Question: If you spend the money on Make a cosmic ray jacket will it be beneficial to saving peoples lives?

Marieke Navin answered on 14 Jun 2010:

Unfortunately no! I’m not a medic or surgeon, or anything else that can save people’s lives. It’s a really interesting question though. Particle physics isn’t immediately associated to saving lives, although many of our sensitive detectors end up in medical physics uses, such as scanners in hospitals. I still think it’s worthwhile doing this kind of research, as you never know what might come out of it. The internet for example was created by particle physicists as a way to share data.