Each year, college level instructors receive a list of things that incoming freshman may not have ever been exposed to during their life.  I recently discovered one without consulting a list.  Most of my students have no idea who Carl Sagan, the great astronomer and popularizer of science was, as they were maybe 5 or 6 years old when he left this planet way too early. There is a video going somewhat viral on youtube these days.  It is an "autotune" composition from some segments of Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" series and decided to introduce my students to Carl Sagan via this video.  Carl Sagan had an incredibly lyrical way of speaking and embodied an immense wonder and appreciation for the entirety of the cosmos and for science in general. He wrote many amazing books, and even won the Pulitzer Prize for his book Dragons of Eden. I honestly believe the man could not compose a bad sentence. I could listen to him speak all day. In fact, his 13 episodes of Cosmos on Hulu are available for viewing.  Of course, one can also pick up on of the several dozen books he published, including Contact, the book that became the movie with Jodie Foster after he passed away.

This video also features Stephen Hawking, whom, thankfully, my students did recognize.  The song turns out surprisingly beautiful because they are able to use Sagan's elegant prose in the vocoder to it's full effect.

An honest admission, I almost turned off the video early on because the first part was a little strange, but just wait, it gets better!

You may also be interested in Carl Sagan's speech on "The Pale Blue Dot" and see why he is so respected as a communicator, philosopher and humanitarian.

And finally, for today, one more video. This one is much more related to what I do day to day.  I will post the entire series as they are released.  This comes from BioBusinessTV and is the first in a series of ten videos about Stem Cells.  So far the first one looks great and features academic and industry researchers and executives speaking candidly about what stem cells are and their potential to be used in regeneration and repair of disease and injury.  Very well done.

You may watch the Stem Cell Review part 1 video HERE. 

That should've kept you busy for about 25 minutes.  Excuse me while I go plan my Carl Sagan Halloween costume.  I promise pictures and maybe a video. Don't worry, I will be perfectly respectful of this great man! I know he inspired MANY multitudes of current scientists to pursue their careers.  I know I'm a fan.  I guess you can call me a "Cosmos-girl"!

Until next time!

Kindly, Joanne