[extropy-chat] The Vega Science Trust

[Amara Graps]

The Vega Science Trust
http://www.vega.org.uk/

Five years ago Sir Harry Kroto spoke to our "Dust in the Solar System"
symposium and mentioned his "Vega Science Trust".... Then I forgot
about it.

Today the cosmicvariance bloggers wax enthused about it.

They say:

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http://cosmicvariance.com/2005/11/18/the-vega-science-trust/

Vega is dedicated to creating high quality science programming for
broadcast on television and on the Internet. It was established in
1995 by Sir Harry Kroto, who won a share of the 1996 Nobel Prize in
chemistry for the discovery of the Carbon-60 molecule. It shows a true
dedication to public science communication that he started this
project before winning the prize (although he had, of course, already
done the relevant work at that point).

The website contains large numbers of downloadable videos of
outstanding scientists communicating their work. Ed commented to me
that when he starts watching any of the four Feynman lectures, it is
hard for him to stop. I feel the same way about many of the others.
When I watch those on subjects far outside my research areas, I am
reminded of the fun I used to have every year as a kid, watching the
Royal Institution Christmas Lectures.

You can watch the Lindau lectures, in which Nobel prize winners
discuss their work in succinct, clear ways. You can watch talks about
science and politics (Tony Benn, for example, for our British
visitors). You can watch John Maynard Smith, the famous evolutionary
biologist, who died last year on the 122nd anniversary of Darwin's
death, talking about flight. And there are many more.

If you're interested in how scientists come to choose this career,
take a look at the snapshots series - 15 minute video clips in which
scientists describe how they came into science. You'll discover that
we come from surprisingly diverse backgrounds.

The Vega site is delightful - a wonderful resource - and I'm extremely
grateful to Ed for turning me on to it.
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Amara Graps, PhD          email: amara at amara.com
Computational Physics     vita:  ftp://ftp.amara.com/pub/resume.txt
Multiplex Answers         URL:   http://www.amara.com/
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"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." --Anais Nin