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The article presents information related to closure of various physical-sciences departments at universities during the past couple of months. The author states that earlier this month the front page of one tabloid newspaper expressed outrage that cookery classes outrank physics. He pointed out that figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service indicate that, although it is reasonably accurate, there are grounds for optimism. Although the numbers starring engineering courses have been slowly falling since 1996, the rate of decline appears to have more than halved in 2002 and kept below that rate the year after. Also, the number of establishments hosting engineering-related courses has steadily grown from 1996 to 2003. INSET: Goodbye Oxbridge: Small institutions are the new big players.