To me, science, like Spanish-language television, is a candy store at which I can only behold from afar, my nose pressed up against the glass that separates me and the wondrous treats inside. I think that glass may be made of math and dylexia dyslexia.

Even though I work in two science departments, and like to talk with scientists about science, I’m sure it’s like interacting with a baby (not a baby einstein) for them. Or, as my sister Ann said today,

Some of my best friends are scientists. But intellectually I am like their dog. Who looks fondly up. wrrr..I…wrrr..rLove…wrrYou!

But all this babble is just an intro to two chemistry videos that made me so, so happy. This one below demonstrates the linking together of amino acids to form a protein. Boring, you say? How about making it a hippie rock interpretive dance film happening?

If you can’t take the vintage talking head professor, skip to 3:07 — where the party really gets started! The lady portraying the inner life of a protein releasing factor, in particular, is a standout. God bless UCSD and Stanford, circa 1971, and the Professor (who was not even born in 1971) who hipped me to this scene.

And below, a wonderful brief tour of the periodic chart. I would very much like this to be a series.

And remember:

Long time did Biocomplex churn
the Protein grew by tibs & tomes
Amino Acids linked in turn
by the catalytic Ribosome…

Update: thanks, Two Mets, for reminding me of Tom Lehrer’s Element Song!