What`s it like to be a scientist?

Few days ago, I paused myself on the idea of who actually scientist is. Also, how it is like to be a scientist and whether scientist profession differs from other professions. 
Wikipedia tells us that a scientist is one who engages in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientist]. Does it mean that being a scientist implies constant study and non-stop absorbing knowledge? 
In Merriam-Webster, scientist is defined as a person who is trained in science and whose job involves doing scientific research and solving scientific problems [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scientist].
I believe a real scientist is the one who devotes his/her life to science 24 hours a day. 

I think it is just impossible to do research just within working hours at a laboratory. When you have unsolved problem then this problem will cross your mind over and over again making you more and more curious about possible solution and its result.  

Moreover, I  believe that scientists mentality differ from other people attitude of mind. Whenever they see any scientific problems or maybe just buying their groceries in the supermarket, they compose logical steps how to  optimize and to buy all things they need saving time and expenses. 

Well, scientist possess a cold mind. I do not think that they follow their emotions but rather their mind. 

Well, it takes more time for me to realize who scientist is. I ll get back to this question again and again...

Natural Opals

OPALS

Opals are amorphous form of silica. Opals are not hard mineral-like substances without regular geometrical crystallinity. However, they impress with their coloration since opals diffract light. This mysterious property of color change is called opalescence. Opalescence property occurs in natural and artificial structures. Now it is well-known that coloration comes from the periodic structures.  Physicists call this opalescent structure "photonic crystals". (F. Marlow, et al., "Opals: Status and Prospectus," Angewandte Chemie, vol. 48 pp. 6212-6233, 2009).

Figure shows (a) natural opal, (b) SEM image of natural opal and (c) SEM image of artificial opal (adopted from "Opal Photonic Crystals: Structure, formation, and Optical Properties" Dissertation, Muldarisnur, F.Marlow, Andreas Dirk Wieck).

Figure shows periodic structures in nature (a) Morpho rhetenor butterfly, (b) detail of its scales, inset: lateral shematic of the scale (scale bar is 100 um), (c) the sea mouse, (d) one of the sea mouse`s spine and the corresponding TEM image of its cross section. The dark areas are chitin, the light areas are voids with radious of 0.51 um, (e) a Peacock, (f) an SEM image of barbules and (g) the cross section of the barbule.  (adopted from "Opal Photonic Crystals: Structure, formation, and Optical Properties" Dissertation, Muldarisnur, F.Marlow, Andreas Dirk Wieck).

Iron (III) oxide nanoparticles 

Iron (III) oxide nanoparticles synthesized by thermal decomposition method, average size is 13 nm.

Figure shows self -assembled monodisperse magnetic nanoparticles (adopted from the report "Design, Synthesis and Characterization of Self-assembled Magnetic Nanoparticles" A. Rakhmetova, 2013)