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I thought I knew how electrolysis worked [video]
- robinduckett 4mo agoI didn’t know how electrolysis really worked, and probably still don’t but I know a little more, and these cheap ion filtering membranes are absolutely wild, and turning the graphite fire blanket into a super high surface area electrode is super interesting. I remember when he re-made the “lost” aerogel-like substance a while back and wonder if we can make graphite aerogel-likes using similar processes somehow for super high surface area electrodes. Sometimes I think I’m more interested in practical materials science than software engineering, but at 39 years old I am probably past the point of going to university to actually study. Of course, unless we all get UBI quickly because of Claude 8.5 taking everyone’s jobs.
- fc417fc802 4mo ago> at 39 years old I am probably past the point of going to university to actually study. That largely depends on your financial situation. If you have a strong technical background and you've already secured your retirement you could certainly do a masters or phd. But if you aren't financially secure then yeah, accepting (somewhat worse than) minimum wage for the next 5 years followed by a high degree of uncertainty sounds like a really bad idea. That said materials science is something of a bastard child of inorganic chemistry, applied physics, and engineering. The theory side of it can be absolutely brutal. Before embarking on an adventure I'd suggest looking over the coursework for physical chemistry to see if you can handle the quantum mechanics stuff.
- selimthegrim 4mo agoCurrent 39 year old finishing their PhD in solid state theory who left a software engineering job to do so, feel free to ask any questions.
- MisterTea 4mo agoWhat got you interested in the field? What kind of job are you after?
- selimthegrim 4mo agoThe problems I was interested in led me to the techniques in the field. I guess the idea was data science, but might need to pivot into LLM or AI engineer.
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- teekert 4mo agoWhat a time to be alive, to find such ultra high quality and inspiring materials for free. When I was young I spend so much time with an illegal copy of Encarta (which sparked my career as a scientist) and already considered myself to be fortunate... What a time to be alive.
- rithdmc 4mo agoToday I learned Encarta was not free.
- teekert 4mo agoIn a sense it was (set?) free. And that led to a lot of good things, imho.
- tantalor 4mo agoIt cost $100 in 1993, after they dropped the initial price. That is about $235 now.
- LearnYouALisp 4mo agoWhat about like educational licenses? Esp late 90s
- rithdmc 4mo agoThanks. I'm Irish, no idea what the price (in Punt, it would have been!) should have been at. A family friend hooked us up with software that should have cost money (mostly Office software, but some games and Encarta included) via the usual means.
- jasonmp85 4mo ago[dead]
- bux93 4mo agoI have fond memories of the, I think 1995, Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia. I think it was given away with new computers, like Encarta and Grolier's. I think I did buy the Compton's CD, but at a huge discount, since I bought it grey market (not bundled with a PC, but from a PC retailer).
- pcvetkovski 4mo ago[flagged]
- mudil 4mo agoYou know what splits water molecules? Photosynthesis. The oxygen released by plants comes from water molecules.