Is particle physics dead, dying, or just hard?

Re:Is particle physics dead, dying, or just hard? by sigmoid10 on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @09:35AM (#46960211)

Fundamental physics research has an extremely profitable returns ratio, but it takes decades to amortize. This does not work with capitalist corporations who only care about immediate profits. Even for governments this is a difficult sell, but at least they don't have to soothe shareholders every quarter. Generational projects take a different kind of economic thinking.

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Re:Is particle physics dead, dying, or just hard? by butlike on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @02:46PM (#46965737)

Is that just because there's shareholder anxiety with the unknown on if their investment will "be vested" by the time they need to pull it out for retirement?

If that's the case it seems like it might be shrewd for younger investors to buy into physics research on a 15-20 year timeline?

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Re:Is particle physics dead, dying, or just hard? by sigmoid10 on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @05:01PM (#46967564)

Unfortunately, younger people usually have neither the money nor the foresight for this.

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