Being serious and having a sense of humour is not mutually exclusive. The rhino example: the reason this research was done is exactly what you mention, saving t

Being serious and having a sense of humour is not mutually exclusive. The rhino example: the reason this research was done is exactly what you mention, saving the species. It says so in the article: >The wild black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) faces a serious threat from poachers in southern Africa, along with agriculture development encroaching on its turf. This is leading to too much inbreeding. So African governments have taken to occasionally relocating the rhinos to different geographical regions to mix things up a bit. The problem is that transport by truck is difficult if not impossible, given the rugged terrain, so the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) has resorted to transporting the rhinos aerially. This involves sedating the ungulates (from a safe distance) with a potent opioid and then suspending the drugged rhinos by their feet under the helicopter for as long as 30 minutes. Robin Radcliffe (Cornell University) and his co-authors noted that nobody had studied the physiological effects of this practice on the rhinos. If you look at the list, all the research that was awarded has practical applications. All of this can be used to further our knowledge of the world, to give insight into how things work. And this is what a curious mind should strive for. To look into things like no one else has done before. I think the scientists are people like you and me. In fact, knowing a few, I know this for a fact. They have a sense of humour, a drive to explore the world with knowledge and a healthy ability to mix the two.