Science pop

LIKE SCIENTISTS and engineers, science and technology periodicals are often a lot more eccentric and whimsical than one might expect. And for evidence of this, it often isn't necessary to look past the masthead. Wired, for example, may no longer list Marshall McLuhan as its Patron Saint, but it does bestow upon former editor-in-chief Kevin Kelly the cranky-sounding title of Senior Maverick.

Back in February the 133-year-old magazine Popular Science quietly slipped a Contributing Troubadour onto its masthead. An explanation finally appeared in the current (September) issue: Jonathan Coulton, the magazine's designated tunesmith, has recorded a soundtrack to the issue.

Last winter, after hearing the Brooklyn-based Coulton perform heart-wrenching songs about cyborgs at a futurist conference, Popular Science asked him to write them a theme song.

''I assumed they were kidding, but they called me a few months ago and said, 'Hey, you're on the masthead, where's that theme song?"' recounts Coulton, an aspiring singer-songwriter known to cognoscenti for his ability to write catchy ditties about anything from Ikea end tables to fractal geometry. ''We decided it would be even more fun if I wrote songs about the September issue on the future of the body."

Reached via cell phone at his day job in Manhattan (he writes software), Coulton explained the thinking behind a couple of the five songs--''That Spells DNA," ''I Feel Fantastic," ''Womb With a View," ''Todd the T1000," and ''Better"--which are free for downloading at the website popsci.com/soundtrack.

'''That Spells DNA' goes with an article about how we'll eventually be able to predict our own demise by examining our DNA. In the song, our own DNA sings to us about how we're all eventually going to die no matter what," Coulton said. '''Womb With a View' is about a baby inside a transparent artificial womb who falls in love with the fetus next door. And 'Todd the T1000' responds to a report on new materials that may someday replace our muscles--and make us stronger--with a story I invented about bulking up in order to intimidate your android butler."

Coulton admitted that it can be difficult to get the details exactly right in songs about science and technology. ''It's already been pointed out to me that T1000 was the name of a robot in 'Terminator 2'--and not the muscular Schwarzenegger robot, either."