Scientific results are being rushed out quicker than ever to fight coronavirus. Here’s what you need to know about preprints, peer review and the difference between the two.
Important, accurate messages delivered by the right people at the right time are crucial in a pandemic.
Ziyaad Douglas/Gallo Images via Getty Images
For science communicators to be effective, best practice principles need to be applied to the design of messages, the choice of who conveys those messages, and their tone and timing.
Viruses exist in a realm where there is no light and colour has no meaning. In their COVID-19 depictions, designers, illustrators and communicators make some highly creative and evocative decisions.
To help humanity change its carbon course, we climate scientists must shed conservatism, refocus our research, and rethink what level of existential risk we’re willing to offer world leaders.
What will it take to get people to connect to the climate change story?
mauro mora/Unsplash
Decarbonizing the global economy would help the climate change problem – but also many others. Would putting all those additional co-benefits center stage help drum up support for climate action?
The internet has changed the way scientists communicate with their funders, the public and each other.
Shutterstock
A science researcher’s work gets twisted by a conservative news site; he considers this his wake-up call to educate as many students as possible about the importance of science to our world.
Doctor Who is a popular cosplay theme. But some people base more than just their outfit on the Time Lord’s exploits.
Shutterstock.com
The first peer-reviewed survey of Doctor Who fans’ attitudes to science reveals it was literally life-changing TV for some. But the verdicts were surprisingly nuanced and sometimes contradictory.
The Voynich Manuscript has researchers, the media, and the public hooked. But pseudo-explanations for the book’s ‘code’ reveals a serious problem with society’s relationship with science.
Even in this fantasy world, geological processes like tectonic plate movement, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions would have built the mountains, carved the rivers, and created vast oceans.
The perceived authority is important in helping us determine how trustworthy a graphic is.
Diego Gutiérrez via WWF
In Australia, the next government will need to meet the challenge of refreshing the social licence between science, government and the many and diverse communities that make up our nation.
These small ‘robots’ can create a complex system when they find each other as they roam around.
Felice Frankel
Felice Frankel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Using an artistic eye when creating pictures of scientific phenomena and new technologies can elevate the resulting images in terms of both their beauty and how informative they are.
You have a lot of work to do before you step up to the mic.
Chinnapong/Shutterstock.com
Connecting with an audience in a productive way can mean first figuring out what they think, feel and believe before you start sharing your message.
Professor Greta Dreyer, head of the Gynaecological Oncology Unit at the University of Pretoria, being interviewed by SABC TV.
Mariki Uitenweerde, Eyescape Photography
The early days of science writing were largely confined to men, with women treated to texts labelled “for the ladies”. Things have changed, but more needs to be done.
Providing optimism in the face of environmental reality can help people stay aware and hopeful for a positive outcome.
Photo: A. Sergeev