Why Isn't Common Sense a Scientific Requirement?

I've been silent for most of February, so I'm going to make up for lost time while the ideas are buzzing.

There are two scientific researches out there that give me pause to scratch my head and wonder...why?

The first is a safety issue. A team of scientists is planning to use one of the nation's newest and most advanced research aircrafts, a modified Gulfstream V jet called HIAPER, to study turbulent airstreams and whirlwinds known as "rotors" that form along California’s Sierra Nevada Mountain range.

I read the article about it with relative non-chalance until I got to this little ditty:

Rotors form on the sides of steep mountains that are sheltered from the wind (the lee side) and have been known to contribute to a number of aircraft accidents. They are common in the Sierras because the region has the steepest topography in the continental United States.

So. These scientists will be using an aircraft to study whirlwinds that are notorious for bringing down aircraft.

That's sort of like using a boat to study tsunamis, isn't it? What pilots do they get to do this stuff? Me, I'd want to be anchored to a mountainside if I'm studying strong winds. That's just me.

Research project number two: sex. Scientists love studying sex, probably because they don't get enough and are trying to figure out why and how other people do.

This project was to understand why biological organisms reproduce using sex.

You know, I won't even bother getting into the particulars of the research, because - frankly - the question is stupid. Why? Because it feels good! If you've got the option of reproducing by a) cutting off a finger, or b) sexual intercourse...which option will you choose?

Monks and eunuchs need not apply.