Bench Press

A lot of the “hot” research occurs at the edges of disciplines. In my humble opinion, this is a natural effect stemming from the fact that the research that occurs at those edges typically involves the use of new equipment/techniques (e.g. applying physical techniques to biology) or because of the need for experts in different fields to come together and exchange thoughts and perspectives (e.g. astrophysics requires an appreciation of the very large [traditional astronomy], the very small [quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics], and the very weird [relativity, ok so it’s not that weird, but from the perspective of someone who’s never moved at relativistic velocities, I think it’s weird]).

But, of course, interdisciplinary research, has its limits (HT: Abstruse Goose):

Anyone else have any equally bad ideas for “interdisciplinary research”?

(Image Credit – Abstruse Goose)