Getting off on Science

Have I told you about my science fetish? I have a thing for science. (I think I have a thing for scientists, too. A lovely woman in a long, white coat... bookish... dark-haired (female scientists are always dark-haired, you know)... glasses... plaid skirt a plus... sliderule... whoops, my age is showing!) Logic has it that, had I been given that chemistry set instead of the doll and cradle (I promptly took the clothes off the doll and put them on the beagle. : ), I might be a world-renowned scientist right now. Then, I could be MadScientist! ; )

I love science and mechanics. I loved taking things apart and figuring them out. Imagine how fascinating a career in genetics might have been. I loved my dad's Popular Mechanics/Science magazines. I think I liked them more than Dad did. I subscribed to Omni magazine, may she rest in peace, from about 1980 until its demise. Sorry about that link but Omni was founded by Bob Guccione of Penthouse fame. (Penthouse was always my favorite...much more artistic and daring than Playboy but far more subtle than Hustler. I loved my dad's porno magazines, too, it seems.) Science as porn...gotta love it!

Science is one reason bedside nursing was a lucky accident for me. Something I could do quickly (and easily, as it turned out) that would provide me a decent wage and touched the hems of science. Something that could continue to stimulate my mind. I need to be continually learning, to be stimulated.

I was fascinated by the story on All Things Considered this afternoon about the "left-handed amino acids." (here is another link to the article from a British publication) Basically, left- and right-handed amino acids want to be in equilibrium. At some point, something happened to the amino acids growing in a puddle that made them almost entirely left-handed and from this pool was life-as-we-know-it created or evolved (you pick). The vast majority of amino acids floating around in our natural world are lefties. (sounds like some country I know and love) Now they're trying to find out what event or chemical reaction or whatever caused the shift from L/R diversity to an almost purely lefty world.

The British magazine I cited for the second article is called New Scientist. I've recently been considering getting a subscription to Science or Nature to get regular, in-depth science news but I dreaded the thought of a journal format. Journal articles are just so dry and boring! New Scientist looks like a solution for me. Science for non-scientists. Science-Lite! Just like Omni used to be. Okay, so I might have to sift through a little sensationalism but I can do that. Oh, and they're touting two of my heroes...David Attenborough and Stephen Hawking...geeks! ::sigh::

Time to go dream of strange subatomic particles and space dust and a long, white lab coat above a well-shaped calf.

::pink sigh::

Technorati tags: life / middle-age / self-awareness / sex-positive