THIS is why America is falling behind in scientific discovery

[George P Burdell]

Assholes like Walter Wagner make me :| If he has a problem with science, how about joining the Amish instead of trying to mess it up for the rest of us?

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[ElFenix]

25% of the world's scientists and engineers are here. we're hardly falling behind, but our lead is certainly slowing.

edit: my intartubes are really sucking this morning. i don't know why we have this piece of crap ISP.

 

[BigDH01]

Originally posted by: George P Burdell
Assholes like Walter Wagner make me :| If he has a problem with science, how about joining the Amish instead of trying to mess it up for the rest of us?

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Former nuclear safety officer Walter Wagner has been raising such questions for years - first about an earlier-generation "big bang machine" known as the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider, and more recently about the LHC.

I don't think Wagner has a problem with science, in fact, he seems to be encouraging more scientific discussion about the consequences of large colliders. This might delay the experiments, but if Wagner has a legitimate argument then perhaps it's a good idea to at least have a discussion about it.

If you want to attack people that have a problem with science, then you should go after the whacko religious right in this country, not a fellow scientist.

BTW, if the US is losing the lead in science it is because those endeavors aren't getting the funding they need. I just read an article in Scientific American (if I recall correctly) about Fermilab not being able to expand due to funding cuts and having to lay off physicists. Add to this the fact that many PhDs can't find jobs as is and then you get to the root of the problem. Our country is a service-oriented country. People make money in business and finance, not science. What little money is provided by the gov't is either being diverted to Iraq or will eventually have to be eliminated altogether to pay for our massive debts. Our country simply doesn't value science as much as it should, but this isn't Wagner's fault.