Oh, Neil

"I know that the molecules in my body are traceable to phenomena in the cosmos. That makes me want to grab people in the street and say, "Have you heard this?" Neil deGrasse Tyson, oft-known planetary murderer of Pluto and brilliantly charming and wise astrophysicist. 

I could listen to Neil wax scientifically for hours and, in fact, have done just that on numerous occasions. He coined the word Manhattanhenge. He's a notable speaker on The Universe series and is now the host and brainchild behind PBS' NOVA scienceNOW. The work he's doing, not just for actual scientific development and research, but for making science exciting (which it always has been) and approachable to laymen is extraordinary. The sheer beauty and ingenuity of someone like deGrasse Tyson is that he seems equally at home on the Colbert Report trading jocular barbs with Colbert as he does on The Science Channel, discussing the unfathomable intricacies of string theory; it is this duality of his that makes him such a consummate scientist. He breaks barriers. Also, you listen to this guy talk about his work and it's just infectious; this is a man who truly loves this world, this life, this planet, this everything, and if we can obtain even a small fraction of his enthusiasm and hope for this world and our species, we're all better off. 

To simply keep up with the prolific dude, who seems to work just about as constantly as the same universe to which he devotes himself: Tyson Explains Life & the Universe