Here is some context:
I am watching a Netflix show called Warrior Nun. It is about a girl "who wakes up in a morgue with a new lease on life and a divine artifact embedded in her back." (Wikipedia).
This girl, Ava, now has supernatural powers. But she doesn't know her full potential and how to use them. So, she goes to the very scientist who has been hunting her all this time, and she makes a deal.
Scientist: What brought you here?
Ava: You were looking for me.
Scientist: I'm a curious person. And, well, you're a curiosity.
Ava: You want to know what I am.
Scientist: The research we do here is cutting edge. But you are something altogether different. I would love to learn what you're capable of and why.
Ava: Seems we have something in common then. I want you to science me.
Scientist: Science you?
Ava: I wanna know everything. So I can figure out for myself what to do about it.
Scientist: Sounds like we can help each other.
Ava: You get your answers. I get mine. And then afterwards, you leave me alone.
Given how the scene is pretty serious (Ava surrendering herself), I don't think this usage is meant to be funny. Although it isn't the "correct" way to use the word science, anyone would totally understand what is meant:
I want you to study me, run tests on me, do your experiments, figure out what is this metal thing in my back, tell me about my powers, etc., etc., etc.
My understanding of "science me" here is "study me, run tests on me, do your experiments".
In this scene, she isn't scared or nervous, and so "babbling" or "gibbering" aren't valid reasons. Ava clearly knows what she wants to say, because after a few minutes of testing and screaming she says
Scientist: I don't know what's possible yet.
Ava: So run more tests.
Questions:
Can we actually use "science" as a verb like that outside of movies in both speech and writing? Can we expect most people to understand the usage and not be confused? Is this only acceptable in informal contexts?
Are other forms — "scienced" and "sciencing" — also possible? Do the following make sense (I made them up):
- Biologists have been sciencing day and night to find a cure.
- Subjects who are immune to the virus volunteered to be scienced. The secret to the antidote is hidden somewhere in their genes.
(Bonus) Can other words — history, mathematics, philosophy, etc. — be used in similar idiomatic expressions like "science me"?