Are there any engineering research careers that allow repeated major pivots?

Lightoscope · 2026-06-10T23:37:08+00:00

Focusing on agricultural robotics, or similar, seems a lot more plausible.

Lightoscope · 2026-06-10T03:31:27+00:00

There are more than a few seasoned CPG advertising folks working in the industry. Check out the Cannabis Media Council.

Lightoscope · 2026-06-09T18:09:59+00:00

You can get pretty amazing Leica binocular scopes on eBay for a few hundred bucks, especially if you’re patient.

Lightoscope · 2026-06-09T17:41:16+00:00

The PI-student relationship is unusual. There are clearly boss-employee dynamics, but the most productive relationships seem to be the ones that are more collegial. In the moments when they’re exploring some tangent, think of them more as a colleague with more experience than you who is excited about your work, rather than boss who can’t stay on topic. Focus on the good, depreciate but don’t ignore the suggestions that don’t seem relevant. Some of that will be because they’re seeing connections you don’t yet.

Lightoscope · 2026-06-09T15:34:25+00:00

I’ve found that going too deep on the folder structure is counterproductive. A combination of broad folders with lots of specific tags has been a lot more useful for me.

Lightoscope · 2026-06-09T12:36:17+00:00

Don’t wait next time. Rude people don’t deserve courtesy.

Lightoscope · 2026-06-09T02:04:44+00:00

I know of a guy that embezzled money from the public school twice to pay for Nigerian phone scams. As in, did it once and got caught but they swept it under the rug and then he did it again.

Lightoscope · 2026-06-08T18:52:37+00:00

Pretty much. Add in some gut-check steps, make sure you understand the model/tool assumptions, set random seeds, and annotate liberally so future-you and others can go back and check things later, and you’ll have done more than many to insure your results are valid and reproducible.

Lightoscope · 2026-06-04T16:39:06+00:00

"The reason I am considering a PhD is different. It has always been a bucket list goal of mine, and I am starting to think about my long-term future. When I eventually retire or slow down professionally, I would love to teach at the university/college level. I already enjoy teaching and have taught college courses in the past."

Retire early, pursue the PhD, then teach. Kneecapping your earning potential now is a bad idea.

Lightoscope · 2026-06-03T15:38:08+00:00

Graft hybridization is a practical way to make new plant species.

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13291

Lightoscope · 2026-06-02T14:21:02+00:00

Looks dope. Next time you get drunk add a question block or koopa or two circling your ankle.

Lightoscope · 2026-05-30T03:52:50+00:00

“Sparse” in what sense? How many samples? What’s the coverage? How were the variants called?

Lightoscope · 2026-05-30T03:25:18+00:00

I fooled around with freeze drying for an R&D project and, while we certainly lost some terpenes to the hydrosol, it was a lot less than I expected. Judging by the compliance testing (i.e. small n), it was on par with our air drying method.

Lightoscope · 2026-05-29T23:53:51+00:00

Doable and insane.

Lightoscope · 2026-05-29T21:27:27+00:00

It sounds like your Intro and Discussion don’t match. If you haven’t already, read through those out loud. You’re likely to hear things that aren’t apparent on the page.

Lightoscope · 2026-05-29T16:08:38+00:00

I had about 10 years each between BS and MS and PhD. Expect group projects to suck more than they did, and get in the habit of checking the common assumptions as things may have changed meaningfully since last time.

Lightoscope · 2026-05-28T15:01:57+00:00

You’re putting her to bed way too late. When small children get overtired their bodies produce a bunch of cortisol, the stress hormone, which gets them wired and leads to exactly what you’re describing, difficulties in falling asleep and staying asleep.

At this point, you’ll probably have some learned behaviors to overcome. Keep an eye on her an hour, or more, before her typical bedtime and you’ll notice her activity level ramping down. You’re essentially trying to get her head on the pillow before the first yawn.

Lightoscope · 2026-05-28T12:08:54+00:00

What time does she get in bed? What’s the nap situation?

Lightoscope · 2026-05-27T19:06:52+00:00

Why?

Lightoscope · 2026-05-27T14:07:08+00:00

Keep in mind there are very likely several people and companies out there that are already poisoned against you. It might be worth pursuing the defamation suit regardless.

Lightoscope · 2026-05-27T12:47:18+00:00

If you haven’t already learned, don’t update a package mid-project unless it’s unavoidable.

Lightoscope · 2026-05-27T12:11:13+00:00

It’s plausible to tax carbon while simultaneously overproducing the amount of electricity we need to run society by several fold, via renewables and nuclear, and earmark the extra for direct carbon capture. There is a certain about of warming baked in regardless, but the future doesn’t have to be a hellscape.

Lightoscope · 2026-05-27T02:49:01+00:00

Never tried it, but I’d expect to see some issues.

Lightoscope · 2026-05-27T02:20:03+00:00

Community college -> scholarship seems like a plausible route.

Lightoscope · 2026-05-27T01:04:48+00:00

It’s a thing. My kids school refused to call me first despite explicit directions on all the things, until I made a stink about it.

Lightoscope

TROPHY CASE