Not only eSports and JustChatting: there are many on Twitch contents and events made by important exponents of scientific dissemination. From the secrets of the galaxy to those of microbiology, passing through the curiosities about dinosaurs: there is really to get lost (and learn).
In short, among the more 8 million streamers on Twitch, there are also several science communicators, who on the purple platform find the ideal tools to interact directly with their community. So let’s find out which are the best channels of the most interesting spreaders on Twitch.
Twitch and scientific dissemination: the channels to follow
AdrianFartade – Creator of the Link4Universe project, Adrian is one of the most active Italian science communicators on Twitch. He has always loved talking about space exploration, astronomy, the history of science, and often meets with his community to comment live and experience space launches together, as he is doing recently with the launch of Artemis I, but also for gaming sessions and just chatting.
Prof. Andrea Pollini – Andrea Pollini is a computer science professor who has been bringing his passion for programming to Twitch for some time now. As he himself says, “chaos can give rise to interesting bit sequences”, and in fact he enjoys developing his projects live, together with his community, which follows him in an amused and participatory way.
Paleontologizing – Yes, there is a paleontologist on Twitch! Often in the summer Danny Anduza is out in the field digging, with a giant backpack and a signal amplifier to go live. On Twitch he talks about dinosaurs, ancient turtles and whales, but also about how to select and identify fossils, and he often hosts other paleontologists, with whom he discusses live. Danny believes Twitch is an ideal science dissemination service and enjoys chatting about anything related to his work or the history of life on Earth, going live every day.
Stephen_Wolfram – A computer scientist and physicist, best known for his work in the fields of computer science, mathematics and theoretical physics. In addition to his day job as CEO of Wolfram Research, Stephen has gone on to a career as a streamer. The content he brings to Twitch is very varied. These range from corporate business meetings to live coding contests, Q&A and work sessions focused on the Wolfram Physics project. As Stephen works live on new features, users can ask questions and even contribute by naming the new features.
FOSSILDADDY – He calls himself a “chronic fossil hunter and dinosaur enthusiast whose curiosity about the natural world has been awakened by Pokémon and other video games,” such as Legend of Zelda and Sonic the Hedgehog. He is an avid fossil hunter, explorer and traveler with a great interest in nature and geology. As an amateur popularizer and paleontologist, he aims to make educational content more accessible through video games.
Ask_a_Scientist_Gaming – “Ask a Scientist” was a popular monthly event, held by a group of University of Florida professors at a local First Friday. In practice we met and talked about science in a very relaxed way with anyone who passed by and was interested. With the pandemic, the event moved to Twitch, continuing to host professors of quantum physics, psychology, chemistry, sociology, and more. Ask a Scientist streams are not lectures, and not all viewers’ questions are about science. The professors’ stated goal is to create a relaxed and informal atmosphere where people can converse and ask questions.
DietToms – An engineer and microscopist who broadcasts everything he sees through the microscope live on Twitch. He watches everything: single-celled organisms, surfaces, copepod eggs hatching, green ciliates, making it all look like a great video game.