Sceleb | Feryal Özel

Feryal Özel is a Turkish astrophysicist. Özel completed her BS in Physics and Applied Mathematics at Columbia in 1996 and her MS in Physics in 1997 at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen. She received her Phd in Astrophysics from Harvard University in 2002. Özel is currently an Associate Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Arizona. She is the recipient of many awards and fellowships and published numerous articles on a variety of topics. Özel is also very interested in sustainable energy and participates in the Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy (ARISE).

In addition to her academic work, Özel has written articles for mainstream press and appeared on CNN International and several TV shows including the Universe series on History Channel and Big Ideas on PBS. Özel also worked with Louis Vuitton as a spokesperson to support women's literacy in the Middle East. In 2010, Özel also served as a spokesperson for a Louis Vuitton women's literacy campaign. 

Özel has been on our Stylish Scientist List since 2012. She was also added to our PISA List and Citizens of the Next Century List in 2013.

Cocktail Astronomy | And the Nobel goes to...

Here at Future-ish, we love astronomy and we love cocktails. So to prep our fans (and ourselves) for those stellar weekend cocktail conversations, we are pleased to offer our Cocktail Astronomy post each Friday.

The Oscars may keep us on the edge of our seats each February, but in October and December of each year, many around the world are focused on who will receive the year's prestigious Nobel Prizes in honor of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel. The formal white-tie ceremony trumps even the Oscars when it comes to elegance, grace, and glamour. Prizes are bestowed for the fields of chemistry, economics, literature, medicine, and physics, as well as the overarching Nobel Peace Prize. The recipients of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, Drs. Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt, and Adam Riess, are the trio of international astronomers and astrophysicists who provided the first evidence of an accelerating universe in 1998. This always-accelerating universe is thought to be driven by what is referred to as 'dark energy', a theorized form of energy that permeates all of the cosmos.

Congratulations to Perlmetter, Schmidt, and Reiss and to all of the 2011 laureates!

Sceleb | Neil deGrasse Tyson

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist and the Frederick P. Rose Director of Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). While visiting the Hayden Planetarium at age 9, Dr. Tyson relates that he was "called by the universe" to become an astrophysicist. He began lecturing on astronomy at 15, and later became editor-in-chief of the Bronx High School of Science's Physical Science Journal where he also captained the wrestling team. Dr. Tyson wrestled in college, along with rowing crew and excelling in dance styles including ballroom, jazz, and Afro-Carribean. A leading astrophysicist, Dr. Tyson's criticism of string theory due to it's over-reliance upon mathematical projections rather than testable hypotheses has made him quite controversial. Dr. Tyson also led the charge to downgrade Pluto to dwarf planet classification. Dr. Tyson has been very vocal on the topic of science and religion. Describing himself as being neither an atheist nor religious, his two Natural History Magazine essays The Perimeter of Ignoranceand Holy Wars have garnered much attention. Dr. Tyson appeared in the television show Big Bang Theory in 2010 and is a frequent guest on Comedy Central's Colbert Nation with Stephen Colbert.

Future-ish added Dr. Tyson to our PISA List in 2007.