I considered giving a health warning with this post. Today, I abandon my usual calm demeanour and embark upon a part-rant, part impassioned call to action. As I climb onto my soapbox, be advised, things might get ugly (well, relatively – I am British after all).

Over the past 20 or so years, millions of dollars (pounds, Yen and Euros) have been invested by governments, charities and professional bodies in an attempt to break down misunderstandings about science within the wider public. Much of it has been done in vain and the successes have been small. When you look at actual data, it makes for some quite shocking reading; the general ‘educated’ public remain frighteningly misinformed about the fundamentals of science…

So is anyone to blame and what the Higgs can we do about it? Read more