Public Understanding of Science Blog

 By Dr Emma Kaylee Graves-Sandriman. Photo credit: TheDigitalArtist Despite their dystopic narratives, science fiction references have been used in UK news about XR to present the technologies positively. Many science fiction narratives present cautionary tales of technology, particularly when it comes to extended reality (XR; including virtual, augmented and mixed reality). My recent research examined the use of fiction references in UK news about XR. As summarised here, I found that journalists typically use fiction references to present XR positively, despite the dystopic narratives found in fiction. Fiction references in UK news In UK news, fiction references are used to support readers’ understanding of XR products through the use of metaphors, comparisons and imagery. For example, a headline about virtual reality in the Sun began with “ Enter the Matrix ” and the MailOnline described a virtual reality “ Star Trek-like headset ”. Another used imagery of Tom Cruise in Min...

On January 14th at 2 p.m. GMT, Massimiano Bucchi, Professor of Science and Technology in Society, University of Trento, will discuss and answer questions about his new book, Newton's Chicken: Science in the kitchen  World Science Publishing. This highly rigorous, yet original and entertaining publication provides a surprising account of the relationship between gastronomy and scientific research. Why has science forcefully entered the kitchen from a certain moment in history? Why do scientists often use images and metaphors drawn from gastronomy? What is the common thread that connects scientific experiments to mouth-watering recipes? What has futurist cooking got in common with molecular gastronomy? Experiments with coffee, controversies over beer and chocolate recipes guarded as if they were secret patents are the ingredients of this original, surprising account of the intersections between gastronomy and research, between laboratories and kitchens. To join us on Thursday 14 Janu...

Second Wave of Pandemic Overwhelms Trust in Institutions and Scientific Experts in Italy Massimiano Bucchi, Eliana Fattorini, Barbara Saracino The start of the pandemic crisis at the end of the winter had revealed, in Italy as in other countries, the weakness of stereotypes that describe the general public as an easy prey of unreliable information sources and content. According to data from the Science and Technology in Society Monitor , in fact, Italian citizens mostly relied upon (and considered trustworthy) institutional sources of information on the pandemic and how to avoid contagion. Evaluations of the management of the crisis by national and local institutions were also largely positive, with peaks of appreciation beyond 85% for the Civil Protection Department and 65% for the National Government (similar trends were recorded internationally).  More than six months later, in the midst of the so-called “second wave”, the picture has profoundly changed. Citizens’ positive evalu...

Scared, Supportive and Confident in Science (but a little confused by expert communication) Trends and changes in the perception of the pandemic: the new data from the Science in Society Monitor by Massimiano Bucchi and Barbara Saracino One month after the first survey by the Science in Society Monitor, the percentage of those undermining the Covid-19 threat decreases down to 4%. The more and more widespread concern is also reflected in how interviewees perceive the reaction of the population to the crisis, characterised by “fear” for almost four out of ten and by “solidarity” for one out of four. The expectation for “phase 2” is that a mix of actions is needed, with an important role played by research. Trust in science is high, but almost half of Italians see the diversity of advice from experts as a potential source of confusion.  Information sources and trust Regarding information about the pandemic, two-thirds of Italians (with a substantial increase in last month) mainly re...

One fifth still underplays the threat, in particular young people and those who use social media for information on the pandemic BY Massimiano Bucchi and Barbara Saracino More than one Italian citizen over five still underplays the Covid-19 threat. This is one of the key results emerging from the recent survey conducted by Observa Science in Society Monitor. The monitor analyses in the first place exposure to information. The majority of Italians is getting their information on the emergency mainly through TV and radio news (52%). The second major source are websites of institutions, like the Ministry of Health and regional and local institutions (20,5%). Only a minority is gathering information mainly through social media.  Regarding precautions to avoid contagion, however, trust in official source clearly prevails: indications from national and local institutions and from one’s own GP are respectively the most and second most trustworthy source of information. ...

The World Health Organization, ministries, doctors, the media: it’s hardly surprising that all these actors produce and communicate data on the coronavirus (COVID-19). But that hackers and biohackers take up the subject is far more astonishing. Biohackers from BioCurious , a community laboratory created in 2010 near San Francisco, are monitoring the epidemic closely and organized the Wuhan Virus Co-Learning Hackathon on February 1. The hackathon’s objectives: understanding how viruses in general work and spread, analyzing the genome of the coronavirus, and examining how the latter propagates. The philosophy of this hackathon, as of the activities of biohackers in general, is that of a democratization of science. The aim, in other words, is to render scientific and technical knowledge more accessible to citizens. At Simon Fraser University, near Vancouver, a hackathon called EpiCoronaHack took place from February 18 to 19. Participants worked on data analysis, modeling and simul...

Scientists are increasingly expected to step out of their ivory towers and engage with policy makers and diverse public audiences. These demands come from not only those who fund and support research, but also from public interest groups and society at large. Some scientists respond enthusiastically to such opportunities. These ‘communicating scientists’ typically have a flair for public speaking and popular writing and they enjoy media interviews and public platforms. However, they are the exceptions. Most scientists shy away from the media and the public spotlight. One of the barriers that prevent scientists from participating in public communication is a self-perceived inability (or lack of skills) to communicate about their work in a popular style. After all, as far as communication goes, scientists’ training focuses on communicating to peers within the science arena. This communication ‘within science’ is done using the semantics of science and sticking to strict scientific nor...

“Sharing Science” is a “pop-up podcast” about science communication, science education, and the relationship between them, featuring short interviews with twelve leading researchers. Our podcast disseminates academic scholarship in these areas and is intended for researchers, practitioners, and anyone interested in these areas. A few months after its release, we would like to share some of the "behind the scenes" of this project with you for at least two reasons: Because our podcast’s content is situated within a unique niche, bridging science communication with another field;  And to share the promises and pitfalls of producing a podcast, for readers who wish to produce similar projects of their own. What is a "Pop-Up Podcast"? We envisioned “ Sharing Science ” as a “pop-up podcast,” a term we borrowed from pop-up retail shops, which are stores “opened temporarily to take advantage of a faddish trend or seasonal demand.” By analogy, a pop-up podcast ...

Brian Trench delivered a guest lecture entitled "Images in the social conversation of science on occasion of the official inauguration of the Master in Communication of Science, in Trento on October 2nd, 2019. In his talk, Trench addressed the issue of how images related to science are created by lay people, and how they are externalized and shared in society. The way science is represented in the collective imagination is often prone to stereotypes. An example of this, as straightforward as illuminating, was triggered by Trench's request to the audience to mentally depict a scientist. It turned out that the most popular image was the by now trite portrait of Albert Einstein. Few attendants represented the scientist as an ordinary person. Even fewer, as a woman -- still quite a long way to go in this respect. Rigorous assessments of the images of science people have in their mind conducted in more formalized settings, such as focus groups, have been proved to provide a...

Science shapes our world, but scientific understanding may often seem out of reach to those without a scientific background. We now know that people are more likely to engage with science when they share a cultural background with the messenger - the scientist - yet 81% of Americans cannot name a living scientist,  let alone identify a scientist that looks like them. In 2018, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) launched an initiative designed to bring diverse perspectives from early-career U.S. leaders to important dialogues around how science, engineering, and medicine are shaping the future. An initial cohort of 18 professionals -  New Voices ’ in Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine - was asked to provide new perspectives on globally important scientific issues, to improve the communication of scientific understanding, and to advocate for innovative strategies to expand the diversity of the scientific workforce.  To achieve the co...

What will the artificial intelligence revolution mean for science journalism? Most people in the field don’t seem to have given it much thought, which is scary because so much of journalism will inevitably be changed by AI – and is already being changed. Some people fear loss of jobs in the long term, but few have thought about the opportunities it provides in the short term. AI will be the catalyst of the third disruption in journalism, potentially changing the way we produce and consume news, argues Bertrand Pecquerie , CEO of the Global Editors Network. (The first two disruptions were the Internet and smartphones). “Ignoring the development of new technologies is not the solution,” writes Pecquerie. Indeed, many senior science journalists with 20 or 30 years of experience wouldn’t be around if they hadn’t embraced past innovations in the newsrooms, be it the transition from typewriter to keyboard, from phone to e-mail, from print to online, or from words to multimedia. As o...