Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina 2017, 19(1):106-111 | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2017.1.106-111

Some Ethical Questions in Particle Physics

Hans Peter Beck1, Ivan Melo2, Thomas Naumann3
1 Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, Laboratory for High Energy Physics, University of Bern, Switzerland
2 Department of Physics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Zilina, Slovakia
3 Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Zeuthen, Germany

Authors will discuss a few ethical questions in today's particle physics: high costs and purported dangers of Big Science projects, relevance of fundamental research for society and the way particle physicists fill their duty to communicate with the public. Examples will be given including the story of a possible mini-black hole creation at CERN and two outreach activities for high school students, International Particle Physics Masterclasses and Cascade competition.

Keywords: particle physics; big science projects; communication; outreach; role of science in society

Published: January 31, 2017  Show citation

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Beck, H.P., Melo, I., & Naumann, T. (2017). Some Ethical Questions in Particle Physics. Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina, 19(1), 106-111. doi: 10.26552/com.C.2017.1.106-111
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