By Roz Young, December 5 2011
I can appreciate that as scientists, we can be kind of annoying. And honestly, environmental microbiologists are the worst. We talk about fascinating sewage anaerobes at dinner parties. We argue about the percentage of ethanol in our hand sanitizers while camping. We never let people use the five second rule without comment. We use the periodic table of the elements to make jokes. We talk a lot about cycles without ever really getting anywhere. And we are not just annoying to normal people. We are even annoying to other scientists. Today at coffee break, we decided it’s because we’re like the children of science, who don’t stop asking, “But, why?”...
Evidence. You don’t start out a microbiologist. You start out interested in science (nerd), and then biology, and then wonder why something gets sick, or how things break down, from corpses to oil. And as you keep asking, things get smaller, until you study bacteria instead of polar bears. But then you care about why the bacterium interacts with metals, how does it do that, and why the heck would it do what you find it does in the lab, out there in the real world? That’s the part that’s really interesting, why do bacteria do it at all? And that’s why geneticists find us annoying. Sure, they have the genes for all sorts of stuff. But, why? This is also why ecologists find us annoying. Sure, bacteria modify chemicals in the environment and make them less, or sometimes more, toxic. But, why? Engineers probably hate us the most. Bacteria cause all sorts of problems for industry. They make hydrogen sulphide, which is lethal at high concentration, and can grow all over stuff and foul it up. Engineers are looking for solutions to make cleaner drinking water and how to sterilize hospital equipment and food products. Sure, they like having us around to explain what happened, but they don’t care why. We care. So much so that we are super annoying about it. That sort of explains why I’m annoying about The Avengers movie too. Oh Captain America... but WHY??
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