Science is Freakin Sexy

I don't know what it is about scientists, maybe it was all those revenge of the nerds movies during the 80's, but let's face it people, the new face of science is ME-YOW! Long gone are the days of Poindexter with his polyester pants and horn-rimmed glasses... well, maybe the glasses are still here, but they're not so dorky as they used to be. Just ask all the chicks who think the character Noah Bennett from Heroes is sexy. And come on, tell the truth, who hasn't thought Steve Jobs was just a little bit sexy while they were synching their iPod?

Lo, tho, before I digress, as I am want to do from time to time, I couldn't help but marvel the changing face of science. And not just science, but all things once considered "nerd" are now tres chic. Take the recent trend in ghost hunting. Compare the original "Ghost Hunters" from the 1980's film, "Ghost Busters" to today's savvy sleuths. Now I'm sure there are women who aren't afraid to admit to finding Venkman and Egon just a tad bit attractive, they were certainly no Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson from TAPS/Ghost Hunters, or Josh Gates of Destination Truth.

The first ime I noticed this trend was in college while taking a space and aeronautics course to fulfill credit requirements. I went into the class thinking I was going to spend three days a week using toothpicks to hold my eyelids open, but the professor, who was only about 8 years older then me, was so passionate about science (and not hard to look at either...) that I found myself paying attention to things about the Kuiper Belt (including how to spell it properly!!) that I would have never retained had the professor looked like Ben Stein. (Now, I have friends who think Ben Stein is sexy, but sometimes his wit unnerves me.)

And it's not just hot science guys, either. One female environmental science professor I had managed to pack a classroom full of 20 year old males twice a week. There were about 4 women in the entire class of about 35 students.... And they actually participated in quite a bit of the class discussion because they enjoyed the attention she lavished on them.

Now here's the thing... if this trend became realized, they could slap sexy science teachers into classrooms all over the world and people might actually LEARN things. They might even find that they LIKED science. Imagine the things we could do with a country full of young minds filled up on astrophysics and geoscience.

Oh, and if you get the chance, check out NOVA's next airing of Monster of the Milky Way on PBS. It's a very sexy program all about black holes. Maybe not all of the scientists in it are sexy, but there were a few (COUGH Andrew Hamilton from the University of Colorado COUGH!). but it was enlightening, and further proved my theory that science IS sexy. You will be too if you watch it.