See also: Pons and Fleischman

That said, I think if you want the public treating scientists as celebrities, we’re going to need some “thems” for our “us” scientists to compete against. An “OUR scientist(s) is(are) defending our tribe from THEM. GO, OUR SCIENTIST(s)!”

See also: NASA vs. the Soviet Space Program in the race to the moon.

On the note of women in science. I heard the TWIS podcast where you talked about the study that improving general self confidence in females would be the leading factor in women becoming more interested in science and math, and I completely agree with that. I have an EE degree from UC Davis (go aggies!) and I would count how many females were in my classes. It turns out that it was a 90/10 split of males and females. There were only 2 caucasian females in my entire graduating class. When I look back at my friends in school, I think self confidence was definitely a strong factor in interest in math and science. I had a feeling that I could do anything that I put my mind too (and I still do), and most of my female friends didn’t share that. They felt that they needed help, which ultimately limited their creation of their own success in math and science areas.

One other interesting note, was that it didn’t bother me that I was one of few females in my class until I took intro to genetics as an elective. It was 10/90 male/female. The first day of the class the instructor was waving his hands around and saying, “don’t worry, there won’t be any fractions or anything like that”. I was very offended! But I think most of the class was relieved… so yes, women, you can do math if only you believe in yourself! Don’t buy into the social stereotypes anymore!!

In the meantime I’ll join in nominating Dr. Kiki. If The Skeptologists doesn’t take off (FSM forbid), she really deserves at least an hour show of her own. A scientist version of “Dirty Jobs” perhaps?

Maybe the whole way we do education in the USA is making science unpopular, Everyone I know with a Phd (or a Bachelor’s for that matter) is sooooo bogged down in student loans and debt, that the smartest people end up being the poorest. Until there is better access to higher education I think it’s going to be an uphill battle. One of my professors finally paid off his student loans when he was 45! What kid is going to want to emulate that?

That said, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, also does a fantastic job popularizing science. He’s very articulate and very funny.
Brian Cox comes to mind, I mean he looks like a rockstar, and he actually was a rockstar for a while. He could be a great candidate for a science popularizer.

There must be many women scientists, something like half of all PhDs in Math and science are women. But to find someone that is brainy and has some kind of star power might be tough.
What we would need is someone like Hedy Lamarr, someone as brilliant as they are beautiful.

Thanks to the internet I don’t have to rely on the media/masses filter any more. And thanks to people like you!

Famous female scientists? Jane Goodall, Rosalind Franklin and Rachel Zimmerman come to mind, but they’re definately not household names.

Just look at all the classic experiments scientists have performed I am sure you can fill 90 minutes easily. Just have a mad scientist brain storming party and see what you can up with!

PS: While were cloaning Dr. Kiki can we also cloan Jeri Ryan? Oh wait cloning is unethical! http://www.ncbcenter.org/FrTad_MSOOB_28.asp