But not Dr Jonathan Squire. For him, the research is a "fun ride" which holds the key to working out how the universe works.
The University of Otago physics research fellow has just received the prestigious American Physical Society’s Thomas H Stix Award for outstanding early career contributions to plasma physics research.
The Dunedin-born physicist did his undergraduate degree at Otago between 2005 and 2009, before being awarded a Fulbright fellowship for graduate study in the United States where he did a PhD at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory from 2010-15.
He then did a postdoctoral fellowship in the astronomy department at the California Institute of Technology, before moving back to the University of Otago as a Rutherford Discovery Fellow in 2018.
Dr Squire’s research covers a range of topics in astrophysical and space plasma theory, focusing particularly on how kinetic processes in plasmas impact their macroscopic properties, such as heating, turbulence, and transport.
"One of the things we are most interested in, in astrophysical physics, is how plasmas heat up.
"If they are stirred up, meaning energy is added through gravity or other forces, then we are interested in how chaotic motions such as waves and turbulence influence the heating process of the particles.
"How this works influences lots of things in the universe, such as how the atmosphere of the Sun heats up then flies off as the solar wind, later smashing into Earth."
Another part of his research involved dusty plasmas.
"As well as having normal atoms floating around in gas or plasma, it’s very common in astrophysics to have grains of dust.
"When this two-component system moves around, we discovered that the dust and gas naturally separate apart due to a process of instability.
"An example application of this work is the process of forming planets around a young star — dust must collect together, but how does this happen?"
Dr Squire said the Stix Award was "a real honour" and he was proud to be associated with "an impressive group" of previous recipients.
"I feel as though I’ve had a great time doing research here and I’ve had some really fantastic people to work with and mentor me.
"It’s been a fun ride."
