I have an odd and longstanding love of when SCIENCE! happens. Note that I’m not talking about regular old science here, I’m talking about all-caps, exclamation mark SCIENCE!
The distinction? Science is often fascinating and useful, but a little bit tedious; SCIENCE! is when something unexpected or fun happens while you’re doing something else, and it promptly makes you want to keep doing it, possibly while giggling or shouting “SCIENCE!” at anyone who will listen or, indeed, if you’re alone, an empty house.
My most recent encounter with SCIENCE! came after painting the walls in the spare room. I was rinsing off the roller in the shower, as you do, and I noticed that the pressure of the water from the shower head was sufficient to make the roller spin. The longer I held the stream of water in place, the faster the roller would spin, causing the handle to wobble and the roller to spray small, bouncing water droplets around itself.
I was transfixed for a good few minutes by this, even going so far as to adjust the shower head to get a different stream of water and see what effect that would have on the spinning roller. It was fun. And I’m not ashamed to admit it.
This isn’t the first time I’ve had improvised fun with SCIENCE!, however. I recall when I was a kid, I had a “science experiment kit” that I’d been bought for some birthday or Christmas or whatever. There were lots of bits and pieces in this kit, but I recall being most fascinated by the pair of syringes (minus needles, obviously) and a length of plastic tubing that could be used to connect them.
I discovered that it was possible to fill one syringe with water, press the plunger and cause the plunger on the other syringe to move without touching it. If done with sufficient force — or if there was enough water in the syringe — it could even cause the other plunger to pop out with a satisfying noise.
These are both rudimentary, stupid bits of SCIENCE!, I know, but they’re the sort of thing I’ve found oddly satisfying and fascinating since an early age. These little things remind you the world isn’t as simple as it appears, and everything you do can have an effect on something else.
I’m not sure what point, if any, I have here, but this was the first thing that popped in to my head when I sat down to write today, so here it is. Now I’m off to bed. Good night!
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This is nuts. I’m so happy to hear that I’m not the only one. I read the first two paragraphs of this post aloud to my wife, and her jaw dropped. We have a word for your little paint-roller escapade in my house – Espiriments. They’re like experiments, only cuter, and not constrained by adherence to any stodgy old scientific method. I’m always getting derailed by the little workings of the world. Once, upon my wife’s request, I drew a little ‘toon of what she says I look like to her when I’m in “espirimenting mode.” I uploaded it to my blog:
http://mrgilder.tumblr.com/post/91591066056/sometimes-i-like-to-do-espiriments
Now, the real question is – when you shout SCIENCE!, do you do it with the same inflection as the guy in the background of She Blinded me With Science? I know I do. I was doing this waaaaaay before Valve and Steam and Garry’s Mod made it cool. I’m that you have been too.
Oh, gosh. I am glad you said this. I was actually a little worried about posting this piece as I thought it might make me come across like some sort of dribbling imbecile with the mind of a five-year old. (Perhaps it still does, but it’s heartening to know I’m not alone.)