I'm not sure if it holds for other branches of science, but I love the field of study I work in-- often referred to as systems neuroscience-- because it is one of the few professions outside of professional sports that allows jocks to excel. In fact, I consider myself a jock more than anything else-- to a large degree, I am good at what I do because of God-given physical ability, able to accomplish things in the lab that other people simply cannot, due to the fact that I have better hands, better eyes, and the stamina of a pitcher trying to pull out a no-no late in the ninth. The idea of "scientist-jock" is not an entirely new one; people still refer to molecular biologists who make a career out of cloning things a "gene jock". However, recent technical developments in the field of neuroscience have made physicality an extremely desirable trait to possess. The increasing use of two-photon microscopy, which involves an incredible amount of surgical skill in order to use in live animal preparations, has been one source of this, as is the use of "microdrives" to record neural activity in awake, behaving animals, which demands not only dexterity but keen eyesight, due to the size of the mechanical instruments involved in the work. In addition, people are applying old techniques that themselves took a fair amount of skill to perform well, like whole-cell electrophysiology, in more and more complicated and demanding ways, further increasing the value of an adept set of limbs. Now if only universities hired young professors based on their performance at a combine...