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As you’ve probably heard, CERN is about to fire up their Large Hadron Collider (find out more here, and pictures here). There’s an interesting debate, however, about how ethical it is. Interesting NY Times article on the subject. People have often been scared of scientific progress (Edward Teller once theorized during the Trinity test that the atomic bomb would set off a chain reaction of fire in the atmosphere.  Ironically, he is considered the father of the hydrogen bomb), and sometimes it’s well founded.  Scientists have been calculating what the outcome of any experiment would be.  The question is, what if they’re not sure?  What if there’s even a small percentage that something will happen?  Is it justified?  What’s the purpose of the study?  In this case, the Standard Model of particle physics.  Makes for an interesting debate.  Count me as one who thinks it’s justified.  These scientists are a lot smarter than I am, and probably have a heck of a better idea of what’s going to happen than I do, so who am I to judge.  And if I’m wrong, no one will be left to say “I told you so”.  The fight is going to the courts - let’s just hope it doesn’t turn out as bad as Bush v. Gore.  Anyways, a funny comic to displace some of the anxiety I may cause…

Interesting blog post from the author of Freakanomics. The basic premise, among surveyed adults, self-professed “conservatives” say they are happier 44% of the time, compared to “liberals” at 25% of the time. And it has nothing to do with the sitting president. Here’s a graph:

Read on…

Thanks for visiting- I’ve spent the past couple days working on changing my hosting company, installing and customizing Wordpress, linking to my Netvibes activity, etc. but I’m finally ready to post. As time goes on, the blog will take on more definition, but for now, I see this as a place to reference interesting articles, discuss random topics (anywhere from politics to sports), and who knows what else. Feedback is encouraged! Thanks for now…