I don't think you can equate "being able to work the lab equipment and run statistical test afterward" with "making significant scientific discoveries". You're

I don't think you can equate "being able to work the lab equipment and run statistical test afterward" with "making significant scientific discoveries". You're putting any lab tech in the same league with the founders of quantum mechanics, etc here. And for all the good they do I don't think you can put the above-mentioned authors/bloggers anywhere near the people who lay foundations in scientific fields.