I'm a wee bit in love with science, and "Smithsonian" magazine is the rolled-up "Playgirl" I tuck underneath my mattress each night.
The May 2011 issue is a cornucopia of mind-bending tidbits, and I'm left breathless after each article. Just a few of the facts that have left me panting this week:
--During long migrations, it turns out that birds have nothing over the silver Y moth, which travels just as fast as its feathered friends. Its key? Like a persnickety jet pilot, the silver Y waits for and flies in ideal conditions, using jet streams and tailwinds to make up for its lost time on the proverbial runway. And don't even get me started on Monarchs, some of which have been displaced as far as a thousand miles from home base, only to find again their invisible road home to Mexico.
--German naturalist Alexander Von Humboldt was described as the "last universal man," meaning he was the last human to have a grasp on all the world's knowledge. I cannot even imagine such an accomplishment. Nowadays? We have specialists. Personally, I root for the few generalists who are still out there, swimming upstream against a society that emphasizes singular know-how over excellent "Trivial Pursuit" gamesmanship. Had Von Humboldt been alive today, I'm pretty sure I'd have a poster of him in my bedroom.
--In 2002, someone salvaged a medical kit from a 2,000-year-old shipwreck...and the contents of some of the vials were still dry! Turns out these were the only existing samples of medicine from antiquity. Science historian Alain Touwaide got some samples from the vials and discovered that the DNA was still good. As I read more about Touwaide, who is fluent in 12 languages, he seemed to be a viable candidate to replace Von Humboldt as the "last universal man." I think I will make a website to push for his nomination.
--Thanks to "Smithsonian," I now want to vacation in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, even if local Yups will make fun of me while I'm there. Pristine waters, sandstone cliffs, multi-hued waterfalls, architecturally-beautiful hamlets and virgin forests are calling my name. Too bad gas is $4 a gallon. . . . although I'd guess that the Yups would disagree with me on this point.
--And then I read about memes--ideas, behaviors and styles that spread from person to person like a bad case of swine flu (I mean, H1N1). I had to read this article slowly, its ideas thick and heady. When I finished, I was reminded of "Botany of Desire," Michael Pollen's mind-boggling book about the power of attraction. In it, he proposes that the most successful plants in nature had to figure out how to become sexy crazy to other beings in order to thrive. It was a stunning read. In fact, the chapter on apples still sends shivers up my nerd spine. And now I read about memes, ideas that take on a viral nature, spreading from one person to another, and leaving those people changed from the experience. Almost makes viruses sound...sexy.
When I read about scientific discoveries, I am always left in a state of wonder. Science never fails to amaze me. It also never fails to make me feel a bit closer to God, whose existence, for me, gets all kinds of street cred every time a tiny little moth or a catchy fast-food jingle or a 2,000-year-old baby aspirin wends its way into my brain.
Turns out, both science and God are all about wonder.
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