The Universe’s Missing Matter. My Missing Motivation.

The universe lost half its matter for decades. I lose track of myself every week. They say FRBs finally revealed where all the baryons went—just thin, scattered, invisible. I wish I could shine a radio burst through my own exhaustion and see what’s left of me on the other side. We spent months chasing signals, calibrating, re-running code until the numbers blurred. The data lined up, the paper got accepted. My advisor called it a breakthrough. I felt nothing. Just the same empty space, stretched between deadlines and the next grant rejection. Everyone talks about solving mysteries. No one talks about what it costs to keep searching when you’re the one who feels missing. #ScienceFatigue #LabBurnout #ImposterInTheRoom #Science