Sceleb | Pardis Sabeti

Pardis Sabeti is an American computational geneticist. Born in Tehran, Sabeti's family moved to the US from Iran when she was four years old.

Sabeti completed a BS in biology at MIT where she was also class president and a member of the varsity tennis team. She was Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and received a doctorate in evolutionary genetics in 2002. In 2006, Sabeti completed a MD, summa cum laude, at Harvard Medical School. Sabeti is now an associate professor Harvard University in the Center for Systems Biology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. She also holds positions at the Harvard School of Public Health the Broad Institute.

Sabeti's awards include a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award in the Biomedical Sciences, a Packard Foundation award in Science and Engineering, and an NIH Innovator Award. She also received awards from NIAID, TMTI, and the Gates Foundation and is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, a PopTech Science Fellow, and a National Geographic Emerging Explorer.

Firmly in the 'rockstar scientist' category, Sabeti is also the lead singer and writer for the alternative rock band Thousand Days.

Sabeti also debuted on our Stylish Scientist List in 2013.

SeanChron | The Björk-Attenborough Collaboration

My worlds are colliding again. Björk and Sir David Attenborough recently collaborated on her recent project, Biophilia. I've long been a big fan of Björk for her music, fashion, and design. In my conservation biology life, I've read and seen a lot of Sir David Attenborough. The collaboration goes back to 2011 when the album was released but this behind the scenes video (see below) makes the whole thing even cooler.

The Evolving World of Online Music

Off Book, a web series by PBS Arts published on tumblr created this video about the evolution music distribution and discovery online. It features interviews with individuals whose blogs and sites sluice the flood river of online music for the specks of gold carried in its current. 

Websites like Pitchfork, FADER, and Hype Machine play a vital curatorial role that enable people to discover  new artists amid the host of self-produced music and videos online. (One such artist I'd like to recommend is MPSO who releases a free album this month.) These sites  do serve a function similar to the music press but they publish more reviews and daily. It is music journalism on the abbreviated time scale of the internet. Audio and video are often published with the review so you can judge it for yourself as you read their take on it.

Although I will be a subscriber to Rolling Stone for as long as it is published, these sites have been invaluable to me as a music fan.  BP

Sceleb | Diane Nalini de Kerchkov

Diane Nalini de Kerckhov is a Canadian physicist, Rhodes Scholar, and jazz singer. She received her PhD in Materials Science from Oxford in 1999, completed post-docs at Oxford from 1999 to 2002, and was an Assistant Professor in the physics department at the University of Guelph from 2005 until 2011 when she joined Environment Canada as a policy analyst.

De Kerchkov's career as an international jazz singer was rooted in her training in ballet, jazz, and modern dance. In 2001, she was one of two finalists for the UK's Young Jazz Vocalist of the Year awards and was nominated for the Grand Prix de Jazz General Motors at the 2002 Montreal International Jazz Festival. De Kerchkov writes and sings in four languages and has released four CDs. Her most recent collection, Kiss me Like That, was inspired by her work in physics and astronomy. She performed at events around the world including events for President Bill Clinton and Sir Paul McCartney.

Below is her May 2013 talk and performance at TedxDawsonCollege:

Sceleb | Don Vaughn

Don Vaughn is an American neuroscientist, model, and musician. Vaughn earned degrees in physics and economics from Stanford in 2008 and currently works at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in the David Eagleman Laboratory for Perception and Action.

Vaughn began drumming as a teenager and joined Houston alt-rock band, Via Linda, after college. When the band broke up he chose to focus on DJ-drummer formats. Vaughn's science and music worlds collided when he applied his background in perceptual neuroscience to craft his own, custom, LED-lit electronic drum set. Vaughn is also a fashion, commercial print, editorial, fitness, and runway model represented by Page Parkes Corporation. Last but not least, he's a surfer, which seems to be a common pastime of many of our favorite scelebs.

Sceleb | Brian Cox

Brian Cox is a British particle physicist, a Royal Society University Research Fellow, a member of the High Energy Physics group at the University of Manchester where he is a professor, and a frequent host of science programs for BBC radio and television.

Cox studied physics at the University of Manchester, earning an undergraduate, a Master of Philosophy, and finally a PhD in particle physics in 1998. Cox collected some rockstar credentials along the way as well. He played keyboard for the band, Dare, in the 1980s and then joined the rock band, D:Ream, in 1993 which had several UK chart hits, including the number one, "Things Can Only Get Better".

Cox has received many honors for his work and for promoting science. He received the British Association's Lord Kelvin Award in 2006. In 2010 he won the Institute of Physics Kelvin Prize and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen's 2010 Birthday Honours for services to science. 2011 was a big year for Cox as well, he won Best Presenter and Best Science/Natural History program from the Royal Television Society for the show Wonders of the Solar System and received two awards from the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards for 'Best Performer' in a non-acting role and Wonders of the Solar System was named best documentary series of 2010. Here at Future-ish, we dream of the days when scientists will be rockstars...Brian Cox is already living it!

On Musical Taste & Technology: James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem

James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem is ambivalent about lifestyle marketing's impact on the future of music. Witty guy, check out a playlist of his electro-funk-punk jams here. A proponent of analog, he scoffs at the notion that digital music technology has enabled musicians to make better music. Of course, 'better' is subjective.

Murphy ponders whether 'taste engines' will have the same influence as local DJ's and record store clerks but concludes that exposure to music either way isn't all that dissimilar.

"People can be lead to different music by these, kind of like, taste engines but the taste engine isn't a qualitative judgment it's sort of theme judgment." Think about recommendations that you've gotten when you've bought music. Your choice tends to get lumped into a category that you might never have thought it belonged. But sometime it works and you find some great music.  BP

YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011

On March 20th, the 2nd YouTube Symphony Orchestra performed the grand finale of a week-long celebration of music in Australia at Sydney's singular Opera House. The performance was streamed live online and the orchestra featured 101 musicians from 33 countries. It was accompanied by incredible visuals controlled live by a light artist and projected on the 'sails' of the opera house. Behold:

Assembly of the orchestra began last fall with a video posted on the YTSO's YouTube page calling for auditions. Musicians from around the world auditioned by submitting videos of themselves playing music from the symphony on their instruments, many of which might not be found in a traditional orchestra. Also on the YTSO's YouTube page, there are brief videos introducing many of the players.

It is impressive that the organizers and members of the orchestra collaborated on the realization of their shared vision despite the thousands of miles between them and pulled it off spectacularly. The  success of YTSO demonstrates that the democratizing influence of the internet extends even to the staid realm of classical music.  BP

Tod Machover: Hyper-instruments, Robotic Operas, and Guitar Hero

Tod Machover, an American composer and inventor, works in cutting-edge music technology at MIT's Media Lab  and it was recently profiled by The Economist. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles was the inspiration behind his work on hyperinstruments, which are 'smart' instruments that interpret and enhance the music played on them. The album was too complex to play live and hyperinstruments, like the one he built for Prince, enable musicians to more fully realize their musical vision live.

In his 20 years in the Hyperinstruments/Opera of the Future group, Machover has also worked on developing technology that enables non-musicians and disabled persons to compose and perform music through physical gestures and vocalizations. As you may have guessed, he's been a speaker at TED on his inventive work. His latest project is a robotic opera that visualizes the sound and movement of performers on robotic walls that move and display animated visuals.

Perhaps Machover's most widely-used technology is the one that was instrumental to the development of Guitar Hero.  BP

Ahn Trio at TED

The Ahn Trio is made up of three sensational sisters: cellist Maria, pianist Lucia, and violinist Angella and together they are taking the classical world by storm. Thoroughly a 'contemporary trio' they truly are shaping the future of music in many ways, not the least of which by working with artists from across musical and other disciplines ranging from dancers and DJs to ecologists and kite makers. Below is there latest performance at the 2011 TEDWomen conference.

SeanChron - Brad Paisley's "Welcome to the Future" video

10.28.10 - I'm a Nebraska farm boy at heart so I was pretty excited about Brad Paisley's 2009 song, "Welcome to the Future". Check out the video above. In addition to showcasing science, design, and culture shaping our future around the world, the video features children from the many and diverse communities and cultures across America talking about what they want to be when they grow up. Can't wait to line dance to this one. Yee haw!

Culture Icon - Paul Rucker

Paul Rucker is a self-described "interdisciplinary artist". A jazz musician and composer, Rucker's forte may be cello but his creative talents span many fields including public artwork and activism (his current focus is on the US prison system). He's also an aviation enthusiast and one of his recent installations at Seattle's Museum of Flight, Trails of Vapors, makes the most of all his artistic interests and ideas.

All you need is the rocket experience

Buzz Aldrin's Rocket Experience from Buzz Aldrin

Astronaut Buzz Aldren recently teamed up with Snoop Dogg and the folks at Funny or Die to produce a pretty far out rap, Rocket Experience. The song actually has a pretty good groove and best of all, a portion of the proceeds from the sales of Rocket Experience will go to ShareSpace Foundation.

2009 Rock Stars of Science

The June 2009 issue of GQ Magazine features a new ad campaign called Rock Stars of Science (Rock SOS). A project of Geoffrey Beene Gives Back, the campaign is all about honoring scientists working to cure diseases, promoting science careers to young people, and raising awareness for medical research funding. Science and music rock star ensembles include:

• Dr. Rudy Tanzi, Joe Perry, and Dr. Fancis Collins
• Dr. Anthony Fauci, Shreyl Crow, and Dr. Harold Varmus
• Dr. Ronald Peterson, Dr. Steven Dekosky, Dr. Samuel Gandy, and Will.I.Am
• Dr. Eric Topol, Dr David Agus, and Seal
• Dr. Jeffrey Commings, Dr. Dale Schenk, and Josh Groban

Best of all, the campaign includes an action element that allows visitors to nominate their own science rock stars and sign on to a Rock S.O.S declaration advocating more federal funding for medical research.

Smart Stars - Alicia Keys

With 11 Grammy Awards and counting, 17 Billboard Music Awards, 5 American Music Awards, and over thirty million albums sold around the world, Alicia Keys has become one of most successful musicians of our time. But this singer-songwriter, pianist, cellist and actress isn't just the queen of beauty and ballads, she's got brains too. She began playing classical piano at age 7 and later graduated valedictorian from the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan after only three years at age 16. She was accepted to Columbia University but was swept way after only four weeks when her music career took center stage. She also believes strongly in creating positive change and giving back. Keys is the co-founder and Global Ambassador of Keep a Child Alive, a non-profit organization that provides medicine to families with HIV/AIDS in Africa, has supported several environmental nonprofits, and has performed in charity concerts including Live 8, ReAct Now, Live Earth, and the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize concert.

New Sounds of Music

Music Corps, a new program in Portland, OR helps bring music classes back to schools.

Culture Icon, Esteemed Expert | Bobby Sanabria

Bobby Sanabria is a drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, recording artist, producer, educator, and multiple Grammy nominee. Sanabria was born and raised in the Fort Apache section of New York City's South Bronx, his parents were from Puerto Rico. He is considered a master of Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and jazz music both in his performance and his academic work. Sanabria has done extensive Grammy-nominated work in film, television, and radio including an appearance on the Bill Cosby Show. He has both written and been the subject of numerous articles on music. Sanabria has inspired many young jazz artists, particularly Latino jazz musicians, and is credited with repopularizing big band music by infusion it with modern and diverse instruments, rhythms, and sensitivities.

Future-ish added Bobby Sanabria to our PISA List in 2009.

Confluence - Scientist Chanteuse

Folk-pop musician Vienna Teng, from computer scientist to singer/songwriter with a big voice and small footprint. That's right, Teng studied computer science at USC and even worked as a software engineer at Cisco. But since 2002, she's been on the road playing the piano and singing her heart out in places like the David Letterman Show or opening for Madeleine Peyroux. In 2007 she launched her Green Caravan Tour which reatured eco-friendly tour merchandise, carbon offsets, and donating a portion of her CD royalties and tickets sales to nonprofits like Union of Concerned Scientists and others selected by her fans. Rock on Vienna!