#experimental-physics

But of course this was not how the media perceived it as. Which is a valuable lesson. Great science can often become a PR catastrophe. Scientific research needs money and rarely produces much that those outside of science sees as "useful" or "interesting". It is certainly not the one important thing in the world, but scientific funding is easily cut because it is very hard for scientists to justify their work. It is also a tough decision between releasing results that are easy to become sensationalized when reported on by media outlets that do not understand scientific rigor, and the loss of funding suffered by not publishing a possibly promising result. It is a fine balance to make and while our world hinges on the fundamental knowledge contributed by science - we cannot progress as a society without scientific expertise - there is also the reality that the scientific world is not the same as the "outside world". I do not think it is too much of an exaggeration to claim that scientists earn comparatively little compared to a lot of other fields. Nor do I doubt the importance of scientific rigor which should always take precendence. But we have to take more steps when we report scientific findings, even when we are doing good science, because from unfortunate realities, good science is sadly not always good for science.