SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Social video platform Twitch today announced it will be celebrating Science Week beginning with a 13-episode marathon of one of the world’s most beloved science series, the original Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, and conducting a series of interviews with notable personalities from the scientific community. Among those taking part in Twitch’s Science Week, which also honors Earth Day and the March for Science, are Ann Druyan (Cosmos: A Personal Voyage and Cosmos: a Spacetime Odyssey), Ariane Cornell (Blue Origin), Matthew Buffington (NASA spokesperson), Scott Manley (astronomer and sci-fi gamer), Pamela Gay (CosmoQuest), Kishore Hari (Satellite City Coordinator, March for Science), Phil Plait (Bad Astronomy blog), Fraser Cain (Universe Today), and more to be announced.
Every episode of Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, dating from the show’s 1980 premiere to the season finale, will air twice on Twitch, first on April 24-25 starting at 12:00 PDT, and again on April 27-28, beginning at 2:00pm PDT. Creators will also be able to co-stream the show, which enables them to add their own commentary over the video being broadcast or to quietly enjoy it with only their own community members in chat. The result is a more personalized, social experience for their communities.
Following the marathon on April 28 at 2:00 PDT on twitch.tv/Twitch will be a live Q&A with Ann Druyan, who co-created Cosmos: A Personal Voyage together with her late husband, the astronomer, Carl Sagan. An acclaimed author and television producer, Druyan won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming for the 2014 follow-up, Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey. She was also an executive producer and a director of the series, for which she also took home a Peabody Award. Druyan served as Creative Director of NASA’s legendary Voyager Interstellar Message Project, a golden record containing music, sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials. On their way out of our solar system at 40,000 mph, they have a future shelf life of one to five billion years.
“Carl wanted to tear down the walls that exclude most of us from the scientific experience, so that we could take the awesome revelations of science to heart,” said Ann Druyan. “The power of the original COSMOS series, with its enduring appeal to every generation since, is evidence of how much we hunger to feel our connection to the universe. Truly excited to share COSMOS now with the vast Twitch community.”
The 1980 premiere of the original Cosmos: A Personal Voyage was a game-changing moment in nonfiction television, giving audiences a new perspective on the universe beyond our own world. The Emmy and Peabody Award-winning series was written by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan and astronomer, Steven Soter. In each episode, Sagan presented scientific subjects, including the origin of life and humanity’s place in the universe. The series gained acclaim for its engaging soundtrack and use of special effects, including the first ever use of green screen computer generated VFX on television. Since premiere, the series has remained in ongoing worldwide distribution, and has been seen by more than 750 million people around the world.
“Based on the engagement level of previous TV marathons on Twitch, our community has proven their fondness for these types of interactive viewing experiences," said Jane Weedon, Director of Business Development - Creative, Twitch. "Since Cosmos: A Personal Voyage couples the scientific curiosity engulfing the world today with Carl Sagan’s talent for connecting such advanced concepts with the everyday viewer, it should be both entertaining and educational for viewers.”
Science Week on Twitch will also feature interviews with an array of personalities from the science scene. Among the guests are the following:
- Matthew Buffington – Director of Public Affairs at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley and host of NASA in Silicon Valley podcast.
- Ariane Cornell -- Head of Astronaut Strategy and Sales and Head of North American Sales for the New Glenn Rocket at Blue Origin.
- Scott Manley -- Astronomer and online gaming personality under the handle, “Szyzyg,” best known for video content about science and video games like Kerbal Space Program.
- Pamela Gay -- Astronomer and Principal Investigator of CosmoQuest, a citizen science facility, and the Director of Technology and Citizen Science at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
- Kishore Hari -- Science educator and director of Bay Area Science Festival, based out of the University of California, San Francisco, best known as one of the lead organizers of the global March for Science.
- Fraser Cain -- Publisher of Universe Today, one of the most visited space and astronomy news websites on the internet, which he founded in 1999. He's also the co-host of the long running Astronomy Cast podcast with Dr. Pamela Gay. Fraser is an advocate for citizen science in astronomy, and on the board of directors for Cosmoquest, which allows anyone to contribute to discoveries in space and astronomy.
- EJ_SA -- Streaming on Twitch since December 2012, EJ_SA has been focused on showing viewers the seemingly magical accomplishments of past, present, and future space programs in KSP. This is where Space Shuttles fly, Rockets land, and Space Stations are built! Interactive chat, questions answered and weird facts about space all come together here!
- Phil Plait -- Astronomer and science communicator. He writes the Bad Astronomy blog for Syfy Wire, was the head science writer for the new Netflix show "Bill Nye Saves the World!", and is the science consultant on the science fiction mini-series "Salvation", coming out in the summer of 2017. He is a tireless promoter of science and lives to share his joy for the natural world.
For the full schedule of interviews, visit our blog with more guests to be announced.
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage will air on www.twitch.tv/Cosmos and all other Science Week content will air on www.twitch.tv/twitch.
About Twitch
Twitch is the world’s leading social video platform and community for gamers. Each day, millions of community members gather to watch, talk, and chat about shared interests. Twitch’s video platform is the backbone of both live and on-demand distribution for all types of content, including the entire video game ecosystem, the creative arts, vlogging (IRL), and more. Twitch also runs TwitchCon, the annual convention for celebrating the Twitch community. For more information about Twitch, visit our Press Center, Twitter feed (#Twitch), and Blog.
