AP science reporter Seth Borenstein--known for, among other things, this brilliant story which showed that there is no statistical global "cooling" since 1998--is at it again, this time with a lighter innovation. He is interviewing people like Leonard Nimoy about whether our deliberative, rational, calm, and science loving president Barack Obama is, well, Spock. "The comparison to Spock is, in my opinion, a compliment to him and to the character," Nimoy tells Borenstein. Here's more of the story, including a quote from yours truly:
One October evening, 20 telescopes and an inflatable dome with a three-dimensional tour of the universe were set up on the White House lawn. The occasion was a star party for 150 middle-schoolers that also showcased moon rocks, a couple of astronauts, several astronomers and even two science teachers dressed as Isaac Newton and Galileo.
The president's science adviser, John Holdren, said the party showed that Obama "is genuinely and intensely interested in science and technology in a way that goes beyond their practical relevance to meeting national goals."
Also in October, Obama gave medals to a dozen scientists, toured a lab at the bastion of science-and-technology, MIT, and visited a solar energy manufacturing plant in Florida.
"This is kinda cool," Obama told reporters as he wandered through an MIT energy lab demonstration.
In his first 10 months in office, the president made more science-oriented trips than military ones. The White House even turned the annual Easter egg roll into a makeshift science lesson by asking experts to set up a science of eggs exhibit, complete with microscopes.
"I keep being amazed at how much attention he's spending on science policy," said science policy and journalism blogger Chris Mooney, author of the book "Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future."
"The nerds are happy," Mooney said. "They like Spock."
There's a great twist at the end of the piece--because, guess who is Kirk? You'll have to read Borenstein's story
to find out.
