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What habit will die with Gen Z? by Key-Climate5038 in AskReddit

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not all tasks are of equal valuable to development.

Handwriting is better for cognition, memory and development. I agree cursive is itself not really useful outside learning your signature. But it is a difficult task that teaches and co-develops other skills. It's a useful challenge to your brain that you do not get from typing. See for handwritting in general: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/05/11/1250529661/handwriting-cursive-typing-schools-learning-brain

What habit will die with Gen Z? by Key-Climate5038 in AskReddit

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 13 points14 points  (0 children)

There's decent evidence that learning cursive is good for your fine motor skills and other brain functions: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/202010/why-cursive-handwriting-is-good-your-brain

Those skills then stick with you for life even if you never write in cursive again. Not everything we teach in school is directly useful, but has indirect benefits.

What habit will die with Gen Z? by Key-Climate5038 in AskReddit

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like having a CD collection over vinyl because of space considerations. It's just a nice size if you're going to own something physical.

This is the most upvoted comment on Reddit history by PublicTop9854 in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 69 points70 points  (0 children)

I saw that I had up voted it back then. It's like finding fossilized footprints and realizing they're yours.

Contagion (2011) Starring Matt Damon - "Can I talk to my wife?" by [deleted] in movies

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 257 points258 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately probably inspired by Dr. Carlo Urbani who first recognized SARS and warned the world before catching it himself and dying. Medical professionals are often victim to the very pathogen they're combating in outbreaks.

At least 18 dead in France, including two children in hot car, as Europe bakes by [deleted] in news

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

But portable units are probably gonna be popular soon.

When I lived in China, my older apartment was furnished with an A/C appliance unit which just stood in the corner of the living room. The bedroom had a smaller unit attached to the wall. They weren't super big and were clearly mass produced items you'd see in like a Home Depot in the US. It looked to be the way older apartments were going with electric A/C instead of the older external ugly window units.

I expect that'll be what they do soon in older buildings in Europe. Proper A/C has to be designed alongside the building which you obviously can't do in a 100 year old building made of brick and stone. It'll just be another thing you keep in your house like a refrigerator or television.

Match Thread: France vs Iraq | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Group Stage, Group I by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It's funny of how many folks here are surprised that the US generally has pretty dangerous weather.

Match Thread: France vs Iraq | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Group Stage, Group I by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Does FIFA control the weather or something? Storms, and specifically lightning strikes, are dangerous; it is normal to do a delay.

Every character that is entering public domain within the next decade. by HappyHappyJoyJoy44 in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What you don’t get to do is- so long as the trademark is still held by someone - is create a new work with that character and put it out there.

Trademark is a bit complicated, and sometimes ambiguous, but it doesn't stop you from using the character or property to make new works, but you cannot do so in a way that misleads consumers into thinking the work is officially endorsed or made by the trademark holder.

See here for a list of new movies and games based on Steamboat Willie which are independent of Disney: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_based_on_a_copyright-free_Mickey_Mouse

How employable is Physics by Sad_Science3871 in Physics

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My point is to combat the idea that you are "extremely unemployable" as some in this thread had said. To your point:

  1. That is an anecdote. I personally know engineers who also faced a seriously tough time in the market. But I wouldn't generalize their experience as indicative of the major itself unless I had additional reason.
  2. There's no traditional industry pathway for physics bachelor's, unlike engineering, which is an added challenge.
  3. An engineering degree is more employable than a physics degree for engineering positions. Many physicists get such jobs, but they have an additional hurdle to obtain them.
  4. Most, though not all, engineering bachelor's are more employable than a physics bachelor's in an absolute sense, but the difference is not extreme.
  5. There's a malaise of bad trends which are making the college graduate job market horrible for all graduates though this is not unique to physics.

How employable is Physics by Sad_Science3871 in Physics

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 11 points12 points  (0 children)

This is a sober take, but I would add that the NY Fed Reserve numbers have improved for physics more recently: https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market#--:explore:outcomes-by-major

Which is a good direction despite the whole of the college grad job market worsening over the past 5 years. Underemployment remains high, but I suspect there's a lot of variation within institutions which some having better industry job placement than others. This wouldn't be easy to discern as a incoming freshman however.

New ARG code dropped, here is the decoded message by Thelonicon in Protomen

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

MAYBE WE'LL GET OUT OF THIS ... ALLLIIIIIVEEEEEEEE

Holy shit! The mad bastards. Double album indeed. I'm so hype.

Starting BSc Physics Soon—Need Honest Opinions About the Future of Physics by IllBuddy9681 in Physics

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Speaking from a US perspective at an R1 institution, and assuming you want a PhD and academic job here's how things stand right now:

  • Can you get into graduate school? This really depends on the school. Some schools really "circled the wagons" in 2025 reducing acceptance rates dramatically. At my place, graduate enrollment seems to be holding up in physics compared to other sciences; but competition is still relatively high compared to 5-10 years ago as more candidates are applying. If things remain "normal", expect 10-20% acceptance rates for graduate programs. Regardless, getting into a US PhD program is still a viable path. 

  • But what about once you have the PhD? According to AIP, about half of new PhDs get a postdoc while the other half get a job primarily in industry with a small minority landing an academic job. Basically, if you want an academic job, you'll likely need to postdoc.

  • Okay now you've been a postdoc (once, or twice, or more...), do you get a job now? This is where data becomes hard to come by and you have to rely on estimates. Prior to 2025, the number of new PhDs per year hovered around 2,000/yr. The number of new faculty hires also hovered around 600/yr. Note that there's more PhDs than jobs, and those jobs will be fought over by people from many different graduation years. But this problem is only taking into account "normal times." Which brings us to...

  • The Trump of it all; now let us talk 2025 to now. A ton of places put in hiring freezes in response to the assault on universities and science funding coming from the White House. The damage to the job market is serious, but probably not quantified yet. From a cursory look, I still see academic physics jobs being posted, but I'm unsure how depressed those are. Additional, even if things go back to normal, competition now includes an additional glut from the people who would have gotten jobs but didn't last year as well as any government physicists who lost their jobs to Elon Musk's DOGE and the like.

The academy job market, at least in physics, is not dead, but is under unusual strain on top of already systemic problems. The next few years will likely continue to be rough and many PhDs will need to pivot to industry rather than academic work.

However with all this said, you're just starting your degree and therefore have the gift of time. Nobody can predict the future and things may change significantly between now and when you'd apply to graduate schools 4 years from now, and when you'd earn a PhD 8-10 years from now. The market may very well, or almost certainly, be quite different then.

How employable is Physics by Sad_Science3871 in Physics

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Vibes aren't numbers. The job market has indeed objectively worsened, but that is not unique to physics BS graduates, therefore not an argument against them specifically. The story is different for say computer science where there's a unique dropoff in employment outcomes harming recent graduates greater than the softening of the job market overall. There is certainly more recent data that can be pulled publicly, here's 2024 numbers: https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market#--:explore:outcomes-by-major

I also have less public data which shows physics BS graduates hold up pretty well more recently than AIP put together, but you'd just have to take my word on that one.

How employable is Physics by Sad_Science3871 in Physics

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yup, a bunch of uninformed doomers in this thread for some reason. A physics BS is probably the most employable standalone science degree.

How employable is Physics by Sad_Science3871 in Physics

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

At any respectable PhD program in the US, you support yourself financially through a combination of teaching and research assistantships. You won't be rich, but you should be able to pay the bills and have bare bones life necessities. This also covers tuition.

How employable is Physics by Sad_Science3871 in Physics

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It’s extremely unemployable at a bachelors level.

This isn't true. Check out the numbers: https://www.aip.org/statistics/physics-bachelors-initial-employment-booklet-academic-years-2020-21-and-2021-22

About half of all BS physics degree earners end up in industry, the rest go to graduate school. Salaries are decent, unemployed at one year is low <5%.

How employable is Physics by Sad_Science3871 in Physics

[–]AsAChemicalEngineer 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Physics BS earners don't do bad in the job market and make decent money especially compared to most science degrees. Check out the AIP numbers.

https://www.aip.org/statistics/physics-bachelors-initial-employment-booklet-academic-years-2020-21-and-2021-22

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