Neil deGrasse Tyson to receive the National Academy of Sciences’ most prestigious honor By Rachel Feltman The National Academy of Sciences has announced that Neil deGrasse Tyson, most widely known for hosting the recent reboot of Carl Sagan’s popular science show “Cosmos,” will receive their most prestigious award at a ceremony this April. The Public Welfare Medal was first presented in 1914 (when it went to two men integral to the Panama Canal building project) and is intended to recognize those who work to promote science for the benefit of humanity . Tyson will be the first person to receive the award for his efforts in science communication to the general public since Sagan himself won in 1994. The two men are connected by more than their shared awards and TV styles: Back when Tyson was a high school student in the Bronx considering colleges, Sagan wrote him a heartfelt invitation to visit his lab at Cornell — one that Tyson accepted. He ende...