Natalie Portman - Scientist

Intel Science Talent Search is a competition that Intel has been running in America for 69 years. High school students take part in it, and their scientific projects are quite serious, which require hundreds of hours of preparation and research. Suffice it to say that the winners and semifinalists of this competition, continuing their scientific career, took seven Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry, two Fields medals in mathematics, not counting other prestigious awards. Now the galaxy of the most talented scholars has another prestigious award - the Oscar for Best Actress in 2010.

On the night of Sunday to Monday, 29-year-old Natalie Portman received an Oscar for her role as Nina, the mentally ill ballerina from the movie Black Swan. Never before has this figurine been given to an actress with such a scientific background.

In the late 90s, as a student at Syosset High School in Long Island, she made it to the semi-finals of the Intel science contest. Everyone who participated in such competitions (for several years Intel held similar competitions in the CIS countries) knows how much effort and sleepless nights it takes to prepare a high-quality report based on their own original scientific work. This achievement alone speaks of the level of self-discipline and determination of Natalie Portman.

But that is not all. By the time she finished school, Natalie Portman was already a rising movie star. At the age of 13, she starred in Luc Besson's film "Professional / Leon" (as Matilda) and several other films by famous directors with actors such as Julia Roberts, Jack Nicholson, Uma Thurman, Drew Barrymore and others. She even played the roles of Queen planet Naboo in the movie Star Wars Attack of the Clones, after which she became an idol for teenagers. And what does a rising star do after graduation? She enters Harvard to study neurobiology and brain evolution!

“I taught at Harvard, Dartmouth and Vassar, and I was given the privilege of educating many talented kids,” said Abigail A. Baird, one of Portman’s faculty at Harvard University. “But among them there were very few really bright ones like Natalie, who had tremendous intellectual power and who worked as furiously as she could.”

Natalie Portman is one of several prominent actresses who have a serious scientific background (academic degrees, scientific articles, etc.). In addition to her, you can call Hadie Lamarr , who in the 1940s was called "the most beautiful woman in Hollywood," while she was an outstanding physicist. In 1942, she patented a spectrum expansion system., a method of increasing the efficiency of information transfer using modulated signals through a channel with strong linear distortions. She called her system "jumping frequencies."

Another screen star is mathematician Danica McKellar, who graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with the highest grades. She starred in such series as The Twilight Zone and Babylon 5, and also played a major role in the series Wonderful Years (6 seasons). She later wrote two bestselling books, “Math Doesn't Suck” and “Kiss My Math” to help girls in high school love this science.

Well, many modern viewers know the actress of Polish origin Mayim Bialik, who plays the role of Amy Farrah Fowler in the popular series "The Big Bang Theory." Like Natalie Portman, she began acting in films since childhood (pictured is a 14-year-old girl at the 1989 award ceremony). However, this did not distract her from her scientific career: she graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a degree in neurobiology, just like her character in the film.

via NY Times Science