Michael Paolucci, founder and CEO of Slooh

Podcast Guest Michael Paolucci's extraordinary Online Telescope enables students to explore new worlds as if they were on the crew of the Star Trek Enterprise

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES, March 23, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Special Guest Michael Paolucci Delves into the Cultural Importance of Exploring Space

VIDEO PODCAST
AUDIO PODCAST

On the new episode of the Let’s Talk STEM with Dr. Calvin Mackie podcast, the host talks about the importance of astronomy and exploring space with his special guest Michael Paolucci, founder and CEO of Slooh. The company’s gamified education platform teaches students to explore space via a network of 12 online telescopes located on mountaintops in the Canary Islands and Chile.

Paolucci created The Online Telescope, the world’s only scalable solution for astronomy education. Slooh makes real-world, real-time space exploration accessible for students by providing access to online telescopes in the classroom that students can personally control and use to capture their own photos. It’s a remarkable invention that brings access to space to schools and students, who don’t have the resources to obtain it otherwise.

“Our innovation makes it possible for an unlimited number of students to explore space just like professional astronomers,” says Paolucci, noting that students in urban settings and under-resourced communities are largely blocked from exploring space because of the high cost of telescopes and the “light pollution” in cities that now encloses 80% of the world’s population.

The conversation explains the importance of allowing children to vastly expand their imaginations, to search beyond their immediate environments and enjoy a component of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) that is too often off limits because of their socioeconomic status and geographical location. The Online Telescope is enabling students to explore new worlds as if they were part of the crew on the Star Trek Enterprise or Discovery by becoming the new Guardians of the Galaxy as they follow a game-like learning progression, earning badges and scoring Gravity Points along the way.

“The whole idea of being able to do it on your computer and have it be scalable and not be a solitary experience, but rather a social experience where you're actually looking up at the night sky with everyone from around the world in real time with live views, makes the experience more compelling and very enriching,” Paolucci says. “People have the opportunity to exchange ideas with one another while using the platform and really celebrate our commonality, our place here as earthlings, looking up into outer space.”

Dr. Mackie adds, “Everybody deserves to have that opportunity. And I think what you are doing with Slooh and bringing space to everyone via computer is definitely beneficial.”

Further, Paolucci sees social benefits in providing students with opportunities to expand their comprehension of the universe. “When you get out away from light pollution, you get to see the majesty of the Milky Way, and you feel this deep, fundamental connection as human beings. What is our place in the cosmos? What are we all doing here? And you can't help but be curious about it. A lot of kids growing up in urban environments don’t have the wherewithal to travel, to go out to dark mountain tops, and to actually see the night sky every single day. They’re really losing that connection as people.”

###

ABOUT STEM GLOBAL ACTION
Dr. Calvin Mackie founded STEM NOLA in 2013. The New Orleans non-profit is committed to expanding STEM education, especially in communities of color. In July 2021, Dr. Mackie launched STEM Global Action (https://stemglobalaction.com/ ), a campaign and network pursuing STEM education for children, parents and communities. His initiatives have impacted more than 100,000 students, 20,000 families and 5,000 schools across the U.S., and in five countries. An archive of Let’s Talk STEM with Dr. Calvin Mackie podcast episodes is at https://tinyurl.com/48hrd3cw

The STEM Global Action website includes:

STEM Global Action Today (https://stemglobalaction.com/stem-global-action-today/), a newsletter with comprehensive articles on some of the most important issues related to STEM, and takes readers into the lives of STEM educators and their extraordinary students, who will be the STEM leaders of tomorrow.

STEM Global Action Data Center (https://stemglobalaction.com/stem-data-center/), a one-stop resource library for studies, reports, video presentations and news coverage about STEM.

Michael K Frisby
Frisby & Associates
+1 202-625-4328
mike@frisbyassociates.com
Visit us on social media:
Facebook
LinkedIn

New Episode of Let's Talk STEM with Dr. Calvin Mackie

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.