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Medicine

Mothership question of the week

From our Seed overlords at the ScienceBlogs collective:

Assuming that time and money were not obstacles, what area of scientific research, outside of your own discipline, would you most like to explore? Why?

While I’m not as down on this question as PZ is, I’m not quite sure how to answer. There are lots of other fascinating areas of science that I regret that I’ll never get to know in depth.

My first instinct was to say that I’d become a paleontologist or archaeologist. However, there’s one problem. I like comfort too much. As much as I love reading about the fruits of paleontology and archeology research, I just can’t see myself spending weeks or months at a time out in the field at digs exposed to the elements. Fortunately, there’s another choice.

Back when I was a kid, I read Fantastic Four a lot (and still do, actually, and have a mostly unbroken collection dating back to 1975). Not surprisingly, I always wanted to be Reed Richards, although so far the only resemblance is that I sometimes let myself get a three day growth of stubble when I’m on a roll working. So, I guess if time and money were no option, I’d want to pursue that and become some sort of high powered particle physicist, working out the mysteries of the very building blocks of matter. Heck, maybe I’d even be able to find the way to get into the Negative Zone.

Alternatively, I’d become a mathemetician. Believe it or not, I was quite good at math in my youth and even took a couple of advanced level courses in college. Too bad I’ve forgotten most of what I learned.

By Orac

Orac is the nom de blog of a humble surgeon/scientist who has an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his copious verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few probably will. That surgeon is otherwise known as David Gorski.

That this particular surgeon has chosen his nom de blog based on a rather cranky and arrogant computer shaped like a clear box of blinking lights that he originally encountered when he became a fan of a 35 year old British SF television show whose special effects were renowned for their BBC/Doctor Who-style low budget look, but whose stories nonetheless resulted in some of the best, most innovative science fiction ever televised, should tell you nearly all that you need to know about Orac. (That, and the length of the preceding sentence.)

DISCLAIMER:: The various written meanderings here are the opinions of Orac and Orac alone, written on his own time. They should never be construed as representing the opinions of any other person or entity, especially Orac's cancer center, department of surgery, medical school, or university. Also note that Orac is nonpartisan; he is more than willing to criticize the statements of anyone, regardless of of political leanings, if that anyone advocates pseudoscience or quackery. Finally, medical commentary is not to be construed in any way as medical advice.

To contact Orac: [email protected]

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