Good question - unemployment isn't much of a problem from what I understand, but underemployment (employed in a related field) is. It's important to meet as many people as possible. I went to the biggest grad school that would accept me and that I felt I could succeed in (U. Texas Austin) because they had TA support, and people working in almost every subfield (I wasn't sure what I wanted to do). Beyond working hard (my advisor: "every time you're eating an ice cream cone, some Caltech weanie is at the computer lab working, and that's who you're really competing with, not those here in our department"), give a lot of presentations at meetings and in house. There's a book "Don't be such a scientist: Talking substance in an age of style" by Randy Olson that's pretty good. Anyway, yes, it's not easy, and your reward if you make it is a smaller salary and longer hours than if you'd just focussed on money... but it's a great gig if you can get it. Oh, and I have been at a relatively small school with a higher teaching load - that's still the norm unless you're a real star. Good luck and have fun, Matt

Agreed. I've been a professor for 20 years. I can't imagine a better job. Research is still fun sometimes to the point of controlled obsession, teaching is satisfying and the students are mostly good to great, the downsides of the job are minimal, and the pay is good. There's nothing else I'd rather do. Matt Wood, Professor Dept Physics & Space Sciences Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL 32901

"The Sun is not a solar-type star" was my favorite quote from the 1st NASA Kepler Conference held Dec 2011!

He's saying 1/2 million per passenger, not per trip.

You can haz your acids, but all your base are belong to us!

Also rumored to include a subscription to Amazon Prime - free shipping and the movie streaming service. Not a bad deal if the look and feel is good.

Prediction: In 2 years they'll give you a tablet when you subscribe to Amazon Prime.

Matt Wood
Melbourne, FL

I watched the press conference, and they suggested it likely had about half of it's mass as a solid rocky core, the other half as gas.

I've got sitting on my desk a few quotes from this week along these lines: 32 cores, 32 GB ram 2 TB Raid 1, 23" monitor. --> $8k Matt A. Wood, Professor FIT Physics & Space Sciences

The Book by Taylor and Wheeler "Exploring Black Holes: Introduction to General Relativity" is very nice, and roughly at your level. http://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Black-Holes-Introduction-Relativity/dp/020138423X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1314560336&sr=8-2 Matt A. Wood Physics & Space Sciences Dept Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL 32901

It's nearly always phrased this way. It was discovered within hours of the initial signal of the explosion reaching earth. Matt Wood