Some highlights:

• Can a biologist become a physicist?
  >From Claire Gray: Absolutely! The equilibrium state you are looking for is a field called Biophysics, a very happening field right now. Read more...

• Though we do talk about the applications of Elementary Particle Physics in the future, how right is it in this world, plagued with terrorism, evil and poverty, that such HUGE quantity of money is spent on something which may take DECADES or maybe even CENTURIES to really show some practical application?
  >From Sarah Phillips: The entire point of a career in any research field is to find out things we did not know and tell it to others so it can be used effectively for the betterment of mankind. Read more...

• How many hours does one usually work a week at various stages in a physics career (from grad school to post doc work to tenure)?
  >From Debbie Harris: There is no doubt that when you're in physics you spend much more than 40 hours a week doing something someone would call "work": but on the other hand, you don't think of it as work so much as doing something you want to do: from figuring out how to pull some signal out of background in your detector, to figuring out how to build the detector or make the measurement in the first place! Read more...

Einstein: What's the Big Idea?
The Quantum Diarists also answered your questions about Einstein, his accomplishments, and his legacy.

Some highlights:

• Was Einstein a genious or a lucky scientist who did the right questions?
  >From Anuj Purwar: If coming up with Special Relativity and General Relativity in addition to "minor" stuff like the Photoelectric Effect (for which he won the Nobel Prize) is not genius then what is? That said, there is always an element of luck in any such success story. What if Einstein had been born as goatherder in an impoverished family, say in India? He would probably have never learnt how to even read and write, forget about penning E = mc²! Read more...

• Why did Einstein have to wait til 1921 to get the Nobel Prize he deserved since 1904?
  >From David Waller: Even Einstein's seeming simple and profound idea took some time to sink in. We physicists are notoriously sceptical when it comes to new ideas and love shooting them down. If, after lots of shooting, a new idea espaces unscathed, then it is deemed worthy. That's one of the best features of science - new ideas must stand up to scrutiny - most seemingly great new ideas have holes poked in them and die, but a few survive and sometimes go on to change our perception of concepts as profound as time and space. Read more...