Johns Hopkins University group looks to TV reboot to capture the wonders of science

Reboots are not uncommon in the television world.Think about how many versions of Star Trek I’m there. But a group of communicators and filmmakers at Johns Hopkins University, interested in scientific fact rather than science fiction, are pushing this concept to the extreme.

Seventy-five years ago, this university pioneered science television. Johns Hopkins Science Review, a half-hour black-and-white broadcast nationally on CBS throughout the Eisenhower era. Each promised to look “over their shoulders” at the latest scientific research. Just over half of the show survives and has been archived.

Inspired by this groundbreaking program, the goal is to bring Hopkins research back to television screens across the country through sophisticated science-focused series available through streaming services like Netflix. The working title is “Wavelength”.

” science review “This project has been of interest to many people for some time now, as it is a real goldmine and a great piece of history,” said the documentary filmmaker and co-director of JHU-MICA who is working on the project. says one Annette Porter. Film Center: “The idea now is to respond to this growing distrust of science and the scientific process. What do we have to say about that as a scientific institution? I wanted to create a new series about the science behind science.”

Sponsored by the University’s 2023 Discovery Award, the Wavelengths TV team, made up of staff from Johns Hopkins University Press, the Department of Film and Media Studies, and the Office of Research,’s initial goal is to create a five-minute television program. It is to do. A proof-of-concept promotional video with marketing materials. These will be used to pitch the production of his 20-minute episodic series to producers and executives at Netflix, HBO, Disney+, Discovery, and more. “Our goal is to really introduce the idea in a way that people say, ‘Wow, this needs to be built, we’re behind the plan, it needs to happen at Hopkins.’ “That’s what we do,” Porter said.

The research team has already begun interviewing the scientists responsible for the project, which conveys the awe of science through a teaser video. Among them are planetary scientist Elizabeth Turtle, whose Dragonfly project at the Institute of Applied Physics is developing a drone-like helicopter to explore the surface of Saturn’s largest moon Titan, and robotics professor { Jim Bellingham](https://iaa.jhu.edu). /people/dr-james-bellingham/), a pioneer in the world of marine robotics and director of the Autonomous Assurance Institute. Psilocybin research and the groundbreaking work of the School of Medicine’s Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research are also interesting topics.

The filmmakers are actively searching for more interview subjects. Researchers who wish to nominate themselves or others as candidates are invited to complete a questionnaire.

This program adopts the alternative title of the Wavelengths Science Communication Initiative, which was created by JHU Press and the Office of Research in 2020 to bring the research work of Bloomberg Distinguished Professors to a general audience. Titles of his seven books available so far include artificial intelligence, cancer, and health equity.Sabine Stanley’s What is hidden inside the planet? It will be released next month.

Anna Marlis Burgard leads the Wavelengths program as Director of Strategic Engagement in the Office of Research and is also the creative producer of the proposed TV series.she says Johns Hopkins Science Review The topic came up during a meeting her office held with colleagues from the film and media department to discuss new ways to present Hopkins’ research to a broader public.

“I didn’t know this series existed,” Burgard said. “But the rest of the team knew about it and were excited to explore the new version. They shared a link to the original episode, and it quickly became the center of conversation. That pioneering spirit has remained consistent from then until today.”

Johns Hopkins Science Review It debuted in 1948, when there were probably fewer than 250,000 televisions in use nationwide. Each episode dealt with a particular science or research topic, such as cancer, plastics, or nuclear power, and featured Hopkins scientists and guests from other institutions. Bespectacled host Lynne Poole, the university’s first communications director, created the show and served as the concept’s chief cheerleader. The production was a low-budget, low-tech production, using hand-woven plywood and papier-mâché props, and filmed live with giant cameras of the time. Despite this, the program won two prestigious Peabody Awards for outstanding broadcast production, and was widely praised in national newspapers for its educational content, while it ranked second in viewer ratings to Milton’s Burr. We were defeated by flashy works by celebrities.

The program’s name and content were tweaked several times until 1960, when university leadership ended its association with television. The 303 stories that survived sat on decaying 16mm film until a grant was secured in 2003 that made it possible to digitize them.

“It would be fun to use that little piece.” science review each new episode,” Porter says. “I think people like to see archival footage. You can see how the science has changed over time, and it helps establish Hopkins as a very long-term expert. It will be too.”

In fact, space exploration was in its infancy in 1952 when Poole had famed rocketeer Wernher von Braun discuss the possibilities of space exploration. There were respectful and intriguing stories about how one day we would go to the moon. Now, not only are Hopkins scientists aiming to land a high-tech helicopter on Saturn’s moon, but last fall researchers here also teamed up with NASA on the DART project, which will generate approximately 7 million They successfully fired a projectile at an asteroid miles away and altered its trajectory.

In addition to showing how science has changed over the decades, this reboot also shows that most of the scientists are white men. science review picture. “The researchers and scientists we talk to are diverse,” Porter said. “We have men and women, and we’re diverse in age and race. That’s a great story, too.”