

I thought particle physics were coming to an end? After CERN found the Higgs boson then nothing. The ROI of a more powerful accelerator is abysmal. It is impossible to know how large a new collider needs to be and if anything interesting will be found. Use the money on a moon-base instead and then mars.

There's still a lot to learn about QCD even if new physics seems to be in a rut.
Post reply on HN