Science

Scientist, best-selling author, speaker and consultant on new perspectives on technology and the future. He is the author of the novel «The Postman» (filmed in 1997 in Portugal as "The Postman: O Mensageiro») and the author of the Hugo Award-winning novels «Startide Rising and The Uplift War», as well as many others. He is a leading commentator and speaker on contemporary trends and his non-fiction book «The Transparent Society» was awarded the Freedom of Speech Award by the American Library Association. His latest novel, «Existence» explores a big question: there are billions of planets capable of supporting life. So where is everyone? The book is a reflection on questions such as: how will we build the days and years to come – and how will we be shaped by the future?


Last updated: June 2015

She is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Genspace, a non-profit community laboratory dedicated to promoting science and access to biotechnology for the public. Her efforts to make Genspace a centre for entrepreneurship, innovation and citizen science have been documented by the media in publications such as Nature Medicine, Science, Discover Magazine, Wired, Make, BBC News, Dan Rather Reports, PBS News Hour, The Discovery Channel and The New York Times. She holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from New York University, worked for several years in the biotechnology industry and is currently Adjunct Professor at New York Medical College, Scientist-in-Residence at the School of Visual Arts, and Visiting Professor at The Cooper Union. She frequently mentors teams participating in DNA-based scientific competitions, such as iGEM and the Urban Barcode Project.

Last updated: June 2015

Researcher in science and environmental communication at MARE – Centre for Marine and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon. He has a PhD in Environmental Engineering from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, a Master's Degree in Applied Ecology and Conservation from the University of Kent and a degree in biology from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

A developmental and evolutionary biologist, he is a scientist, teacher, author of books on science and science communication and film producer. He directs the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science Education Department and the HHMI Tangled Bank Studio. He is Professor of Biology at the University of Maryland and Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin. He was awarded the Rockefeller University's Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing About Science in 2016.

Last updated: April 2021

He graduated from, obtained his doctorate and taught at the Instituto Superior Técnico (1971-97). In 1998, he became Full Professor at the Institute of Chemical and Biological Technology (ITQB-Nova) where, now retired, he still runs a laboratory. He was a NATO fellow at Oxford University (UK) and an A. v. Humboldt Foundation fellow at the Max-Planck Institute for Coal Research and the Technical University of Munich, both in Germany. His research focuses on the application of organometallic chemistry and inorganic chemistry to catalysis and medicine. Co-founder of a start-up dedicated to discovering carbon, monoxide-based drugs for treating inflammatory diseases. Co-author of around 220 scientific articles and patents.

Last updated: November 2018

Co-author of the book «The Science of Youth» (Elsinore, 2017). A psychologist who studies ageing and obesity, she directs the Center for Aging, Metabolism and Emotions at the University of California, San Francisco.

Last updated: November 2020

An Emmy-winning writer, producer and director, she specialises in science communication. She co-created the television series «Cosmos», presented by Carl Sagan, wrote and produced the sequels «Cosmos: A Journey Through Space-Time» (2014) and «Cosmos: Possible Worlds» (2020), as well as publishing a book of the same name (Gradiva, 2020). She was creative director of NASA's Voyager Interstellar Message Project, the gold disks carried by the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft.

Last updated: October 2020

With a PhD in Biochemistry from University College London (UCL), Camilla Pang is a postdoctoral scientist specialising in translational bioinformatics at a pharmaceutical company developing treatments for diseases with immunological and neurological causes. She is the author of «Explaining Humans» (Penguin Viking, March 2020), a memoir that draws on scientific principles to understand human behaviour, from the perspective of a person suffering from autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The book was a finalist for the Royal Society Insight Investment Best Scientific Book Award 2020.

Last updated: October 2021

Neurologist and Assistant Professor of Neurology at Yale University School of Medicine, USA. He is the editor of Science-Based Medicine, a website dedicated to exploring science issues in medicine.

Last updated: November 2023

Journalist and science editor at the «Público» newspaper.