Oops! Angela Gunn at Tech_Space reminds me that a new PBS NOVA spinoff called NOVA science NOW premiers tonight. Paula Apsell, Senior Executive Producer (how’s that for a title?) gave a talk at a meeting I attended recently, and showed us clips from the new show. Bouncy, a little silly, and it looks like fun. Neil Tyson is the host, and using the blog search function here will return some fun with him, too.
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Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
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Death from the Skies!
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October 4th, 2006 at 7:22 am
Premier of the new host anyway (the show has been around since January 2005). It is fun to watch. Phil, you would be a perfect guest on that show.
October 4th, 2006 at 8:33 am
Except that Phil’s not actually doing science now.
October 4th, 2006 at 9:52 am
I watched it, and thought it was both entertaining and informative. It moved much more quickly than the old Nova, I think it is good “science for the masses.”
October 4th, 2006 at 10:29 am
As I understand it, this show doesn’t replace Nova. It appears to be aimed a little more at reaching kids and people with limited science knowledge than the traditional Nova episode, which usually assumes some lay knowledge of science.
October 4th, 2006 at 10:30 am
I think I have seen an episode once before as well. I loved it. Anything halfway intelligent is so lacking on the TV. And NOVA programs in between depressing Frontline revelations are a much welcomed diversion.
October 4th, 2006 at 11:16 am
NOVA is typically a 1 hr segment discussing a single topic. It tries to provide some depth to that one issue - however much depth can be provided in one hour. They are usually entertaining from a science geek standpoint, and do a reasonable job making them accessible to lay people and people who don’t know the background.
However, many people (especially the younger generation) don’t like *long* format. They want short segments, jumping around, flashy. NOVA ScienceNow is bringing that to periodic episodes of NOVA. The format is shorter pieces that provide more activity. The theme of ScienceNow is also a little different. NOVA does approach elements of contemporary research, but the particular aim of ScienceNow is to be on the cutting edge, to show what is the latest and greatest.
I haven’t seen this episode yet - it’s on my DVR. I’m looking forward to it.
October 4th, 2006 at 12:50 pm
I thought it was okay. I’m a fan of the single-issue format, though there is, of course, room for both. The way they did this before was to air something like four ScienceNow episodes a season–I assume that’s the plan this time around, too.
Nova seems to have moved away from the more rigorous presentation style to one that is more friendly to the mass audience. Again, that’s completely understandable, but the stuff we usually get packaged as science on television is already so spoon fed as to lack much depth. My girlfriend and her kids have actually stuck around to watch some episodes–like the one on amber and another on asteroids.
October 5th, 2006 at 12:18 am
I like it, hopefully Neil DeGrasse Tyson will let more of his naturally exuberant personality exude through the script a bit more, I felt he seemed a little forced. The topics were pretty interesting and I learned a bit about nuclear stability. A good bad astronomy note well deserved criticism of the Bruce Willis asteroid destruction movie. It is nice to have a full hour of content instead of commercials interrupted by content! Unfortunately they won’t have a new episode every week, instead it will be a periodic thing. A weekly PBS science news show on current science events (maybe less polished) or even a scientific roundtable similar to McLaughlin group would be something good to pursue as well.
October 5th, 2006 at 8:40 am
Actually, I’m not sure it’s a full hour. Typically the “1 hour” programs run anywhere from 45 to 55 minutes. They just don’t interrupt the programs with the advertising.
October 7th, 2006 at 5:56 am
Sorry - everytime I see Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s face, I picture him going, “Bwahahaha…SUCK IT! I RULE!!’ to every 4th grader who wrote him about Pluto.
I caught an episode of Nova Science about a year back in which Tyson - proud as a peacock - displayed all of the letters he had received from school kids about ‘his’ planetarium.
Now before this Nova episode, I couldn’t have cared less about Pluto - I’m a gamma ray high energy type of girl - but his smug attitude and arrogance bugged me so much that I have not renewed my AMNH membership and have not visited the planetarium since.
Imagine what the parent of one of those kids who wrote him must feel.
IMO - Tyson is the worst example of a scientist - next to Kaku - when it comes to public relations. Making fun of elementary school kids isn’t exactly an endearing trait - and refusing to acknowledge the ‘amateur’ contingent and their passion for astronomy - when one RUNS a public planetarium…he may as well have a neon sign stating ‘Arrogant Jack-Ass’ with an arrow pointing downwards over his head.
January 9th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
NOVA Science Now: simple-minded, sound-bite, dumbed-down science for dummies who want to stay that way. No skepticism, no controversy, no complexity, no data, no doubt, no challenge. If you couldn’t care less about science and never will, NOVA Science Now is for you.
September 3rd, 2007 at 7:38 pm
Good show. Are bettER. IS bettER, much bettER then lot of rest of TV…CAN only do so much in a hr or less…SORRY to hear bout the elementary kids…DOES take lot of R&D to ‘research’ anything….LOT of it is luck, pluck, thought process, ‘access’ TO the right channels/media (thou WEb HELPS), ’support’ (by THIS i mean YOUR sociopoliticoETHNICGENDERLOCATION {ruralRemoteRedState or ‘other’} familial ’structure’, etc.),etc. HOW many communities have access to a chem lab much less planetariums…..