In pop culture, scientists have mostly suffered from the flimsiest of one-dimensional portrayals. Whether socially awkward shut-ins or evil geniuses bent on world conquest, the popular imagination has taken a rather dim and confused look at real people doing interesting work. And really, is there much to see behind the white coats, anyway?
A new web series from NOVA, “The Secret Life of Scientists,” explores the hidden talents of people whose day jobs are improving our lives. As series producer Joshua Seftel explains, “Why don't we find a way to introduce scientists to people in a way that's really fun and humanizing?” In the process, the series shows us that doing science doesn't necessarily mean sacrificing the rest of your life, and hopes to inspire some of its younger viewers to lead the same multifaceted lifestyles. “Even if one or two people become scientists from watching this, my job is done,” Seftel said. “If someone comes up to me ten years from now and says, 'I saw the series and decided to become a scientist,' it was a success.”
Bostonist jumped right in by interviewing Nate Ball, whose Batman-style Atlas Ascender hoists soldiers or firefighters into the air and out of danger, but who lets off steam by bouncing off the walls—literally—as a freerunner:
Is the goal of each of your projects to build something that not only works, but drops people's jaws as well?
That's always a plus. It can't always be the driving factor in what we design, but I definitely enjoy projects with more of a visual flair.
Name a device that's given you that same reaction: something that made you say, “That's awesome. I wish I'd come up with it.”
It doesn't take a complicated thing to be an exciting piece of engineering. You know the Chuckit!, that plastic ball-throwing device for your dog? I think that's the greatest product ever: it's a single injection-molded part that they can sell for 50 times what it cost to make. It's super simple, it keeps your hand from getting all slobbery, and you don't have to lean over to pick up the ball. What could be better? I get geeked about stuff like that as much as a complicated and exciting system like the Ascender.
Would you have been satisfied if you'd kept trying for this long and still not managed to pull off the backflip?
I don't think so. You know, I saved the flip stuff until after my NCAA career...I wanted to do the backflip, but never wanted to risk the severe injury that could accompany it, because competing in the vault was more important to me. After my very last competition, I finally did my first backflip on the ground, to be satisfied that “now I can do it,” and then I went for it.
Between "Design Squad," (Ball's own show on PBS,) Mythbusters, and the like, there seem to be a lot of “build shows” running now. Is engineering losing a bit of its geekiness now because of all this exposure?
I think the awareness of engineering has grown a lot as a result of these things. What I like about “Design Squad” in particular is that it makes a very specific focus on educating that this is engineering. “Mythbusters” is rad, and I think they do an awesome job of showing the problem solving and question-and-answer process associated with engineering, but rarely do they come out and say—this is engineering and this is what engineers do.
That's part of the specific aim of “Design Squad,” and why I feel especially strongly about it. We're saying, “Here's a cool project, here's how you solve a problem, this is what engineering is all about,” and kids can connect that with a profession they can aspire to.
I had a kid one time ask me a really impressive question at an Atlas demo. She came up and asked, “How many ascents can you get per battery charge?” The kid was like, nine! I was pretty blown away: that question indicated that she understood that a battery has a finite amount of energy, and that energy was tied to how high you can climb. There's a lot of understanding behind that question. Every so often, you get thrown some really sharp kids, and that's a neat experience. Someone deserves a high-five for that one.
No doubt you're always trying to improve the Ascender...is that your next project, to continue to work on that, or did you have anything else you wanted to do next?
We're always working on improvements for the Ascender: higher, faster, smaller, lighter weight. But we do have a few other projects associated with our company's theme of rapid vertical mobility—we're always actively pursuing systems that augment human capability in extreme situations. Within the next year or so we'll have a couple new things coming out, but we're always excited about applying high-power mechanical systems to lifesaving innovative equipment.
What would be your dream project?
I'd say I'm getting to work on it right now! But going beyond the Ascender in the future, I think it would be really exciting to apply the same high power-to-weight ratio mechanical systems to transportation. I obviously get excited about anything that moves fast and is really powerful, so applying that sensibility (or lack of sensibility, maybe) to transportation. Stuff along the lines of the Tesla Roadster, is getting closer to capturing people's excitement and imagination along with being practical in an environmental sense.
We've done a few different interviews for Bostonist, and it always comes back to electric cars!
I think it's pretty cool to see the consciousness in the country shifting toward a more sustainable living situation. But I think in people's hearts, a lot of folks still wouldn't prefer a bubble-shaped electric car to a Mustang, despite how environmentally friendly the electric car might be. I want to find more places where I can apply that excitement associated with the Ascender and add environmental benefits. Transportation—getting people to move fast—is an easy, direct, visceral application that gets people really invested in those ideas.
That's the thing I never thought about with the Ascender: its power to capture people's imaginations and get them excited about what engineering can offer has almost as much impact as its lifesaving capabilities. Showing up at a demo in Washington, DC, for 8,000 kids and riding up the side of a 12-story atrium blows people away, and these kids leave the event drooling over it and saying that they wanna go build stuff! They'd never connected the process of engineering with something so captivating before.
When you see something like the Ascender, you think that's really a Batman gadget...and that's what Batman is! The reason why he's a superhero is through engineering.
Same with Iron Man. Nobody gives them credit for being engineers, but they are.
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