The Higgs field isn't the only thing the LHC might unearth.  A while back Sean Carroll posted a great discussion of other possibilities including supersymmetry, dark matter and something not yet predicted.   

One subject I love to explore is how everyday technology depends upon some very deep theories either in pure or applied sciences that in their abstract form might be viewed at best as academic or at worst as science fiction.  GPS is a prime example.  GPS is perhaps the most revolutionary technology of the 20th century - as fundamental as the printing press.  It represents access to everyone for cheap global navigation.  The practical benefits are enormous.  And, we are only seeing the beginning of the economic and entrepreneurial potential of this technology.   

Economic, environmental, political and supply issues dictate that reliance on fossil fuels will be ephermeral on the scale of human history.  While developments in telecommunications and the information age are touted as revolutionary (e.g.,  the Internet and World-Wide-Web), these breakthroughs will pale in their impact compared to the economic and political renaissance that a revolution in sustainable energy promise.   How is it possible to engage the talent and resources necessary to drive the second industrial revolution?

Steven Chu, Secretary Of Energy and Nobel Prize winner, recently framed the role of science and technology in addressing tomorrow's energy breakthroughs.  Many of Secretary Chu's thoughts resonate with my own, among them (paraphrased):

The December '08 issue of symmetry magazine (http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/pdfs/200812/dec_2008.pdf) presents an interesting article about the benefits of particle physics research to society from an economic, social and education perspective.  

The ripple effect of basic research in physics such as elementary particles has driven development of technologies as far ranging as grid computing, superconductivity, cancer therapies and of course the World-Wide-Web.  Many of these breakthroughs might never have arisen under an incremental approach motivated purely by a corporate bottom line.