If you’ve been keeping an eye on MC Hammer lately, you may have noticed that he has spent the last few weeks enthusiastically talking about science on Twitter. he tweeted about gene found in neurons, about Worm RNA, about slimy mold, and much more.
It is not without precedent. It’s not unusual for MC Hammer to talk about science (he was tweeting on laser controlled fly brains in 2014) and it is not uncommon for performers in general to be strong supporters of science.
In recent years, several other musicians have publicly shared their fascination with various fields of science. A few years ago, singer Charlotte Church revealed that she loves physics. Meanwhile, Ben Folds and Rosanne Cash both developed an interest in neuroscience. Folds spoke with neuroscientist Daniel Levitin about the science behind music, and Cash collaborated with neuroscientist group The Amygdaloids on a song. The Wu-Tang Clan’s GZA has focused on science-themed rap for the past decade, creating a previously unreleased science album. Björk also released a science-inspired album in 2011.
And then there are the scientists with high level musical careers. Long before he became a physicist and science presenter on television, Brian Cox was a keyboardist in the ’90s band D: Ream. Queen guitarist Brian May quit his doctorate in astrophysics when the band became too popular to handle both careers, but picked it up decades later. He now occasionally works on science communication projects with NASA and others. Dexter Holland of The Offspring also suspended a doctorate at the height of his group’s success and returned to USC to complete his doctorate in 2017. His dissertation on the molecular biology of HIV was mentioned in Rolling stone.
Some performers use their platform to grab attention and raise funds for specific causes. Country singer Willie Nelson is interested in stem cell therapy and has supported this area by raising funds for the Southwestern Medical Center at the University of Texas. Meanwhile, actors Michael J Fox and Leonardo DiCaprio both run foundations that support scientific research. Fox started his foundation in 2000 to provide funds and resources for Parkinson’s disease after being diagnosed with the disease himself. The DiCaprio Foundation supports environmental research and has partly funded a series of research projects, such as a study on kelp forests or research on forest fires.
The list goes on. For every celebrity who receives unwarranted attention for selling unproven treatments or gadgets, you will find several more who are the voice of reason and use their platform to support science. And this public support is something researchers very much appreciate.
Scientists often intend to communicate their work widely, but the struggle to survive beyond their current grant forces them to focus on research and publication in peer-reviewed journals, often without finding the time to share that work. with the whole world. However, people are trying to change this through new methods of science communication. The field of science communication studies how research is shared and looks for ways to connect people to science. Here, too, we find a celebrity. After presenting PBS Scientific American Frontiers, actor Alan Alda founded the Alan Alda Center for Science Communication, which offers advice and training to researchers to help them share their stories with others.
In a 2016 interview with Australian National University, Alda stresses the importance of showing the people behind the research. “I think when we think of scientists as human beings, the door is opened a little for us, we can step into their life. They are not the white-skinned gurus on the top of the mountain.”
Showing scientists like humans is exactly what MC Hammer did his platform. This week it was support the #BlackInChem initiative, amplifying the profiles of black chemists and showing his followers some of the people behind the research.
Scientists on Twitter were understandably excited when MC Hammer retweeted them. Not just because of the brief encounter with the celebrity, but because researchers are always trying to reach new people with their work.
It can be difficult to share science with people beyond regular science enthusiasts. People must want to attend a science festival, voluntarily buy a popular science magazine, or purposely tune into a science program. Online, our algorithms continue to feed us the same topics that we always watch. But by using their platform to share science news and scientist profiles, top performers like MC Hammer can break through that bubble and give their audiences a glimpse of a world they might otherwise not seek out. themselves.