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Anyone Else Staying Up For The CERN Announcement About The Higgs Boson Tonight?

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  • #61
    Originally posted by Jon Miller View Post
    Not at all sure it is a Higgs, although they were looking for a SM Higgs (the overall trial factor would be higher without that assumption).

    I would just leave it as "Probably they saw the SM Higgs".

    It might not be possible to verify everything without the Linear Collider.

    JM
    They have seen a Boson in the Higgs range, they just can't conclusively confirm it has all the properties predicted by a SM Higgs yet.
    Jon Miller: MikeH speaks the truth
    Jon Miller: MikeH is a shockingly revolting dolt and a masturbatory urine-reeking sideshow freak whose word is as valuable as an aging cow paddy.
    We've got both kinds

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    • #62
      Originally posted by Lorizael View Post
      Well sure, unless you value science in and of itself.
      We could do the same science for cheaper in the future. Why not wait? We aren't going to get anything useful out of doing it sooner rather than later.

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      • #63
        Originally posted by Jon Miller View Post
        Do you consider the NBA, the NFL, the new Spider Man, and 50 shades of grey to be ridiculous wastes of money?

        JM
        All of those things make people happy and provide rewards in excess of costs. We know this because people are willing to spend their own money to buy these things.

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        • #64
          Originally posted by Kuciwalker View Post
          All of those things make people happy and provide rewards in excess of costs. We know this because people are willing to spend their own money to buy these things.
          Are you asserting that the funding came from a non-democratically elected source?

          If people elect representatives who end up controlling a government which provides funding, that's kosher, too.

          Expecting direct funding for specific highly complex scientific research is a bit naive, and a lot stupid.
          "The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
          Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "

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          • #65
            Originally posted by MikeH View Post
            They have seen a Boson in the Higgs range, they just can't conclusively confirm it has all the properties predicted by a SM Higgs yet.
            They have only seen it at the 5 sigma level if they restrict their search space to where they expect to find it.

            If they had no priors (no expectation of the SM Higgs), then the 'bump' would have a ~15% (if I recall correctly) probability of being accidental.

            To put it otherwise, if there was no expectation of the Higgs, then there would be a ~15% probability that the 'bump' is false. For a discovery of the unknown, this would not be acceptable. For a measurement of a known (the SM) restricting the search space would be acceptable.

            I do believe in the SM (although I hope to find physics beyond it). As such, I do think it is the Higgs.

            JM
            (Additionally, these results are not very well vetted compared to results that IceCube reports. Of course, these are not published yet, and they will be well vetted before publication.)
            Jon Miller-
            I AM.CANADIAN
            GENERATION 35: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

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            • #66
              As an example:

              Some people expected to see pentaquarks. They looked where they expected to see it, and there was a peak! At over 6 sigma! Wow, a great discovery.

              Turns out that there was no discovery, it was just noise. No other experiment has seen it.

              JM
              (I think some people did get jobs based on it though.)
              Jon Miller-
              I AM.CANADIAN
              GENERATION 35: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

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              • #67
                Originally posted by Asher View Post
                Are you asserting that the funding came from a non-democratically elected source?

                If people elect representatives who end up controlling a government which provides funding, that's kosher, too.

                Expecting direct funding for specific highly complex scientific research is a bit naive, and a lot stupid.
                Sure, but expecting that highly complex scientific research to actually be something useful to people in the real world is perfectly reasonable. The LHC is a just a big toy for a bunch of physicists to play with. It has essentially no value to the rest of society.

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                • #68
                  You say that now, but wait until you see the new toys it'll give us!
                  "The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
                  Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "

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                  • #69
                    People are interested in understanding the world they live in and are happy to devote some portion of their wealth to it.

                    This was true 500 years ago (when it was nobles who financed scientists), and the same is true today.

                    The way it works like this:
                    People elect politicians and say 'we are interested in how the universe works, and in having scientists produce new useful things/etc'
                    Politicians recognize that scientists are experts, ask scientists 'what are your priorities for understanding how the universe works, what are things that will improve the public's education and the public good'
                    Scientists hold meetings, write reports, create proposals/etc, and determine what is the most important things, relating to all three of the above points
                    Scientists do science, report results, group of experts report to Politicians
                    Politicians than decide to fund more/less, direct it through different organizations, etc... depending on how they are achieving the 3 things they are interested in

                    JM
                    Jon Miller-
                    I AM.CANADIAN
                    GENERATION 35: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

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                    • #70
                      Originally posted by Kuciwalker View Post
                      Sure, but expecting that highly complex scientific research to actually be something useful to people in the real world is perfectly reasonable. The LHC is a just a big toy for a bunch of physicists to play with. It has essentially no value to the rest of society.
                      Not to many people

                      Physicists are not such a strong lobbying group that we can take huge amounts of money for our own selfish reasons

                      JM
                      Jon Miller-
                      I AM.CANADIAN
                      GENERATION 35: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

                      Comment


                      • #71
                        Originally posted by Asher View Post
                        You say that now, but wait until you see the new toys it'll give us!
                        It won't give us any. It would be better if all those useless physicists had been trained as computer scientists and worked on making robots to steal all our jobs.

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                        • #72
                          Originally posted by Jon Miller View Post
                          People are interested in understanding the world they live in and are happy to devote some portion of their wealth to it.
                          Apparently they're willing to devote some of my wealth too.

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                          • #73
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                            ACK!
                            Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust!

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                            • #74
                              After last night's CERN announcement about finding higgs bosom and my subsequent sex/cocaine binge, I've got to say I've never felt happier or more of a man than I do today, knowing things about the world I live in I didn't just 48 hours ago. It's like reading a good book or playing Dear Esther with some fine wine and a wallhack. Who cares who paid for higgs bosom.

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                              • #75
                                Originally posted by Jon Miller View Post
                                Not to many people

                                Physicists are not such a strong lobbying group that we can take huge amounts of money for our own selfish reasons
                                I think you need to mention "quantum teleportation" more, just for sex appeal. Be sure to explain it in very technical language so nobody realizes you're not talking about Star Trek transporters. Actually, just add the word "quantum" to every project and watch funding take off. Since quantum effects probably factor into every experiment on some level, it's not even particularly dishonest.
                                1011 1100
                                Pyrebound--a free online serial fantasy novel

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