Kari Byron's Head Rush Brings the Fun to Science and Math

Geared toward middle school-aged kids and "the curious kid in all of us," Head Rush debuts on the Science Channel Monday, August 23, and will air without commercial interruption weekdays from 4-5pm ET/PT (and Saturdays 7-9am) with charismatic MythBuster Kari Byron hosting a frenetic melange of experiments, video clips, animation, puzzlers, and special guests, all adding up to fun and (shhh) education.

During the Space Race, science was demonstrably cool, even awe-inspiring. By applying hard-won scientific principles to the practical realities of propulsion, trajectory, physiology, communications, materials, and a host of other considerations, mankind defied gravity and took "one giant leap" beyond the cocoon of Earth and set foot on the Moon in the course of a single decade.

Having been there and done that, the will to sojourn ever farther into the vast, cold, dangerous night waned, and the space program attenuated from the bright flame of inspiration to the humdrum of cargo transportation.

Even now, with technology ever more present and integral to our lives, the fire doesn't burn as hot. But there are shining rays of hope coming from perhaps an unexpected source, another great 20th century technological triumph, television.

Far from being nothing but a "vast wasteland," television now boasts a host of shows and entire cable channels dedicated to the manifest coolness of science and technology, with Head Rush jumping into the ring on Monday.

With her rosy loveliness, freewheeling personal style, and background in film and sculpture, Kari Byron might seem an unlikely choice as role model and advocate for the next STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) generation, but that's why she might be exactly the right choice.

Byron has honed her problem solving, practical, and on-camera skills through several seasons on Discovery Channel's iconic Mythbusters, to go along with her innate creativity and enthusiasm, and is now ready to step up to the helm of her own daily show.

An apt example, the first episode of Head Rush ranges far and wide, finding Kari inserting firecrackers into stem glasses, stretching the human stomach, weighing clouds, and discovering what happens when you put an egg into vinegar and why golf balls have dimples.

Article Author: Eric Olsen

Career media professional Eric Olsen is honored to be the founder and former publisher of Blogcritics.org, and former publisher of Technorati.com, which both rule. He is now editor, co-founder, and CEO of The Morton Report.

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