Scientific Programing Languages

*gasp* a thread that doesn't bash, gripe, or ask for homework help!

I'm a former CS major turned astronomy major & CS minor with experience in java and C++. Lately Ive been doing a lot of work in matlab and IDL (Interactive Data Language, not interface description). I'm pretty sure anyone whose ever taken a course in linear algebra or the like has had to deal with matlab, but does anybody out there have experience in IDL or other scientific programming languages? Any memorable moments or particularly interesting projects to share?

>>7
Some of the most interesting problems a CS can work on are in the hard sciences. You just have to be good at mathematics, and not be an idiot savant specialized in only one discipline.