Still wondering what cool job you want to have when you grow up? How about becoming a physicist? I visited Fermilab, in Batavia, Illinois and saw the awesome things done there! They do things like create collisions between protons and their antimatter partner the antiproton, (both of which are going close to the speed of light when they collide) and study some of the unknown mysteries of life, like the trillions of particles known as neutrinos, which are going through our bodies right now but do not seem to do anything. People come from all over the world to use the particle beams that Fermilab has created.

According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the U.S. Department of Labor the average salary for physicist employed to work with the government was $104,917 in 2005, and this is a good estimate for those with PhD’s in physics.

To be a physicist it is usually necessary to hold at least a masters degree in Physics. But why stop there? The next step is to earn a PhD. PhD students channel their energy into one topic.

Physicist study the mysteries of the universe like dark mater. Dark Matter is actually the most common form of matter, yet scientists have no clue as to what it is or why it exists. Dr. Erik Ramberg works at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, or Fermilab, and he actually studies this interesting topic of Dark Matter.

Dr. Erik Ramberg also enjoys collecting antique books, and has some awesome pool skills.

“Everyday nature is screaming out at you I’m weird!” Dr. Ramberg said, and he agrees that nature is always coming up with another problem when you find the answer to one problem; thus it’s the essence of weirdness.