By Hans Peter Peters.Some may have already noticed on the homepage of Public Understanding of Science that we recently had a change in our editorial team. Mojirayo Ogunkanmi succeeds Elena Milani as Social Media Editor. For two years Elena had been responsible for our X (Twitter) account (@scicom) and this Blog. In the past months, she has handed over these tasks to Mojirayo in what I can ..read more

By Johannes Kögel. For the first time in history, a heart from a genetically modified pig is transplanted into a human being—a feat that may potentially alleviate the shortage of donor organs. However, the public reaction is, at best, mediocre. Two days later, it is revealed that the recipient of the pig heart had a criminal record. This time, newspaper commentary sections are heating up ..read more

 By Arno Simons, Wolfgang Kircheis, Marion Schmidt, Martin Potthast, and Benno Stein.Robert K. Merton, a famous American sociologist, who studied the reward system in science Wikipedia increasingly shapes the public understanding of science. As one of the most visited websites globally, it serves as a go-to resource for millions seeking information on scientific topics. In addition ..read more

By Christine KuoHave you ever learned about something new, and then curious to learn more or perhaps concerned about what you just learned, tried to search for information about it? Were you able to find the answers you were looking for?New technologies like gene editing are emerging and becoming commercially approved in some countries like the United States. Research has shown that people have ..read more

By Jianxun Chu, Yuqi Zhu, and Jiaojiao JiWe often come across news stating “authoritative sources said/revealed/stated...”. These named or unnamed sources are the laissez-passer for the credibility of the news. This is particularly true when it comes to complicated science-related issues, such as climate change, vaccination, and GMOs. People without prior knowledge or experience on these subjects ..read more

By Elizabeth M. Bennett and Peter J. McLaughlin.The presence of neuroscience information can result in a sense of satisfaction, familiarity, and understanding among laypeople. While these effects are typically small or moderate and don't lead to objective changes in understanding, they can influence perceptions. Watch the video to find out more.Read the original article: Neuroscience explanations ..read more

By Emma WeitkampHow do you judge the quality of the science you consume online? In an increasingly diverse media landscape quality assessment becomes an important challenge for science communication, both from a practical and research perspective.Online, we encounter science via a patchwork of very different platforms and voices. It is this nexus between platform – Spotify, Reddit, blogs and ..read more

By Jordan Batchelor.Are you interested in science and technology? Do you seek out information online to learn more about specific issues? When you read about ‘new breakthroughs’ in academia, are you immediately skeptical or do you inherently trust it?For decades, government organizations world-wide have been interested in answering questions like these. For example, in the US, the National ..read more

By Dulce da Rocha GonçalvesThe so-called social winter season, which aligned with solar time (from October to April) rather than with the winter season, was a bustling period of cultural activities in the Netherlands during the first decades of the twentieth century. As the local newspaper Haarlem’s Dagblad reminded its readers at the start of the season of 1925/26: "With the end of daylight ..read more

 By Stephen Cave, Kanta Dihal, Eleanor Drage and Kerry McInerneyWomen are even less likely to appear as AI scientists in film than in real life – and when they do, they’re low-status and likely to get killedWhat do the films Metropolis (1927), AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001) and Ex Machina (2014) have in common? They feature male AI scientists in Frankenstein-esque roles, intent on ..read more