Saver Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 Britain's physics community is reeling from a "disastrous" day of funding cuts that will force scientists to withdraw from major resarch facilities and see PhD studentships fall by a quarter. Space missions and projects across astronomy, nuclear and particle physics are being cancelled to save at least £115m, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) said today. Fellowships and student grants for PhD projects will be cut by 25% from next year. The announcement has appalled senior physicists who warn the cuts threaten Britain's future as a leading player in science...... http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2009/dec/16/science-funding-cuts-stfc-physics-studentships Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderpup Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Ironic really- maybe if more of these 'rocket scientists' had spent their time building rockets instead of constructing fancy financial weapons of mass destruction they might have kept their funding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 I never understood why we paid open uni lecturers with bushy beards in wolly jumpers hundreds of millions to smash probes into Mars called lander such and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scunnered Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Space missions and projects across astronomy, nuclear and particle physics are being cancelled to save at least £115m, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) said today. £115 million pounds. That's very slightly more than 1% of Goldman Sachs' wages bill for 2009. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byron Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Er.... what about Blair's 'Knowledge based economy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Er.... what about Blair's 'Knowledge based economy? Didn't you hear - they have gone from giving huge US IT consultancies billions in order to make vast profits whilst outsourcing most of the work to cheaper India... to cancelling IT projects across the board. For some reason Brown and Darling seem to think that you can operate a modern economy without any IT! Hence we no longer need any skilled engineers, techies or such-like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huw Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Ironic really- maybe if more of these 'rocket scientists' had spent their time building rockets instead of constructing fancy financial weapons of mass destruction they might have kept their funding. It's the ones who did as you suggest who are losing their funding, they'd probably have had better personal outcomes designing FWMDs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cashinmattress Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 It will just do what has been already happening since WWII. Drive the academics and bright lights in droves to the well funded American Universities. Can you blame them? You get sun, location, and money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mammon Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 I never understood why we paid open uni lecturers with bushy beards in wolly jumpers hundreds of millions to smash probes into Mars called lander such and such. I think there probably thousands of everyday inventions that we take for granted that are derived from NASA research. Even the world wide web web was 'invented' by physicists at CERN who seemingly waste billions smashing atoms together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quinnbear Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Britain's physics community is reeling from a "disastrous" day of funding cuts that will force scientists to withdraw from major resarch facilities and see PhD studentships fall by a quarter. Science? There's no future in that. Our 'knowledge' based economy is based on high finance, knowing how to flip houses, and having just enough skills to work in a call centre (or local govt office). QB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightsod Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Science? There's no future in that. Our 'knowledge' based economy is based on high finance, knowing how to flip houses, and having just enough skills to work in a call centre (or local govt office). QB There's an indelible streak of anti-intellectualism in this country that's always sickened me; of all the budgets to be slashed so mercilessly.... "Nuclear physics is facing a 52% cut in funding that will force British scientists to withdraw from international projects and cancel seven that were planned for the future." Glad our booming oil economy is there to take up that slack then.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hedgefunded Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 An absolute abomination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hovis Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 That'll free up more money for Housing Benefit to support landlords Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hovis Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 That'll free up more money for Housing Benefit to support landlords Done as a reply as the "Use Full Editor" button never works. For example: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2751333/Former-asylum-seeker-lives-in-luxurious-home-paid-for-by-housing-benefit.html £83k a year. Ignore that it is an asylum seeker (for now); £83k a year. £115m pays for less than 1,400 of such rents. Money is being burnt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wren Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 I never understood why we paid open uni lecturers with bushy beards in wolly jumpers hundreds of millions to smash probes into Mars called lander such and such. So that they could say "The Beagle has landed". But it disappeared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Spart Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 (edited) The memetic legacy of cancers like Allsopp. A boy and his grandfather were walking through a forest one evening when they came across two giant wolves fighting it out to the death. The grandfather said to the child "Look, that wolf is the embodiment of ignorance, vanity, greed and mean-spiritedness, the other wolf is the embodiment of wisdom, modesty, altruism and kindness." "But, grandpa", the boy said, "which one will win?" "The one you feed." the grandfather replied. Edited December 17, 2009 by Dave Spart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olebrum Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 I never understood why we paid open uni lecturers with bushy beards in wolly jumpers hundreds of millions to smash probes into Mars called lander such and such. I agree, knowledge is dangerous, we should all sit at home and read the Bible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffy666 Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 So that they could say "The Beagle has landed". But it disappeared. Well, it certainly landed. Just a bit faster than anticipated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moesasji Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 (edited) Surprising to see that none of you realized that this massive cut is just one of the first concrete examples of the pound having decayed 30% in value in the last year. The contribution to European Science facilities are to be payed in Euro's, so suddenly there is a massive funding gap that somehow has to be filled. Which in this case is done by pulling out of project leading to wasted investments in both people and infrastructure. It is particular scary that they also have decided to cut number of PhD-students + fellows by 25%. So when the UK would get out of recession in 5 years you would have a shortage of highly qualified people. Insane! So much for making science the cornerstone for future improvement And just to remind one-self on the worth of Browns' promises: In February, Gordon Brown delivered his first speech on science in Oxford and stated: "The downturn is no time to slow down our investment in science but to build more vigorously for the future." (from http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2009/dec/16/science-funding-cuts-stfc-physics-studentships) and these massive cuts have not even into account the 600 million cut on universities/science in the pre-budget report. Similar things will happen btw with other European expenses that have to be payed in Euro's, although news-papers like to report this as the fault of Europe. The increase itself is simply the result of the incompetence of the UK-government. Edited December 17, 2009 by moesasji Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozen_out Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Good. The sooner the government stops spunking my money away on scientific vanity projects the better. The LHC is the last great hurrah for ginormous, wasteful and utterly useless physics projects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olebrum Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Good. The sooner the government stops spunking my money away on scientific vanity projects the better. The LHC is the last great hurrah for ginormous, wasteful and utterly useless physics projects. If learning about the fundamental structure of our universe is something you find offensive then I guess you should stay back there in the Dark Ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Spart Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 (edited) Good. The sooner the government stops spunking my money away on scientific vanity projects the better. The LHC is the last great hurrah for ginormous, wasteful and utterly useless physics projects. It was research in physics that gave goose-stepping morons like you a platform from which to spout your invective to the world. "I mourn not the little acorns they stole from me, but the mighty oaks they stole from themselves." Edited December 17, 2009 by Dave Spart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saver Posted December 17, 2009 Author Share Posted December 17, 2009 Good. The sooner the government stops spunking my money away on scientific vanity projects the better. The LHC is the last great hurrah for ginormous, wasteful and utterly useless physics projects. pretty ironic you posted that comment on the World Wide Web.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wren Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Well, it certainly landed. Just a bit faster than anticipated. I thought they lost radio contact with it before it landed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zilly Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 £115 million represents four months' spend on management consultants in the NHS alone for 2008. I really don't understand the priorities in this place. Still, I suppose when it's management consultants who are more than likely being paid to identify the areas to cut, they're hardly likely to suggest themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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