So what exactly has changed in physics in the last 20 years?

[jack476]

"So what exactly has changed in physics in the last 20 years?"

So I was at a Christmas party joking around with one of my friends who is in electrical engineering and he said something basically to the effect of "Well physics hasn't changed in like 50 years"

Which is actually not a bad point, much of my undergraduate curriculum is material that is the product of work from 50+ years ago.

And on top of that, it really does (at least at a cursory glance) seem like not much has changed. We have stuff like string theory and the standard model now, theories that are incomplete and not fully tested. And we've got some fancy new lasers and accelerators, and something that's probably the Higgs Boson. But it does really seem like the truly momentous breakthroughs are all in the distant past now and progress has just slowed to a crawl.

I also don't really read a huge amount of popular science or science news, but while the stuff I do hear about seems cool, nothing really seems to point to be anything particularly huge.

So what I'm wondering is, if you were asked this question how would you respond?

PS: I responded by pointing out that at least my education won't be obsolete the week after I graduate ;)

 

[D H]

Which is it -- 50 years per the opening post, or 20 years per the thread title?

That physics hasn't changed in 50 years is a ludicrous proposition. In quantum mechanics, Bell's theorem, now viewed as a cornerstone of quantum mechanics, had not yet been published. In particle physics, protons and neutrons were still viewed as elementary particles because the idea that they were composed of quarks held together by gluons had not yet been developed. In cosmology, quasars were newly observed objects, but nobody knew what they were. The cosmic microwave background radiation hadn't been detected yet. Dark matter, dark energy, supermassive black holes? Those discoveries were even further in the future.

I can't think of a single part of modern physics that hasn't changed immensely in the last 50 years.

 

[phinds]

... "Well physics hasn't changed in like 50 years"

A statement CLEARLY made by someone who has no idea what he is talking about. DH gave a lot of great examples. There are others.

 

[Bobbywhy]

Have a look at the “Top 25 stories of 2013, from microbes to meteorites” from Science News. Just ONE YEAR! See how many are in the field of Physics.
https://www.sciencenews.org/

 

[pmacias]

I can assure you that the field of physics has seen significant advancements and changes in the last 20 years. While it may seem like progress has slowed down compared to the breakthroughs of the past, this is not the case. In fact, there have been many groundbreaking discoveries and developments in various areas of physics.

One major advancement has been in the field of quantum mechanics, with the development of quantum computing and quantum cryptography. This has opened up new possibilities in computing and data security. Additionally, the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 was a huge achievement in particle physics and confirmed the standard model of particle physics.

There have also been significant advancements in astrophysics, such as the detection of gravitational waves in 2015, which has opened up a new way of studying the universe. In cosmology, the discovery of dark energy and dark matter has challenged our understanding of the universe and led to new theories and models.

Furthermore, advancements in technology have allowed for more precise measurements and experiments, leading to a better understanding of fundamental physics. The development of new tools and techniques, such as the Large Hadron Collider, has allowed scientists to push the boundaries of our knowledge and make new discoveries.

So while it may seem like progress has slowed down, there have been many significant changes in physics in the last 20 years. As scientists, we are constantly pushing the boundaries of our understanding and making new discoveries that shape our understanding of the world around us.