Two years ago I started applying for PhD programs in physics and had no idea where to start. I never had any research experience, I did not have an advisor and I knew barely anything about graduate school. So I trawled through university websites looking at departments and summaries of professors research interest. I never thought of looking at published papers since I never read them as an undergraduate (I was applying after my 3rd year which I spent abroad). And now I am finishing a fairly successful first year in my PhD program. In retrospect I should have looked at authors of papers but without a network of people in or near graduate school someone wouldn't know to look at papers.

Not finding anything new with the LHC will actually be quite an exciting result in and of itself. Mostly it will tell us that our current theories of particle physics are wrong.

California pays more in federal taxes then it received in services every year. According to the Tax Foundation (http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/22685.html, page 5) in 2005 California received $0.78 from the federal government for every dollar paid. In 2005 (the most recent report) they were 43rd among states for money received. Saying they are looking for another handout is a bit of a stretch.

Part of the problem is that it is very hard to do systematic tests on people the same way it is done in the other branches of science. Slightly adjusting an experiment that involves semi-conductor impurities is easier then having someone's spleen removed (or added) bit by bit to examine the effects.

Out of the items I bought for Valentine's Day, (DVD, Flowers) my girlfriend appreciated the hand written letter the most. It seems to me that the act of writing a letter contains so much more thought then going to a store to buy some candy and flowers. Though those do help.