"Bell Labs' decision to abandon basic physics research marks the end of a brilliant chapter for the iconic institution. Many of the Labs' most famous discoveries, such as the transistor and the laser, originated in fundamental physics and have gone on to transform computing and technology."
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Gallery: Once Mighty Bell Labs Leaves Behind Transistor, Laser, 6 Nobels
Wired:
"Bell Labs' decision to abandon basic physics research marks the end of a brilliant chapter for the iconic institution. Many of the Labs' most famous discoveries, such as the transistor and the laser, originated in fundamental physics and have gone on to transform computing and technology."
"Bell Labs' decision to abandon basic physics research marks the end of a brilliant chapter for the iconic institution. Many of the Labs' most famous discoveries, such as the transistor and the laser, originated in fundamental physics and have gone on to transform computing and technology."
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4 comments:
It's a little scary and a bit depressing that Bell Labs, birthplace of so many amazing and world-changing inventions and discoveries, is abandoning the research that put it on the map. Instead, the lab is focusing on networking, nano-technology, wireless, etc., because these fields "are likely to offer a more immediate payback for parent company Alcatel-Lucent." It's too bad that a pure research facility is beginning to worry about profit, when they should be worrying about advancing science and technology and helping humankind. Perhaps more government funding for scientific research would allow places such as Bell Labs to focus on science rather than economics.
i didn't know they were still doing physics research...
so that leaves who then? CERN? DARPA? Alternatives that aren't going anywhere fast (although CERN does have those nifty particle accelerators). MIT may be up to some new tricks too...
While I do think that a more consumer/public service based market may be a good option for the near future, there's only a limited amount of improvement we can get on our existing technology.
I'm not going to claim that I know what Bell Labs has done in the past in terms of scientific discoveries, but just looking at that picture -- looks like an AMAZING location for a film! Looks like it could be straight out of Children of Men, or some other apocalyptic film.
Watch your neighborhood silver screen!
The move of Bell Labs to new sciences and developing technologies is what it has always done. We need more research into these areas. The lab is not only switching their focus for a bigger pay-off. Society has put a larger demand on this new knowledge and, as a high tech company Bell Labs is responding to the demand.
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