Just my 2 cents and then I'll be gone. The idea that science and research are bad is not new. Yet without it we wouldn't be having this forum or the computers, or for that matter even the straight razors. We would be grubbing for food.

For that matter I wouldn't be grubbing for food since without the basic science and research my cardiac bypass surgery would never have taken place.

I was working in the nuclear industry at the time of Three Mile Island. I was an uranium exploration geologist and the incident received quite a bit of coverage in the various trade journals. The amount of radiation released was insignificant. The dosage comparison was that it was similar to the radiation you would receive if you worked in a brick building. (How many people know that because of the clay, bricks give off radiation?? Potasium-40). I also recall that the press was severely censored for their coverage. In part that was due to set up photos such as asking everybody to get off the street so that a picture of the "deserted town" could be placed on the front page of the newspapers.

Anyway, science can and will be used for purposes that we might otherwise wish. However, much beneficial progress has been made as an offshoot of war; radar is but one example. Personally, I look forward to the results of the collider. I suspect and hope that breakthroughs in sub-atomic physics will bring radical improvements to our future selves.

OK, done venting - carry on ladies and gentlemen.