Costs. Was it worth it?
The main controversy encircles a political conversation about the costs of the instrument. Not only did this project require a significant amount of funding, it necessitates even more financial means to employ workers to operate it. When it comes to any project of this magnitude, there will always be perspectives that try to justify the spending, and those that try to explain scenarios where that money could be more wisely invested. This topic necessitates thoughtful research and insight to make an informed decision regarding the financial margin of this project. Standing at 9 billion U.S. dollars in creation of the LHC, and at least one billion dollars annually to run it, one should most definitely understand the breakdown of these numbers to see how money is being dispersed. The initial budget for the project was approximately 9 billion dollars, and one of the most expensive constructions to date. In addition to the 9 billion in construction, CERN’s 2012 official annual report concluded that there were 2,512 staff members employed, and the average take home salary was about $236,703. Since 2008, which was the first time the machine was operational, the annual cost to run the LHC was just under 600 million dollars. This means that employment alone since 2008 cost 6 billion dollars. It has been estimated that around 1 billion dollars is spent annually for operating costs, which is an additional 10 billion dollars since 2008. These creation, operation, and employment expenses calculates up to about 25 billion dollars overall.
The Debate...
When this project was designed, the purpose was to produce a particle collision that provides additional information regarding the Big Bang. It was also intended to provide us with the Higgs Boson Particle, which would solidify theories on particle mass. In essence, the primary purpose of this project was grounded in the hopes of making groundbreaking scientific advancements, and not necessarily for application in real-world, or non-scientific, dealings. This type of project is assailed by the inevitable criticism of whether the funding could have been used for other scientific projects that have applications for helping the world’s immediate problems first. Imagine what a mere 1 billion dollars could have done if it had been used to fund ecological engineers trying to clean up the planet. If the LHC had been a project that scientists were conducting to try and resolve a problem such as cleaning the oceans or creating more efficient and eco-friendly vehicles, would it have been so controversial? This instrument answers questions to physics that mainly physicists, mathematicians, and quantum chemists understand and can appreciate. Therefore, since it is not a large area of interest or understanding to the general public, the 25 billion dollars spent on the LHC has been an area of dispute from the civilians.
Since the invention of the LHC instrument, a plethora of knowledge, experience, and scientific technologies have been developed and flourished beyond the project. Luckily, the universe is still full of secrets and mysteries that scientists will forever be inquiring about. The LHC has already provided us with an important fundamental understanding to physics’ mass theories with the discovery of the Higgs boson particle, which alone can open new avenues for physics theories and are able to further physicists’ comprehension of subatomic particles. That being said, there is really an immeasurable amount of discoveries yet to be made by means of the LHC technology.
"Knowledge is the facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject".
Beyond just the fundamental knowledge that came out of the instrument, experience is garnered to the employees who work at the LHC. The engineers working here gained a great deal of education and experience from this instrument that they can use in another industry that has more socioeconomic benefits. It is also considered an educational investment to train these engineers and scientists due to the technologies that can be made from them in the future. A man named Tim Berners-Lee, a scientist at CERN, invented the World Wide Web in 1989. This web was created by Tim to share information between scientists in universities and institutes around the world. The internet has an estimated worth of 19 trillion dollars now, but Tim Berners-Lee gave his invention to the world for no cost at all. Considering the creation of the internet arose from a scientist who worked at another CERN project, there is an advantage to training scientists in these heavily-funded projects.
CT Scanner
Besides investment in education, these projects harbor the unparalleled potential for discovering an economic or technological advancement that can be used by society outside of this facility. Although a technological payoff may not be immediately demanded or in use, it has the possibility for an immense unforeseen impact. However, these unanticipated advancements can’t occur unless these scientific ventures are conducted. A counterpoint to this argument, is that when looking back in scientific history, it can be hard to pinpoint a time when an expensive project has paved the way for a technological advancement that direct impact to the everyday average person. However, this can be rebutted by bringing to light a certain technology that NASA created when they were attempting to reach the moon back in the 1960’s. A 150-billion-dollar project (with inflation accounted for) created a means for the discovery of digital signal processing. In other words, the technology that is used in a CT scanner at the hospital. This revolutionary piece of hardware is now used widespread in medicine for detection of cancer and other ailments. This machine was originally made by NASA to try and pinpoint imperfections in space components, and the LHC has made a similar advancement; the only difference being that the LHC has made more significant headway in the war on cancer. Something that effects millions of everyday people across the globe. The Large Hadron Collider's advancement in beam technology has helped Proton Beam Therapy, a cancer fighting therapy, in which a particular type of radiation treatment targets a tumor or source of malignancy and delivers its radiation with a focused beam. This beam demonstrates incredible accuracy, and delivers low energy in its annihilation of cancer cells. This form of cancer fighting is not only efficient, but it’s actually safer than chemotherapy. The Large Hadron Collider’s search for the God particle lead to the technological advancements for synchrotron, a polarized radiation emitted from a charged particle that spins in a magnetic field, which when compacted are connected in the Proton Beam Therapy Machines. The ability for these massive projects to have spin-off technologies that help society, whether it be medicinal, economical, or educational, provide justification to the large funding gamble.
"Proton therapy is a type of external-beam radiation therapy. It painlessly delivers radiation through the skin from a machine outside the body."
- ASCO® Cancer.Net
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