What is with the lab coat?

You may not believe this, but I do try to limit my posts on Google. This was one I couldn't pass up. The Economist (the best written magazine on Earth) introduced their profile of Larry Page at CES with the line "DOES Larry Page ever get vertigo when contemplating his life and future?" I've heard about the lab coat, but I've never seen it. Why do I find it really freaky? Maybe because he isn't a doctor! Yes, he was a computer scientist, but that doesn't count. I'm willing to bet that we are looking at our generation's Howard Hughes. (Via Tech.Memeorandum.com)