I’m a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here! - June 23, 2008
Some of our non-British readers may not be familiar with reality TV show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, where D-list celebrities are slowly voted off the show by viewers.
Which means they may be slightly baffled by I’m a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here!
Funded by the Wellcome trust as a way of getting teenagers interested in science, this is a website where school children can ask practising scientists questions. Based on their answers they can then vote for their favourites, with the scientist with the lowest number of votes being evicted.
The winner takes home £500 and (presumably) a smug grin and the first victim has just been voted off.
Below the fold – why any teenage readers should vote for Peter to win.
Already booted off is embryonic stem cell researcher Heidi.
I'd vote for Peter, who currently works on “polymers that act as artificial muscles”, just on the basis of this Q&A:
Q: what would you do if you were not a scientist?
A: Own a restaurant and be an evil Chef
Q: Is it possible for a monkey to reproduce with a human?
A: I'm not a zoologist so can't comment. Although looking at some people you often wonder!
Q: do u actually like this competition or do u think its a waste of time?
A: There has been some really interesting things discussed. It does take quite a bit of time but trying to explain science is never a waste of time. Even if only one more person decides to do science that is a plus!
Comments
This interesting question -answer session indicates that science and humour could go along very well and make a compatible combination. Shows like such could go a long way in popularizing science among lay people.
Posted by: Dr.Arvind Mishra | June 24, 2008 02:55 PM
I am not a British scientist,and ignore this humorism. Perhaps, that accounts for the reason I find such as TV program really distressing and trivial. Lowering the science to the level of a TV divertissement, so I think, is disgusting. Either to calculate people's preferences for, or realize what other work could do a scientist who discovered Inherited Oncological Real Risk of breast cancer, bedside detected with a stethoscope, is disgusting in my opinion.
Posted by: Sergio stagnaro | June 28, 2008 06:27 AM