Comments on: NOVA science NOW

By: bob

bob — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 01:38:48 +0000

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…..

By: Dr. John M. Stewart

Dr. John M. Stewart — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 02:08:14 +0000

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 couldnâ€™t care less about science and never will, NOVA Science Now is for you.

By: Bootlady Teri

Bootlady Teri — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 12:56:46 +0000

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.

By: Irishman

Irishman — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 15:40:11 +0000

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.

By: Troy

Troy — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 07:18:04 +0000

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.

By: Pro Libertate

Pro Libertate — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 19:50:29 +0000

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.

By: Irishman

Irishman — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:16:33 +0000

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.