The Large Hadron Collider to Come Back Online Soon

The Large Hadron Collider is set to reopen later this week:

“The particle accelerator was shut down for the Christmas period shortly after setting the record for the highest particle energies ever attained.  Over the coming months, scientists aim to smash that record again as the experiments aim for energies of some seven trillion electron volts (TeV).  However, 2010’s start will be at much lower, so-called “injection energies”.”

Sometimes I wonder if something like the LHC is worth it.  I’m not against “pure” research in science (I think it’s really important actually), and I’m not one of those people who think the LHC is going to blow up the world or something.  I just have to wonder if it’s the best investment of $9 billion.  This thing has already broken down once (at a cost to repair of tens of millions of dollars), and even when it works, I have to wonder what sorts of practical benefits it would bring.

Sure, the LHC might help resolve some questions in certain physical theories.  Sure, some technological benefits may ensue.  But any form that those might take is largely speculative. That $9 billion could have been much better spent on other scientific endeavors that have a more immediately useful impact for people around the world.  Despite the fact that science is often treaty as an apolitical and amoral subject, it does exist in the broader context of human activity, and in doing science we shouldn’t ignore the moral and political responsibilities we have to others.

-Aaron Bekemeyer