tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207367822012-02-10T01:12:00.164ZAlicenoreply@blogger.comBlogger911100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-70257745398654890952007-05-17T12:50:00.000+01:002008-01-22T16:12:20.919Z

This blog is no longer active. The course it supported has ended for the year, and we are unlikely to use blog-based communication for 2007-8.We keep it online as a useful archive. Use the labels to get about. Click on student post and you'll find pieces written by students who took the course. Class summary will take you through the course content, (backwards) lecture by lecture. Other labels

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-69859413015372138962007-03-14T18:11:00.000Z2007-03-14T21:30:50.761Z

Sarah started this class by writing up a blank timeline: 1985 at one end of the whiteboard, 2007 at the other. She asked the class to tell her where major developments in science communication would go within it. PUS, and events such as the Bodmer report ended up at one end, with PEST at the other. You might find the overview on this page a neat summary.I then tried to synthesise some of the rest

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-43325239463157268202007-03-05T13:45:00.000Z2007-03-05T18:23:44.179Z

Firstly, thanks for all your essays - we'll get them back to you as soon as we can. I look forward to reading them.This session acted partly as an introduction to the topic of school-science, but also as a revision of key issues in the history of thought on the Public Understanding of Science, which is important as we approach the exam.We discussed the introduction of this new GCSE, and the

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-66672082662677428452007-03-01T10:08:00.000Z2007-03-07T09:43:42.076Z

Image from here The internet has revolutionised the way in which information is propagated to the mass audience, creating a communication web which encompasses the whole world. As a result, Newspapers, Magazines, Television Channels etc all have an associated website through which communication can continue, and Popular Science Magazine is no exception. I had a look through their website, to

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-61853201117833008422007-02-28T10:13:00.000Z2007-02-28T10:28:39.379Z

Everyweek in the New Scientist magazine I always end up skipping straight to the ‘Last Word’ column. The ‘Last Word’ is a small section of the magazine in which scientist from across the world try to answer questions from members of the public. These can vary from intelligent questions which are quite difficult to answer such as;Why is it when two people walk together they often subconsciously

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-50552360209638985982007-02-27T10:05:00.000Z2007-02-27T10:57:17.248Z

How Stuff Works is an informative and easy to understand website which answers day to day questions to more complicated, specialised questions. It covers a wide range of areas including Health, Money, Science and Travel just to name a few. These categories are then sub-divided into about six areas which make the information needed easy to find.The endless amount of topics, each contain animations

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-36058649685607659382007-02-26T11:31:00.000Z2007-02-26T14:56:07.280Z

Today we looked at health communications. Probably one of the biggest areas of science communication (bar the weather forecast), this area nevertheless often gets forgotten by PUS promoters. This is maybe because these communications don't come from the usual suspects, but from the government, charities, and businesses.Health communication comes in all sorts of formats, but we focussed on just

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-12000761551832437132007-02-22T09:26:00.000Z2007-02-22T10:32:15.053Z

Ever lie in bed at night and swear that you can feel something crawling around inside your skull?Well it is probably paranoia or it could just be a Botfly larva devouring your brain from the inside-out. This disturbing thought is just one of the disgusting and frightening images depicted in Carl Zimmer’s “Parasite Rex”.The front cover of “Paraste Rex” is analogous with that of a 1950’s Sci Fi

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-7175763551113223962007-02-21T10:25:00.000Z2007-02-21T10:16:54.195Z

With the use of iPods and other MP3 players on the increase, it is of no surprise that the science world has started using ‘Podcasts’ as a way of communicating science to the public. An example of a science magazine employing this method of communication is the NewScientist.com Podcast – or SciPod.SciPod is a weekly podcast which is available for download on the New Scientist website. The

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-86625627897963555702007-02-20T16:45:00.000Z2007-02-20T16:45:35.482Z

Even Cosmo has started to science communicate! Imagine my surprise when a quiz in the December 2006 issue with the headline “What sex is your brain?” turned out to have nothing to do with, well, what you expect of Cosmo!The gregarious claim that men and women’s brains are “completely different” was supported by Professor Simon Baron-Cohen from the University of Cambridge. He asserts that women

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-84880453654075103232007-02-19T14:48:00.000Z2007-02-19T16:55:49.160Z

Comic-strip from xkcd.com - a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language, mainly because I like the idea of a internet-shaped cake.Today's lecture started with a link to last week's discussion on realism and persuasion in popular science books. I introduced the class to "bob the balloon" who demonstrated, in a very hands on way, Newton's Third of Motion.We then, more seriously, we looked

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1190691324695982332007-02-15T11:40:00.000Z2007-02-16T10:54:31.555Z

The science channel is a television channel from the same people behind the discovery channel, it focuses specifically on scientific issues. The channel focuses predominantly on space science, such as astronomy, human science and other topics in science related to humans aren’t usually broadcasted on this channel. This channel can be watched on television and also on pod casts.I recently watched

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-59407248338644316062007-02-14T11:00:00.000Z2007-02-14T11:02:37.700Z

Game On is a temporary exhibition at the Science Museum looking at the technologies that have changed gaming over the decades. It looks at the earliest games, different game types (action, simulation and puzzle games), game soundtracks, games associated with films and many other aspects of gaming. Visitors to the exhibition get the chance to play a wide variety of games, from pong to the Nintendo

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-61749203530939698532007-02-13T10:00:00.000Z2007-02-12T16:55:49.925Z

‘Animals in the Womb’ aired on channel four on Thursday 21st December at 9pm. The lives of an Asian elephant, a dog and a dolphin were followed from conception to birth, with revolutionary ‘4D’ technology used to illustrate each stage with images of foetuses moving inside the womb.Public appeal was obvious with plenty of cute pictures of baby animals waving, blinking and yawning at the audience.

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-56590861584278355322007-02-12T16:49:00.000Z2007-02-12T16:01:00.593Z

Do you know the difference? Dr Ben Goldacre (he of 'Bad Science' fame) talks about which category he thinks 'Dr' Gilian McKeith falls into in this Guardian article. See her side of the story on her website.

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-14897003860804036382007-02-12T14:19:00.000Z2007-02-12T15:59:26.955Z

We started the session asking what is popular science, looking at some titles and considering whether we thought they were popular science or not. We then moved on to the broader question of what does popular science mean? What does the content popular science, indeed it's very existence, say about the cultural role of science?Baudouin Jurdant suggests popular science can be considered as the "

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-55406187392327741262007-02-10T15:31:00.000Z2007-02-10T10:10:14.764Z

Amidst a frantic band of jumping and shouting little kids, a science teacher attempts to explain the concept of conservation of energy to an 8-year old. Meanwhile, another bunch of children is jumping up down, waving their hands in the air, to make a lightning bolt strike a tree. Designed to be yet another ‘interactive’ science exposition, the energy gallery in the science museum subjects a

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-9350689454797678252007-02-07T23:13:00.000Z2007-03-07T13:57:35.566Z

The film documentary ‘La Marche de l’empereur’ was first released in January 2005 in France. Other versions were later released including the American ‘March of the Penguins’ which we saw in Britain. It follows the reproductive journey of Emperor penguins in the Antarctic.It has been received as a documentary, and in that category has won many awards including an Oscar. Although I think it is a

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-74034298636844206772007-02-06T09:04:00.000Z2007-03-07T09:49:54.611Z

Based on the BBC 2 Quiz show, QI (it stands for Quite Interesting if you didn’t know) The Book Of General Ignorance throws what you thought was true in the recycling bin and sheds light on common misconceptions in History (Medieval people did not believe that the Earth was flat), Invention (Thomas Edison didn’t invent the light bulb) and Nature and Science in general (the Blue Whale is not the

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-60704914035252617272007-02-05T10:35:00.000Z2007-02-05T14:11:27.459Z

Continuing our series of classes on the media of science communication, today we discussed - and experienced - science as it is presented in museums. While your handout (on WebCT) and the reading for this week (chapter 8 of Gregory and Miller 1998) give you some idea of the history of museums, helping us to understand the background to the format and the development of science centres, in our

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-79158244382028718772007-02-02T14:01:00.000Z2007-02-02T14:14:47.189Z

Last term Sarah organised a trip to a "dialogue" event at the Dana Centre. I thought we could do something similar this term. Except this time, to see people aiming more to entertain than engage.The "Punk Science" boys will be performing on the 27th Feb. They've been doing shows at Dana since it opened, and have even taken them to the Edinburgh Festival. The Metro said “Laugh as you learn” and

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-88862611745480066232007-01-31T17:12:00.000Z2007-01-31T17:08:18.383Z

The Nature Podcast is released on a weekly basis and is intended as a free audio supplement for the famous journal Nature. I believe that the Nature Podcast is an invaluable resource for time and money-strapped students that wish to keep abreast of any new developments in pretty much every scientific field.Even though I have a subscription to Nature and try to selectively read every

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-61489338569588728172007-01-30T13:05:00.000Z2007-01-30T13:47:51.184Z

When is a doughnut the same thing as a coffee cup? Is the universe infinite or just really big?Janna Levin sets out to answer these questions and many more in her book How the Universe Got its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space. She writes about important scientists and theories of complex geometries and strings – including a fantastic section where she makes use of Flatland by Edwin

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-5011504245329162312007-01-30T10:47:00.000Z2007-01-30T10:53:31.409Z

Next week - Monday 5th February - we will be thinking about museums as a medium for science communication. To help us do this our (double) class will be based in the Science Museum.Please don't forget that we are meeting at 12 just inside the main entrance to the Science Museum, rather than our normal classroom.

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-2292011842421166032007-01-29T14:36:00.000Z2007-01-30T10:52:17.820Z

This week's class was given by a guest lecturer - Bob Sternberg from the Science Communication Group. We were given a whirlwind tour of TV documentary over the last century, from the 1920s Nanook of the North, through the different forms that emerged in the '60s with the introduction of new technology, to the mixes of different approaches often found in science documentary today.We heard about

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-7482985212849862242007-01-26T11:11:00.000Z2007-01-26T11:42:53.423Z

A new government funded "PEST" programme, Sciencehorizons, was launched yesterday. A series of events will run nationally over the next 6 months, aiming to get people discussing their hopes and fears for future technologies. The discussions will be fed back to the government and could help shape future science policy.Sciencehorizons aren't just running events at places like Dana, but have

Alicenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-3321139373018135662007-01-22T15:52:00.000Z2007-01-22T15:55:38.131Z

Seeing as the students provided the content today, there isn't much for me to report.But thanks to everbody for their great presentations - I don't think I've seen a year with such a great collection of props! Special thanks to those who agreed to attend outside of time-tabled hours so we could fit you all in. Thanks also to Giskin for helping us mark.

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-48827665556013799192007-01-19T09:49:00.000Z2007-01-19T09:53:24.882Z

UCL's Science and Technology Studies seminars this term. The one on the 26th Feb might be relevant to this course.

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-18354790290608995382007-01-17T16:23:00.000Z2007-01-20T13:34:23.178Z

This topic of ‘where we came’ from was the main topic of The Guardian’s weekly science update podcast. The focus was on the debate between intelligent design and science, and whether or not both of these views should be taught in schools. The point about it being taught in schools was on the back of a video sent to state schools outlying the basis of intelligent design.The podcast used 4

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-45836274013768006292007-01-17T11:13:00.000Z2007-01-17T10:28:54.451Z

The Kids Know It Network is an online-learning network, a lot like a virtual homework club. It is divided into sections. Biology is predominant, but there are maths, geography and geology networks too. Unfortunately, the physical sciences are sadly underrepresented.As a biologist, I had a nose around the biology sections. The network is easy to navigate, and the information is clearly presented

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-13858072876995644422007-01-17T10:23:00.000Z2007-01-17T10:32:14.448Z

If anyone is even slightly interested in science writing should enter this competition.Also, Nature have an opening for a summer intern. It'll be very competitive, but if anyone's interested, then email me and I'll forward you the details.

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-51085939861759741402007-01-16T11:10:00.000Z2007-01-17T10:28:37.290Z

The human need to explore the universe and gain an understanding about the larger world has prevailed for centuries. The development of the International Space Station (ISS) which started its construction in 1998 has been one of the greatest engineering achievements, since a man first stepped on the Moon in 1969.Spacestation is a 3-D movie running on IMAX cinemas all over the world giving the

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-76752347064499293032007-01-15T14:16:00.000Z2007-01-15T14:21:19.510Z

...there is a change to the published class schedule this term. Monday 5th February will now be the session on museums and science centres (involving a trip to the Science Museum; more details to come), and Monday 12th will be the class on popular science. Both are double sessions.

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-29530609289576701172007-01-15T14:08:00.000Z2007-01-15T14:20:59.324Z

Today was an informal class designed to help you prepare for the assignments next week. We discussed some of the places in which science is spoken about - coming up with a surprising range, from pubs to the radio. Next came some personal top tips for speaking: the power of pauses and preparation, being a lighthouse, signposting, and using comedy, amongst others. Much of what was said is repeated

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-66461988412155559162007-01-09T14:42:00.000Z2007-01-09T14:49:02.514Z

There aren't many places that talk about science communication in an academic way. So if you're interested in the theory as well as the practice, you might want to know about the conference we run here at Imperial. I'm posting our call for papers below - I doubt any of you would want to submit, but it might be worth sticking the date in your diary. We use MSc students as runners on the day -

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-47858025907729922112007-01-08T15:51:00.000Z2007-01-08T16:23:24.673Z

Although today's lecture was officially entitled "rhetoric" we spent a lot of it talking about coursework. You can now download the assignment 3 details on WebCT. Also please note that Humanities is now level three of Sherfield, not Mech Eng or level 5.My focus on coursework was party because there are other humanities courses where you learn about rhetoric, such as the Saying True Things UG

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-60657433547397629552007-01-05T23:29:00.000Z2007-01-05T23:30:15.146Z

Tomorrow's World to return

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-29114457917784260842007-01-04T11:55:00.000Z2007-01-04T14:49:10.651Z

Only days into 2007 and already I have a contestant for weirdest piece of science communication of the year.PUS campaigning group Sense about Science have published a "science for celebrities" leaflet. This will be placed in "VIP hangouts" such as VIP lounges at airports, Premiership football clubs, exclusive restaurants and clubs, aiming to catch the attention of those foolish celebs who

Alicenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-62322910194592739102006-12-19T10:11:00.000Z2006-12-19T10:12:36.874Z

To bring something out of the comments to the last post, there's a new pamphlet from Demos on expertise. Students might find it useful as further reading for some of the policy and PEST orientated topics we've been covering this half of the term, including the assignment (if you are choosing to design a dialogue-for-policy event).To quote from the introductory blurb on their website: Opening-up

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-45920641300607588782006-12-18T10:15:00.000Z2006-12-18T10:31:45.061Z

You may have talked about this in your class on science in fiction last week.But I was inspired to post after being unfortunate enough to catch the last hour or so of the film The Core last night: the plot of this involves a team of people having to drill/float/fly to the centre of the earth to start the earth's core turning again (very 21st century Jules Verne). This being a disaster movie, they

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-85820320908941744792006-12-14T08:00:00.000Z2006-12-14T07:50:31.791Z

There has been widespread media praise for the “scientific program Planet Earth”, so what’s wrong with the BBC spending license payers’ money funding the making of a science program, which utilizes cutting-edge technology to film the worlds wildlife?The problem I feel is that the BBC have missed an opportunity to link cutting-edge film with thought-provoking science.Due to time constraints of 50

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-30206437855222917472006-12-13T11:21:00.000Z2006-12-13T12:26:39.180Z

The IMAX at the science museum shows 3D films on a variety of science topics such as the moon landings, International Space Station and Wildlife.‘Deep Sea’ is a documentary program about sea creatures, their environment and the interactions between them. The film focuses on the theme of symbiosis between fish and coral in the oceans whilst including interesting details about a diverse range of

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-78470757490984610222006-12-12T11:16:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:40:59.039Z

Who is the intended readership of the New Scientist magazine? Most of you have presumably at least flicked through a copy of the New Scientist; what did you think of it?I personally think it has an identity crisis. On the one hand the public think of it as an up to date technical magazine where as those in research see it is dumbed down ‘popular’ science. It fits the later by trying to engage the

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-15398203249483623732006-12-11T18:24:00.000Z2006-12-11T18:27:29.537Z

Yes, we have a new layout - I'm taking advantage of Blogger Beta. This means we have "labels" to help navigate the blog (useful as it gets bigger) - so you can press the "class summary" label to only get the overviews of lectures, or the one to show only posts from other students, etc...I've gone back to old posts and given key labels, but it might take a while to link everything up. New posts

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-55912788109315982222006-12-11T15:18:00.000Z2006-12-11T18:29:27.187Z

We started the class talking about this episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We then discussed some of the symbols of science and technology suggested by the piece, before going through some more general issues of science and fiction. I also touched on narrative, although we'll talk about that issue more next term.I mentioned David Kirby's work on "scientists on set", and I've put a link to his

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-10213801263304485642006-12-11T14:55:00.000Z2006-12-11T16:54:08.138Z

You should bear in mind that you will be competing with MSc students who have a summer work experience requirement as part of their course.If you want to find out about working in a newspaper or magazine, you can try contacting the newsdesks. But to be honest the best journalistic work experience you can get would be on Felix and/or publish yourself by keeping a blog. A woman at the Guardian was

Alicenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-74635278897669921322006-12-11T10:08:00.000Z2006-12-11T14:55:44.893Z

There is an Imperial PG open day on Wednesday. Remember you need to book today or tomorrow. I know there will be people talking about the three MSc's the Science Communication Group offer. I imagine the two MSc's offered by the History of Science Centre will also be represented. One of their courses includes science communication issues. They are both run in conjunction with UCL. You can find

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1165580758697271622006-12-08T12:09:00.000Z2006-12-09T12:18:32.844Z

Last night a few of us went to the Dana Centre for a "PEST" type event (on play and learning).The event eschewed the traditional set up of speakers giving presentations followed by questions. Instead, four speakers gave short (3 min) introductions of themselves. We were then sorted into groups, so you'd not necessarily be with people you know.Each group was timetabled 10 mins with each speaker.

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1165243349808531692006-12-07T10:36:00.000Z2006-12-11T15:54:51.490Z

I tuned in late to this program and found it so ridiculous that I really had trouble watching it through.When I joined, the program seemed to be just finishing ‘explaining’ Moore’s Law and impressing upon the viewer that this ‘law’ made it obvious that very soon in the future the average computer would be ‘more powerful than the human brain’.What does this even mean? Will a computer in 2 years

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1165243418309906222006-12-06T09:30:00.000Z2006-12-11T15:55:28.982Z

Energy is a very difficult topic to convey to the lay person or children, we can’t see it so how do we know it’s there? The Energy display at the Science Museum aims to do this. It is able to do this by showing how energy is harnessed, how we use it now and how we will have to use it in the future.As with the usual Science Museum displays it is very hands on, with many different computer games

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1165241167227190202006-12-04T13:41:00.000Z2006-12-11T15:57:06.901Z

In class this week, I gave a print out of this piece on "Climate Porn". The idea was going to be to get you to summarise the reasons why emphasising risks of climate change is a bad thing, as well as considering reasons for sensationalism. We didn't have time for this, but I thought we could discuss it here.So, press on the yellow "comments" link at the end of the post and give your reasons for

Alicenoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1165165263664677422006-12-04T13:20:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:44:40.001Z

We started with a debate, asking whether scientists are the best people to make decisions about science policy. If anyone wants to continue/ join this (with ideas on why scientists should or should not be the people to make policy decisions over science) we can start a thread in the comments to this post.In terms of lecture content, we went through some key ideas in science policy and gave a

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1164984604270743172006-12-01T14:36:00.000Z2006-12-02T09:13:46.836Z

...is the Dana event some of us will be attending next Thursday (the 7th). Check out this web-page for further details of the topic and the speakers.A couple of things that struck me from the info given: the event is supported (i.e. paid for) by Nintendo, and the panellists are all 'experts' of one kind or another (academics, policy types). It will be interesting to hear the voices of the 'public

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1164790119999744942006-11-30T10:37:00.000Z2006-12-11T15:56:29.317Z

The online copy of the Guardian nowadays offers more than just a newspaper service; including blogs, talk (online discussions) and podcasts, all of which cover a range of topics including ‘science’. The science podcasts are updated every Monday and come in handy half hour segments that aim to cover the topical science stories featured in the media that week. Their typical

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1164790412291942542006-11-29T08:49:00.000Z2006-12-11T15:58:04.762Z

New and innovative technology has always been sought after by the so called ‘techno geeks’ but the use of television programs which have a new entertainment value such as the Gadget Show have now more than ever brought this technology to wider audiences.The earliest show that I can remember which reminds me of this type of programming is the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World but this has now evolved in to

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1164705247654296182006-11-28T09:11:00.000Z2006-12-11T15:58:38.895Z

The BBC is responsible for a significant proportion of non-expert Britons’ understanding of science. Their science and nature site is a fantastic illustration of their proficiency in this field.The element of this website, most central improving this public understanding, is not the sheer bulk of information conveyed, or its quality. It is the immediate curiosity and stimulation that the powerful

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1164640825262203492006-11-27T15:15:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:39:50.049Z

Just to say well done on your presentations earlier - I thought they were fantastic. If we'd had more time we could have discussed the pros and cons of the mechanisms and how well they fitted the different situations; as it is, you'll have to think about those things yourselves. (The info sheets are up on WebCT if anyone wants more details.)Particularly well done for being creative with the

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1164635135557031382006-11-27T13:22:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:42:02.462Z

If the public are knowledgable and capable in dealing with science, then why shouldn't we involve them in science policy? And how could we do this?These were the big questions of today's class. The work of critical authors - and the fact that we live in a democracy, and that millions of pounds of taxpayer's money goes to pay for public science - points us towards the need to engage publics in

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1163959928842120062006-11-23T20:45:00.000Z2006-12-11T15:59:55.911Z

The Answers in Genesis website is designed to present reliable scientific evidence to support the creationist movement. Written to equip non scientist Christians to defend a literal biblical perspective on creation, it claims to ‘uphold the authority of the bible from the very first verse’.The homepage opens with a single provocative image linking evolution to discrimination and links to recent

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1164294500197740382006-11-23T14:59:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:43:17.311Z

...for this Monday's class. We'll be talking about science shops, consensus conferences, citizen's juries, and other kinds of deliberative dialogue. We'll also be discussing part of this Spiked debate and the 2000 House of Lords Third Report on Science and Society.

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1163959818408202392006-11-22T10:58:00.000Z2006-12-11T16:01:00.496Z

With today’s news constantly mentioning a lack of science graduates it is more important than ever to get children involved in science.The Launch Pad at the Science Museum aims exactly to do that. On entering the area you are immediately faced by an incredible array of colours, machines and the clamour of school groups enjoying themselves.With a huge range of exhibits all the main areas of

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1163960087132569822006-11-21T11:13:00.000Z2006-12-11T16:02:20.662Z

The Wellcome Wing is an extension to the Science Museum in London, which aims to show visitors the latest developments in science and technology. The wing, which opened in 2000, consists of five floors, each with a different theme.The basement contains the Launch Pad- a popular hands-on gallery, aimed at younger visitors to show that science can be fun. The Launch Pad contains interesting

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1164036130645780362006-11-20T15:20:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:43:39.669Z

This listing could be useful for finding science communication events.

Alicenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1164030479188302862006-11-20T13:31:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:44:20.701Z

Two weeks ago we discussed the deficit model and the critical authors who argued that it was an inaccurate picture of the public. This week we talked about the effects knowing this will have on our communication.Once we acknowledge that science's publics are active and knowledgable, how we communicate needs to take this into account. A one-way flow of scientific 'facts' isn't acceptable any more:

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1163440903780399112006-11-20T11:48:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:45:02.672Z

Did anyone hear about the recent launch of Newton's Apple? It's a think tank aiming to promote a better relationship between science, society and politics.Their site has a few mini-essays on science and society issues, by various great and good (e.g. our Rector). They are a mixed bunch, but this piece by Ben Goldacre about science media scares is quite relevant to issues covered in class this

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1164025878711551092006-11-18T12:30:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:45:34.992Z

Happy birthday New Scientist.

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1163782173028288962006-11-17T16:25:00.000Z2006-12-11T16:03:10.764Z

We were talking about media effects a couple of weeks ago. People worry an awful lot about the effects of things like the coverage of bird flu or SARS, but I wonder whether these kind of things pass most of us by (although having said that, I did see someone on the tube the other day wearing one of those face masks - clearly flu season is upon us again). Maybe most of us non-scientists actually

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1163413049982835652006-11-16T17:34:00.000Z2006-12-11T16:04:06.167Z

Having been a fan of Bill Bryson’s travel books I was surprised when he released “A short history of nearly everything,” as it isn’t very often that a writer ventures so far outside of their comfort zone. The book takes you through a journey of our history and the history of the universe around us. In this book Bryson is able to make what are perceived as the boring and too complicated aspects of

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1163412678884509842006-11-15T10:08:00.000Z2006-12-11T16:04:38.224Z

One of the first popular science books I read and one of the few I have no hesitation in recommending to anyone (indeed everyone). Its clarity and precision makes complex ideas like evolution and behaviour easily accessible to a non-specialist audience.Dawkins book is mainly based on the ‘why’ of animal behaviour. Scientists originally believed that organisms worked for the good’ (survival) of

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1163412975884182412006-11-14T11:50:00.000Z2006-12-11T16:05:10.880Z

Planet Earth is a brilliant, innovative documentary that communicates science in a very concise way that is not too advanced for a non scientific audience. It is relatively thorough and is able to provide a general outline that fits in the one-hour film. The documentary is aimed for all ages especially those that have an interest in the Earths natural history.The descriptive narrative is

studenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06170407594958073919noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1163440758139007432006-11-13T17:50:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:50:37.960Z

It's easy to forget, when we just look at examples of science communication, that there is an academic field focussing on the interactions between science and its publics. People do the kind of ethnographic work that Bruno Latour did on public engagement with science. (As well as Alice and mine's weird and wonderful research.) We run a research seminar to showcase some of this research - from

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1163430008628172782006-11-13T14:51:00.000Z2006-11-13T15:18:10.083Z

Okay, so the event on the 22nd I was hoping we could go to is sold out. So I have booked some tickets for the one on Thursday 7th December - they still have some left for this. And appropriately enough, given our recent discussions on the impact of video games, it's called Playing to Learn and is about video games in education. It'll be interesting to see what models of audiences are used and

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1163426885639423782006-11-13T13:32:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:54:44.424Z

What is science? It looks like there are no easy answers. We came up with a range of descriptions, from 'falsification' to 'furthering humanity's endeavours'. We're not the only ones to struggle for a definition: philosophers and scientists have been trying to agree on a good one since science began. Having talked to people with some experience of working in science, we might start to see a

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1162991762329873802006-11-08T13:00:00.000Z2006-11-08T14:13:20.496Z

This course normally runs at least one trip to somewhere exciting (previous years have gone to the theatre and the Science Museum). Given that we'll be talking about interactive and dialogue-based science communication in the next couple of weeks, I thought it would be good to pay a visit to what is - for better or worse - one of the foremost sites of this in the UK, the Science Museum's Dana

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1162984946785446102006-11-08T09:56:00.001Z2006-11-08T13:46:53.296Z

A few people have said they are a bit lost about writing their blog entry. My simple answer is don't be. There isn't a secret criteria for it that I'm hiding for you to second-guess. Plus it's only 200-250 words and counts for a tiny % of your mark.Find something in public culture that mentions science, i.e. not an article in Nature or anything else aimed at an audience of just scientists. Write

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1162825769903191582006-11-06T15:00:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:46:59.279Z

No assignment this week, so no reason not to have done the reading for next week's class (especially as it's an extra short paper). This one will involve a trip to the library as we aren't allowed to put the digital version on WebCT. It should be easy to find, though - go to Level 3, walk to the back and look for Social Studies of Science. You want volume 30, number 1, p.158-160 - the paper is

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1162822546195323332006-11-06T13:56:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:48:03.417Z

After concentrating on the production of news texts so far in the course, this week we turned our attention to their reception and consumption by audiences and publics. We started with a discussion about violent video games and the effects they might have: opinion was divided but most people thought that other factors (such as home background or upbringing) would also help define how games

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1162808788210726722006-11-06T10:17:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:48:58.951Z

Those of you interested in the web as a communication medium may want to check out the Guardian Magazine's feature on Web 2.0 from this weekend. The interested but ultimately cynical John Lanchester writes the main story surveying recent developments in cyberspace (do people still call it that?) and there are interviews with the key figures involved - the people who brought us Wikipedia (

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1162306582719496872006-10-31T14:33:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:52:37.644Z

The news media is often accused of sensationalism, especially around science issues. A really interesting example of this recently was the IPPR report accusing the media of "climate porn".But if sensationalism is all the consequence of news values, are the media excused? I think climate change is an interesting case study in this. The IPPR say the sensationalism over climate change is dangerous

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1162223301076787232006-10-30T15:30:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:53:49.308Z

And just in case you have any extra time this week, you might want to check out the BBC news coverage of a new video game, 'Bully', here. This hit the shops a couple of weeks ago and was considered controversial enough to have at least two TV interviews with the game's hapless spokesman - if you search the BBC site you might still find these online.The fuss is because the game, set in a school,

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1162220045948787642006-10-30T14:32:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:55:48.646Z

In today's double session we looked at how scientific information changes as it moves between different kinds of publication. We started by looking at some extracts from places like Science, the BBC website, or the Science Museum's Antenna. Amazingly, we could spot what was from where - so good are we at picking up on the internal cues and signals that tell us whether something is textbook or

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1161621476258491322006-10-23T17:25:00.000+01:002006-10-23T17:37:56.290+01:00

For those of you who aren't used to/are panicking at the thought of being a humanities student (reading outside of class! Essays! Words not numbers!), we have a book recommendation that could help you out. (This was meant to go on the reading list as suggested reading, but got left out for one reason or another.) Check out The Arts Good Study Guide, by Ellie Chambers and Andrew Northedge and

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1161596145005400972006-10-23T13:08:00.000+01:002006-12-12T11:56:36.825Z

The central point of today's session was that to write a good press release you need to consider what would make a good news story. Reading through the advice from Tim Radford I handed out last week should help, as will some of the content Sarah's discussing next week.In terms of the more "nuts and bolts" issues we covered today, you should remember the "pyramidal format" (i.e. that you can cut a

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1161598773944126872006-10-23T11:01:00.000+01:002006-10-23T11:19:33.956+01:00

I love looking at people's bookshelves! So here is one of mine for you to have a look at as well. You'll notice that it's not strictly all science books - the Francis Wheen and Italo Calvino are both pushing the definition somewhat. (Although I seem to remember that Wheen does take a potshot at social constructionists of science.) Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics, though not the book on display in the

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1161347354651676672006-10-20T13:21:00.000+01:002006-10-20T18:31:27.376+01:00

I'm showing something quite personal here: the science section of my bookcase. Non fiction above, fiction at the bottom (children's books have their own set of shelves). It's reasonably small - I try to keep the number of books I actually own down, I move too often. Every now and again I look through the books I own, and ask myself "do I want to keep this?".Reasons for keeping a book are often

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1161083237607836712006-10-17T11:49:00.000+01:002006-10-21T14:55:56.883+01:00

I was watching BBC news this morning and saw a story about the next big thing in DVD players (have a look at the video or some BBC user comments). Apparently there's going to be a format battle between Sony and Toshiba's new types of high resolution DVD players: similar to the BetaMax VHS stand-off twenty odd years ago (I can't remember it either...). New discs are incompatible and the systems

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1161009052238140952006-10-16T15:21:00.000+01:002006-10-16T15:30:52.250+01:00

Another podcast for you to check out is from Demos's science and society people. This is a chat with Kathy Sykes, who is one of the relatively few people to have a full time, academic post in public engagement (you'll also recognise her from TV). I thought it was pretty interesting - but had appalling music...And on podcasts in general...I have to admit the Demos one was one of the first I've

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1160994738817914862006-10-16T14:01:00.000+01:002006-10-16T16:10:21.333+01:00

In this session we got our fingers dirty with newsprint and did a mini "content analysis" of science reporting in the British press. Our rather rough piece of social research was inspired by a "proper" investigation, the Science Museum Media Monitor (details of this can be found on pages 118-119 of the reading). We finished up with a brief overview of formal definitions of science, information on

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1160482287545304112006-10-10T16:51:00.000+01:002006-10-11T16:24:39.830+01:00

Last week's Guardian Science podcast mentioned a competition. Prize: you get to go to the Guardian offices and sit in on the podcast recording.They want people to suggest an idea for a "package" for the podcast (I think they mean a feature, i.e. a topic for investigation and debate) and also a short paragraph about what they would add to the show if they sat in on it. You can email (science@

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1160401062219902992006-10-09T14:17:00.000+01:002006-10-11T11:23:20.006+01:00

Well, we've started! Our first class was 9th October at lunchtime and I think we got off to a good start. After some introductions (of Alice and Sarah) and some admin (the course notes and reading list are both online in WebCT, to which all students should now have access), we played a card game. Not poker (there was no gambling involved), but a kind of swap shop of statements about science, the

Sarah Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764445624846040684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20736782.post-1160053662209933042006-10-05T13:59:00.000+01:002006-10-05T14:10:06.476+01:00

This blog has been set up for the "Communicating Science: the public and the media" undergraduate module at Imperial College, London. In the next few weeks you'll start to find comments, reviews and news from both course leaders and students. Coursenotes are online here (links to PDF).All comments are welcome, but they will be screened.

Alicenoreply@blogger.com0