Stuffed fox in Oxford Museum of Natural History. I don’t know how it died. My January column for Popular Science UK is now online. This one’s on the public debate about animals in research. I was interested in some debate surrounding some slightly dodgy reporting of a poll on animal testing. Except, considering the paucity of the … Continue reading »
Tagged with media …
Engagement with climate science
I was a speaker at yesterday’s Royal Meteorological Society’s meeting on Communicating Climate Science. I was asked to talk about models of science communication in the light of their new report on climate science , the public and the media, in particular the shift from top-down to more discursive approaches. I also took the opportunity to question the applicability … Continue reading »
What is science news and who gets to decide?
Public art in Trafalgar Square. I think it’s something to do with Rio+20. I was on the panel for the ABSW annual debate last night. Our topic was the rather broad question: What is science news and who gets to decide? This post is an extended version of my talk. I think lots of things are science … Continue reading »
Is science media just about selling us stuff?
Last month, I chaired a debate at the Royal Institution exploring the different expectations scientists and journalists have for science media. I was asked to write up my notes for the Guardian science blog, and picked out three questions from the many we discussed on the night. 1. Is climate change a qualitatively different issue … Continue reading »
Has blogging changed science writing?
Badges made for our housewarming last year. Bonus points if you get the ref. There is an oft-made joke that the answers to questions posed by news headlines are always, when take time to consider them, a simple ‘no’. With that in mind, here’s a question headlining my essay in the latest edition of the … Continue reading »
Being noisy about science
Here’s the podcast for an event on the sounds of science I chaired at Charles Darwin House last week. The inspiration for the event was mainly just that I like making a noise. I also like listening to podcasts and I quite like science too. Moreover, I think that the noises made by and about … Continue reading »
Finding new stories for climate science
Stained Glass Window at Royal Society. Joe Smith has written a blogpost about climate science in the media based on his contribution to a debate at Imperial I ran last month. Smith suggests climate science is a bad fit for the mass media: too slow moving, too complex, too uncertain. Journalists try to spice things … Continue reading »
Sounds of Science
BBC Madia Vale Studios, before a recording last year. It’s world radio day! I don’t know about you, but I’m celebrating. I love the radio. I think I just like noise. Maybe it’s because my Dad was a musician. He usually worked from home, on what are probably best described as “musicians’ hours”, so there was a steady … Continue reading »
Identifying arguments in climate science
George Bush used to say, in his generous way, that the science [of climate change] is uncertain. But it’s an almost content free statement because science is about uncertainty. Lord Oxburgh FRS, Imperial College, 30th January 2012. That quote comes from a debate on climate science in the mass media we held at Imperial last week, part of the pilot … Continue reading »
Debating climate science
I’m currently working on the pilot for an exciting new undergrad course at Imperial which uses science policy issues to challenge students to think about a range of areas of scientific research (not just their degree stream) and put this in some social, political, ethical, epistemological and cultural context. The topic we’ve picked for the … Continue reading »
