via Nature by Numbers on Vimeo.

Beautiful music, video, and math.

I’ve heard people say “we need to make science cool” – a lot of that talk was at ScienceOnline 2010 – and that would be nice, but I don’t think that’s really the answer. “Science” isn’t really going to beat out American Idol or the NFL or whatever.

Cool is important, but I think we need to make science relevant. There’s a difference. For example, I think every scientist should listen to Robert Krulwich’s 2008 Commencement Address to graduates of Cal Tech:

“When a cousin, or an uncle, or a buddy comes up and asks you, “so what are you working on?” even if it’s hard to explain, even if you know they don’t really want to hear it – not really – I urge you to give it a try. Because talking about science, telling stories to regular folks is not a trivial thing. Scientists need to tell stories to non-scientists because science stories – and you know this – have to compete with other stories about how the universe works and how the universe came to be. And some of those other stories – Bible stories, movie stories, myths – can be very beautiful and very compelling. But to protect science, and scientists – this is not a gentle competition – you’ve got to get in there and tell yours, your version of how things are and why things came to be.”

Yes, we should celebrate science and scientists in our pop culture. But it’s not enough. Science has to be accessible and relevant. Those who do it must be able to talk about it – not “media trained” but able to explain, in simple terms, what it is, why it’s important to them, and why could be important to everyone else.

via It’s Not a Lecture: Science Has a Serious PR Problem.

With input from people around the world … an international group of leading technological thinkers were asked to identify the Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st Century. Now their conclusions are revealed on this website.

From urban centers to remote corners of Earth, the depths of the oceans to space, humanity has always sought to transcend barriers, overcome challenges, and create opportunities that improve life in our part of the universe.

In the last century alone, many great engineering achievements became so commonplace that we now take them mostly for granted. Technology allows an abundant supply of food and safe drinking water for much of the world. We rely on electricity for many of our daily activities. We can travel the globe with relative ease, and bring goods and services wherever they are needed. Growing computer and communications technologies are opening up vast stores of knowledge and entertainment.

As remarkable as these engineering achievements are, certainly just as many more great challenges and opportunities remain to be realized. While some seem clear, many others are indistinct and many more surely lie beyond most of our imaginations. Today, we begin engineering a path to the future.

via Grand Challenges for Engineering.

The top two vote getters were my top two as well – make solar energy affordable and reverse-engineer the human brain.  While I’m a do-gooder at heart, the reality of the world is that the best way to help the poor in the world is to increase their economic opportunity, and I think that a wholesale shift in energy sources and the ability to create artificial thinking machines are the greatest potential sources of growth in the future.

Which ones do you think are most important?