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August 11, 2008, 09:43 AM ET

The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth

We ripped that headline off from The Advertiser, a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, which is touting the country’s National Science Week. (It begins on August 16, but taking into account the international dateline and the Coriolis effect on the deflection of moving objects in the Southern hemisphere… um, the paper is still quite early.)

The idea is to promote careers in science and information technology; student enrollments in majors leading to those careers have dropped in Australia.

“The popular image of scientists is partly to blame for the decline in science studies. Sure, the stereotypical mad professor – elderly male in a white coat hovering over test tubes – does exist,” an Advertiser columnist writes. “But there are plenty of young, groovy scientists breaking the mold. These scientists can just as easily be found on fishing boats, wrestling huge fish in the name of research, or performing scientific rock concerts for hordes of screaming schoolgirls (and boys). They look pretty good too.”

That should solve the problem. —Josh Fischman

Categories: Offbeat

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