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Tevatron shuttered after 27 years due to lack of funding
Formerly the world’s most powerful particle accelerator (before CERN, of course), the Tevatron at Fermilab in Chicago was responsible for discovering the top quark, among other contributions to particle physics. According to scientists at Tevatron, the group was closing in on the elusive Higgs boson, an undiscovered particle tying the Standard Model of particle physics together. Friday marked the last time the particle beams would be turned on at the facility, due to a decision by the federal government to cease funding the lab. The annual budget of the Tevatron? $35 million.
Just for reference, $35 million would fund the Afghanistan war for 144 minutes.
I really feel restricted because I can’t express just how angry this makes me (I try to avoid profanity on the blog). But this pisses me off.
No, let’s just cede another global leadership position because screw science, right? Who needs it? It’s ASTOUNDING how anti-science this country has become. It’s cool. We’ll let Switzerland pick up another victory. Maybe we can all just get a little fatter and dumber, then let bought-and-paid-for-by-lobbyists politicians tell us our tax dollars are being “wasted” on things like “space shuttles” and “arguably the most important scientific discovery of our generation.”
Tell me: What do we have now? They killed the space shuttle program. They’ve killed our particle accelerator. What’s left? What grand scientific American project remains? What embodies the spirit of America ingenuity, determination, or pioneering scientific attitude?
This is an embodiment of what is fundamentally wrong with America. This project could be funded for an entire year if we used what we currently spend in Afghanistan every 144 minutes.
Dear Congress: They’re called “priorities.” And yours are royally screwed up.
