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Spreading science with bats, makeovers
Whether it is sniffing women's smelly T-shirts, confronting a lifelong phobia of spiders or submitting to a Beverly Hills makeover, there are few things Professor Robert Winston will not do in the name of science. Except running with the bulls in Pamplona. The mustachioed fertility expert, author, broadcaster and British lord, who bears a striking resemblance to the late comedian Groucho Marx even without a cigar, is arguably Britain's best known scientist. As Professor of Fertility Studies at Imperial College, University of London, he had done pioneering work in reproductive medicine and in-vitro fertilization. He is also a leading voice in the debate on genetic engineering. And now, thanks to his efforts fronting several television series, people now know far more about the inner workings of the human body and instincts ranging from sex to survival than they would have if he hadn't taken time out from the laboratory. "There is a great need to get much more science out there, especially to children of teenage years and between 11-14," he told Reuters. "We need to get non-scientists to recognize that science is worth knowing about. "We live in a very science-orientated and technologically driven society and the truth is we are very puzzled and threatened by that technology and increasingly so." Winston is convinced the way to do it is to make science communication more available, not through erudite lectures, but by talking it through to "ordinary people." "That is a privileged role and an important one. That is what I am trying to do," he said. Survival, sex and desireIf it means donning a surgical gown to deliver an animal in a barn, feeding babies, swimming with dolphins or climbing inside a tree in Costa Rica to retrieve vampire bats as he did for his latest BBC television series and book "Human Instinct," then so be it. "I have to leave it up to the directors and trust them to make sure that what I am doing isn't embarrassing or silly." But the 62-year-old scientist, who looks a decade younger, admitted the vampire bat escapade was "quite horrid." "Handling vampire bats is not actually a frightfully good idea. They carry these nasty viruses and in order to get them one had to climb into a tree -- inside a trunk where there were poisonous snakes and big spiders and unpleasant things. "Of course you are only able to film in the dark because they do not like the light." But Winston drew the line with the bulls in Spain in a segment filmed to illustrate how humans respond to danger because he has a problem with the use of animals in a cruel way. The alcohol and testosterone fueled event really was not his scene, he confessed, and the BBC agreed with the decision. "There have been lots of things I have been prepared to do that the BBC would not let me do," he said. In the four-part "Human Instinct" series which will be shown in Europe, Asia and the United States, Winston explores what makes us human and why we behave the way we do. Arm amputation and romance rageEighteen months in the making and shot in locations ranging from the African savannah to Central American jungles, it explains how the primitive instinct to survive takes hold in dangerous situations and leads humans to do extraordinary things-- like jump 150 feet (46 meters) off a burning oil platform into the sea or amputate one's own arm that is trapped in a machine. Winston withstood the rigors of a makeover, complete with facial, haircut and custom-made designer suit, to illustrate how appearance influences sexual choice and interviewed a man who completely destroyed a rival's luxury car in a fit of jealous rage. Despite his popularity, Winston does not seem himself as a celebrity and has turned down invitations to participate in less scientific televisions programmes, including a celebrity reality series. He still manages a team of reproductive scientists at a leading London fertility center and attends regular sessions in Britain's House of Lords (upper house), to which he was appointed in 1995. But his commitment to improving public understanding of science is strong and another science series "Walking with Cavemen," is set to be broadcast next year.
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