Omega Recoil Does Science

Omega Recoil, a Tesla Coil performance group I’ve worked with, was showing off at the 2009 Dorkbot party. They dragged a receiving coil around to observe how much wireless power they could get from a Tesla coil at different distances. ‘Twas a brilliant example of the fun you can have while doing really dangerous things.

Famous Scientists Wanted

For the past few years I’ve been talking with friends about the fact that scientists should be treated like rockstars or sports heroes. Scientists do amazing work that affects every aspect of peoples’ lives. Why aren’t they compensated for the valuable contributions they make to society? Why isn’t science sold to the public? Where are the PR agents for science? Science needs PR, so that more kids will see science as a future career instead of looking up to the likes of the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana.

Why don’t kids look up to scientists? There really are no famous scientists to look up to.

When I say famous, I mean easily identifiable to the general public; famous as in rockstar famous or even reality TV famous… the kind of famous where Joe Shmoe at the grocery store is interested in looking at pictures of you drinking a coffee in the most recent edition of Famous People (Because We Say They Are Famous and We Are The Media) Weekly.

There are scientists who are known for helping to popularize science, like Carl Sagan and Michio Kaku, or for being insulting to large groups of people, like Richard Dawkins and James Watson. But, if you were to ask a cross-section of people at at cocktail party to name their favorite scientist, the majority of them will probably name someone dead. Ask them to name their favorite actor, athlete, or musician and it is a completely different story.

However, within the past few months the grapevine has been abuzz with chatter addressing this issue of scientist popularity. Intel used the idea as the basis for a recent ad.

And, a group out of Southern California are even putting scientists and rockstars together (is this the transitive property of fame by association?).

Both of the above campaigns lack one major component… women. It’s true, women do science, too. And, they should get the recognition they deserve just like the men.

That said, it’s great to hear people talking about science’s public image. The concept of scientist as rock star is growing in the public consciousness. There needs to be a continued and consistent PR effort to maintain that growth. Scientists as a lot aren’t so great at self-promotion, but with help from the marketing and PR community scientists and science could be… the next big thing.

Michio Kaku on Quantum Computing

Thanks to Saleem Khan for this question about quantum computing. Hear what Dr. Michio Kaku has to say about it to Dr. Kiki in this quick segment.

Michio on Bose-Einstein Condensates

Dr. Kiki asks Dr. Michio Kaku a question from Justin Gill about Bose-Einstein Condensates. Twitter provided a great forum for collecting questions for Dr. Kaku.

Michael Chorost on Science at CWA 2009

Dr. Kiki interviews Michael Chorost, author of “Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human”, about communicating science at the Conference on World Affairs in 2009.

Michio Kaku on Why

In this segment, Dr. Kaku discusses with Dr. Kiki why communicating science is so vital to research, and why he spends so much of his time talking to the public.

Distributed by Tubemogul.

Michio Kaku on Politics

Excerpt from Dr. Kiki’s 2008 interview with Dr. Michio Kaku. Here he discusses selling science to politicians.

Are we listening?

The science is in,
but the people aren’t listening.
How do we get them to listen?
When they no longer hear the sounds of laughter,
the sounds of normal childhood,
through the walls of their homes.
How do we get them to listen?
When they are preoccupied,
looking for something, anything,
whatever took their little one from under their noses.
How do we get them to listen to us?
When they are the ones with stories
that they can tell each other,
that they can use to warn others of
the danger.
Have we really listened to them?

There is an amazing article this week in PLoS Biology by Liza Gross discussing the history of the Autism/Vaccination war. I highly recommend giving it a read.

 McCarthy emerged as a hero for some parents by telling her story. Personal stories resonate most with those who see trust in experts as a risk in itself—a possibility whenever people must grapple with science-based decisions that affect them, whether they’re asked to make sacrifices to help curb global warming or vaccinate their kids for public health. Researchers might consider taking a page out of the hero’s handbook by embracing the power of stories—that is, adding a bit of drama—to show that even though scientists can’t say just what causes autism or how to prevent it, the evidence tells us not to blame vaccines. As news of epidemics spreads along with newly unfettered infectious diseases, those clinging to doubt about vaccines may come to realize that several potentially deadly diseases are just a plane ride, or playground, away—and that vaccines really do save lives.

Michio Kaku on the Big Bang

Dr. Michio Kaku talks about the Big Bang and the Large Hadron Collider… and Elvis.

High School Has An Impact

According to a study by University of Minnesota researchers, what is taught by high school biology teachers affects the views of their students.

“Co-authors Randy Moore and Sehoya Cotner, professors in the College of Biological Sciences, surveyed 1,000 students taking introductory biology classes at the University of Minnesota to learn how biology majors view evolution compared to non-majors. Results showed that the two groups’ views were similar and revealed that high school biology teachers influence whether majors and non-majors college students accept evolution or question it based on creationism.”

According to the article one-fourth of high school biology teachers believe that creationism can be scientifically validated. I haven’t found access to the original article to validate the reference. But, such a statement is concerning when considered alongside this new paper.