The "graying" of Quantum Diaries
Gordon Watts "bristles" at a report that physicists do their best research before they're 30. "I certainly feel like I'm doing a lot" despite being almost 40, he writes. But he notes that his responsibilities have changed, moving him away from the type of research he did earlier in his career. "The older you get the more you help with infrastructure--aiding those that are doing the research. The science community, however, does not reward this activity the same way it does direct research."

Tommaso Dorigo also felt the distance from his youth this week when he took a standardized exam to qualify for a tenured position in Italy. Some of the questions were of the sort he last answered as a graduate student and young PhD. "This is kind of mean: asking a 40-year-old to show the skill one typically has at 20, while he spent the last 10 years doing completely different things: analyzing data, producing computer code, organizing the work of research groups..."

But all is not lost for Quantum Diaries' graying crowd: "After 42 years 8 months on this earth, and 10 years after my PhD, I finally have a 'permanent' job (insofar as any can be)," writes Marcello Pavan. He expects to "sleep much more soundly" now.

What are they teaching those kids these days?
Peter Steinberg notices a humor column by Dave Barry about his son's college physics education. It seems to be full of "crazy ideas," Peter writes. "Relativity I can believe, but is the 5th dimension sneaking into freshman physics by now?"

Caolionn O'Connell worries that a popular teen movie "might deter" girls from going into physics, because girls who like physics are depicted as unattractive and uncool. "I look forward to the day when they make a teen movie where the heroine is hot, not because she has ridiculously pretty hair and ice skates, but because she's smart."