i science september 2012 web

8/11/2019 I SCIENCE September 2012 Web

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THE SCIENCE

MAGAZINE OF

IMPERIAL COLLEGE

I Science, Felix Office, Beit Quadrangle,

PrinCe Consort Road, London, SW7 2BB

Tel: 020 7594 8072

Email: [email protected]

Printed by:

Bishops Printers, Walton Road, Portsmouth,

Hampshire, PO6 1TR

I,SCIENCEpproaching mid-Sep-tember is bittersweetfor this years edito-rial team; we have nowcompleted our MSc

courses with the Science Commu-nication Group, and will be leavingImperial College for pastures new. Itis fitting, then, that we go out with abang and bring you this issue en-tirely dedicated to science commu-nication, its activities, aims, achieve-ments, and all other facets of thefield. Were also sad that this is ourlast instalment for the 2011-2012

academic year, but wish good lucnext years editorial team in maktheir mark on the magazine, asfeel that we have done. It would have been possible without the hfrom all of our writers, contributassistants, editors and proofrea so a big thank you to all who hlent us their time. We hope yoenjoyed this years issues ofI, Scimagazine, and read on to enjoy one!

Tis issue ofI, Scienceis funded bythe Wellcome rust, in conjunctionwith the 21st birthday of ImperialColleges MSc in Science Commu-nication.

Te Wellcome rust is an inde-pendent global charity dedicated toachieving improvements in humanand animal health. Te rust sup-ports biomedical research, and workin the medical humanities. Teirbreadth of support includes pub-lic engagement, education and theapplication of research to improvehealth.

Te trust was founded by Sir

Henry Wellcome (1853-1936). Abusinessman, collector and philan-thropist, he was born in the Ameri-can Wild West but ended his daysas a knight of the British Realm.Wellcome co-founded a multina-tional pharmaceutical company, andhe invested his profits in collectinghistorical objects and funding pio-

neering medical research. Afterdeath, Wellcomes will providedthe creation of the Wellcome ru

oday the rust focuses its fuing on three key areas of activsupporting outstanding reseaers, accelerating the applicationresearch, and exploring mediin historical and cultural conteIts research challenges pressing fundamental problems that confrhuman and animal health. Tresearch areas include maximithe health benefits of genetics genomics, understanding factors affect ageing and chronic diseunderstanding the brain, comba

infectious disease, and connecenvironment, nutrition and healt

Written by Vanna Ba

A

Nicola, Douglas & Pe

I ,SCIENCEeditors-in-chief

Nicola guttridge

Douglas heaven

Deputy editor

Peter larkin

design & Layout

peter larkin

Editorial assistants

siobhan chan

vanna barber

News Editor

Conor McKeever

Sub-editors

Helen Wilkes

Lorna Stewart

Julia Robinson

Jade Hoffman

Samuel Cavenagh

Proofreaders

Conor McKeever

Karin Valencia

Julia Robinson

Maciej Matuszewski

Helen Wilkes

Mimi Li

Josh Howgego

Alice GoodyearRayner Simpson

Social Media

Lucy Van Dorp

siobhan chan

vanna barber

I, Science1

Cover Design & Illustrations

by peter larkin


3/32www.isciencemag.co.uk I, Science

Introduction on PAGE 9

COVER FEATURE

Science communicationIMPERI

Highlig

the

Wor

Ne

beyond

3

5

25

29

Science

Have pr

changed

Alic

On no

afraid to d

imperial

Reviewing I

firs7

11 Science communication at imperial

contents

13 engaging the public

15 Science behind the photo

17 whats all this science journalism for?

18 science, radio & culture

19 an interview with...

28 For a visual anthropology of science

Stephen Webster reflects on the past 21 years of ImperialColleges MSc in Science Communication.

No one size fits all in terms of how a university can bestsupport its community.

A look at one of Hubbles most impressive images and itsrole in science communication.

Felicity Mellor explores whether science journalism aimsto inform, educate, or evoke an emotional response.

Gareth Mitchell looks at the relationships between science,society, geek culture and radio over the last twenty years.

Wendy Barnaby discusses the changing world of journal-ism, and how she prepares students for it.

Bob Sternberg reflects on how the world of science is por-trayed through the media of film.

Rachel So

On interact

engaging with 27


4/323 I, Science www.isciencemag.c

Imperial News

NEWS FROM

I A

IMPERIAL COLLEGE

JADE HOFFMAN

Section Editor: Conor McKeever

Jul

mperial College has beengiven the green light byHammersmith and Fulhamcouncil to build a new multi-use campus on a former BBC

site in White City.Te planned development of the 20,000

square metre campus dubbed ImperialWest forms phase two of the Collegesregeneration, which aims to provide moreteaching, research and accommodationfacilities to meet growing demand. In ad-dition to 606 self-contained postgraduateflats, which form part of the first phaseof development, the second phase of theImperial West project includes plans fora hotel, sports and teaching facilities, anunderground parking complex, and retailspaces.

With a broader aim of redeveloping the

White City area, Imperial College has com-mitted to putting 2.4 million towards theCrossrail project, and will invest a total of8 million in improving the accessibility ofthe site, forging better transport links andproviding open spaces for the community.

Current plans for the Imperial West de-velopment include a new nursery and edu-cational links with local secondary schools

as an ongoing part of Imperials outreachprogramme. Imperial College, already amajor employer in the borough due to itsbiomedical research centre at Hammer-smith Hospital, is now expected to createan additional 3,200 permanent jobs on sitewith this campus.

But the proposal is receiving oppositionfrom some of the local residents, who fearthat the 35-storey campus will dominatethe areas skyline and alter their communi-ty. Te design, by Aukett Fitzroy Robinsonand PLP Architecture, comprises sevenbuildings and a 141-metre tower that is setto be the tallest building in the borough.

Project director John Anderson says Im-perial West will improve the urban envi-ronment, visual appearance and access toa site which had been closed to the publicfor many decades. However, whilst Ham-

mersmith and Fulham council have giventheir approval for the project, some resi-dents believe the plans to be unlawful andhave threatened the authorities with courtaction over their decision.

Construction of phase two is set to beginin early 2013 and, once complete, ImperialWest will serve as a second major campusfor Imperial College.

t their Anniversarmeeting in NovembRoyal Society, Britainprestigious scientific tion, will award five I

College scientists with some of ihighly regarded medals, awards, and

Tis year the Council of the chose Emeritus Professors om FRS (Physics) and Andrew Holm(Chemistry) to receive one of threMedals each. Kibble will receive anfor his work in the 1960s that lednow almost-discovered Higgs bosoHolmes will receive his for contrito polymer chemistry and organicelectronics.

Professor Jenny Nelson (Physicthe Royal Society Armourers and BCompany Prize for her work in m

research for organic plastic electronlow-cost solar cells. Professor Roy(Physics) received the Rumford Mhis groundbreaking research intoand fibre optics. Finally, ProfessoStevens was awarded a prize foher 2012 Clifford Patterson LecturRegenerating organs and other smlenges.

Imperial

reaps

research

rewards at

Royal SocietyNew 35-storey Imperial campus gets go-ahead



Imperial

A

Maciej Matuszewski

Alex

n Imperial geologist is oneof only two British research-ers collaborating on NASAsMars Science Laboratoryproject, which successfully

landed the rover Curiosity on the red plan-ets surface in early August. Professor San-

jeev Gupta joins John Bridges from the Uni-versity of Leicesters Space Research Centreas part of a 200-strong international teamthat will analyse the data sent back by themission.

Te size of a small car, Curiosity is thelargest rover that has ever been sent toMars. It carries some 75 kilograms of sci-entific instruments, which will allow itto study the geology and chemistry of theplanet in greater detail than ever before.Its landing site, the Gale Crater, is geologi-cally significant, with Gupta believing thatit might have once held a lake. Tis mighthave made it an ideal location for life to de-

velop, and the missions main goal is to lookfor evidence that conditions hospitable toliving organisms might once have existedthere.

Gupta has previously studied Mars his groundbreaking analysis of satelliteimagery of its surface suggested that liq-uid water might have existed there as re-cently as three billion years ago, far laterthan had previously been believed. He willspend some of the missions 98-week du-ration at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory inCalifornia where he and his colleagues willturn their talents to producing a geologi-cal map of the area surrounding the land-ing site.

ollowing an Olympic Games,many custom-built facilitiesare left to gather dust. How-ever, no such fate awaits theLondon 2012 anti-doping

headquarters in Harlow, Essex, which is al-ready guaranteed a bright future.

Te site will be developed into the MRC-

NIHR Phenome Centre, and is set to openin January 2013. Led by Imperial professorand future director Jeremy Nicholson, thebiomedical centre will house an Imperial-led academic group that aims to explore thecharacteristics of disease in order to devel-op more targeted and effective treatment.

At present, the facility provided byGlaxoSmithKline and operated by KingsCollege London analyses up to 400 urineand blood samples a day, searching for over240 prohibited substances. A 10 millioninvestment from the Medical ResearchCouncil (MRC) and the National Institutefor Health Research (NIHR) will enable thelab to be developed and repurposed afterthe Games have ended.

A phenome describes the entire of molecules in the body, found in oily fluids and tissues. By analysing a pmetabolic products, the centre aimsfile a persons biology according to their DNA, but the interactions btheir genes and the environment.

Metabolic profiling will give us

dimension of understanding about tors that contribute to disease, sayssor Jeremy Nicholson. It may also us with crucial information for prhow individual patients are likelyspond to treatment.

Researchers will look for biomarcells, molecules and genes, which mto explain why certain individuals asusceptible to disease than othermately this knowledge will enable scto create safer and more targetements which, according to Chief MOfficer Dame Sally Davies, may offpotential to revolutionise the way wa wide range of diseases.

Imperial scientist

joins Mars

exploration

mission

Anti-doping la

repurposed for researc

into disease treatme

F

Image: L



Chinese lun

rover plann

for 2013

WORLD News

world newsPICK OF THE BEST

C

A

Molly D

Lauren

Jenny Mitchell

hina will attempt to exploratory craft, Chon the surface of thein the latter half of successful, Change-3

Chinas first lunar rover as well as lunar probe to undergo a soft landingthirty-five years.

Change-3, named after the Chinedess of the Moon, is part of the seconof the three-phase Chinese Lunar Etion Program. Tis follows the suof the unmanned orbital missionChange-1 and Change-2, launched and 2010 respectively. Change-3 wiland transmit data for 3 months fromited lunar area and, if successful, willowed up by a lunar sample return in 2017.

Te Change missions are not tones undertaken by Chinas NationAdministration. Te launch of tmanned Shenzhou-1 spacecraft isparked off Chinas space program, athen China has sent eight men and

into space and undertaken space wamakes China only the third country aUS and the former Soviet Union to indently launch humans into space.

Te ultimate goal of the Change mis to land a man on the Moon by amately 2025-2030. Te last mannedlanding was carried out by the astroApollo 17 in 1972.

ontroversy surrounds test for prostate

which some claim lunnecessary and treatment for an ot

non-aggressive disease. Now researlished in CANCER shows that thefact resulted in a 67% drop in presenof metastatic (spreading) prostate Critics have called for research intofects on health outcomes, not simpdetection rates.

recent study has shown thatthe amount of carbon dioxidebeing absorbed by the planethas doubled in the last 50

years. Te study contradictstheories predicting that carbon absorptionby natural sinks is in steady decline.

Each year, humanity adds roughly six bil-lion tonnes of carbon to the Earths naturalcarbon cycle. Currently, around half of thisexcess carbon is absorbed by natural systemsthat store CO2 from the atmosphere. Tesesinks comprise mainly of plants, trees andthe Earths oceans. Many previous studies

have suggested that during the 21st centu-ry, as deforestation and ocean acidificationcontinue to occur, the ability of the planetscarbon sinks to absorb excess carbon willdecrease.

Scientists at the University of Coloradofound that between 1960 and 2010, the

volume of carbon being absorbed from theEarths atmosphere by natural carbon sinks

has increased by around 50%. Te teamconstructed a mass balance model to mapthe movement of carbon in the carbon cy-cle. Te model combined atmospheric CO2concentrations with historical data on car-bon emissions from both fossil fuel usageand land development. Analysis showed thatthe net global carbon uptake by carbon sinksrose by around 0.05 billion tonnes of carbonper year.

Tis recent work is likely to have a huge im-pact upon the way scientists forecast futureatmospheric carbon levels and the extentto which carbon emissions are expected to

contribute to global warming. Tese resultsmay well represent a short-term reprieve inthe battle to limit the potentially disastrouseffects of global warming. However, since itis widely accepted that this level of carbonuptake will not continue indefinitely, globalwarming is not likely to disappear from theagenda anytime soon.

Prostate canc

screening dilem

New study shows carbon sinkabsorption has doubled

CImage: Andy Welsh / CC-BY-SA-2.0

Section Editor: Conor McKeever



WORLD

E

S

J

Molly Docherty

Conor McKeever

Phi

kin cancer is known to affecta range of animals, and nowthe disease has even been

found in fish. Previous workhas shown that hammerheadsharks tan black in the sun, and swordtailfish can develop melanomas in the laborato-ry when exposed to ultraviolet light. New re-search published in PLoS ONE is the first toidentify wild fish suffering from skin cancer.

Scientists from Newcastle University andthe Australian Institute of Marine Sciencesampled a coral trout population in Aus-tralias Great Barrier Reef. From 136 fishanalysed, 20 (15%) displayed skin lesionscharacteristic of melanoma. All were early-

stage cancers not affecting general health.However, fitness is impaired as the diseaseprogresses which might have prevented

fish from feeding and being line-caught forstudy. As a result the team predicted thetrue prevalence of the disease to be evengreater than 15%.

Te areas ozone hole could be respon-sible, and the discovery may have impli-cations for the Great Barrier Reef and thefisheries that exploit it. o understand theextent of these implications, scientists mustnow sample wider fish populations andanalyse coral trout DNA for mutations thatcould render it especially susceptible to thesuns rays.

uly 31st saw Microsnouncing the Outloemail service thereplacement for Hotnotable part is its Metr

face, currently only a preview and aon Windows 8. Outlook.com also cnew calendar and contacts features,updated SkyDrive. Microsoft highligimproved privacy aspects of the seras yet did not specify when it would lpreview phase.

ight months and 567 millionkm since it launched fromCape Canaveral, NASAs Cu-riosity rover landed success-fully in Gale Crater, marking

the beginning of its 98-week mission todiscover if Mars could have ever hosted life.

Te landing, billed as seven minutes ofterror, was NASAs most ambitious to date.Upon entering the atmosphere, an 18-me-tre-wide parachute slowed the rover from21,200 kilometres per hour to just 1,700,before a skycrane a separate platformheld up by rockets ejected from the ex-ternal shell and lowered the rover to thesurface on nylon tethers. Te whole descentwas automated, as the 14-minute radio de-lay between Earth and Mars made any last-minute adjustments impossible.

After undergoing tests to ensure every-thing is in good working order, Curiositywill leave the landing site and its missionwill begin in earnest. Its eventual destina-tion is Aeolis Mons, a mountain 6.5 kmaway, composed of layers of sediment laiddown when Mars had liquid water on itssurface. Tese layers form a record of bil-lions of years of geological history, allowingthe rover to look for evidence of water andorganic compounds two conditions nec-

essary for life as we know it.o achieve this, Curiosity will use a com-

bination of a high-resolution camera, to de-tect objects of interest at a distance, and arange of scientific equipment, to analyse theitems found in more detail. It can determinethe elemental composition of nearby rocksby vaporising a small amount with a laser,then analysing the light given off using aspectroscope. If the feature requires furtheranalysis, instruments for X-ray diffraction,mass spectrometry and gas chromatogra-phy can determine the structure of samplescollected with the rovers mechanical arm.

Whether Curiosity discovers the buildingblocks of life or not, the next two years aresure to be tremendously valuable: the roveris the most advanced ever sent to Mars, andby measuring radiation levels and atmos-pheric conditions, it could pave the way formanned missions in the future.

Wild fish found with skin cancer

Microsoft announ

Hotmail replacem

Touchdown Confirmed!

Curiosity rover lands on Mars

The landing, billedas seven minutes ofterror, was NASAs

most ambitious to date.

The Great Barrier Reef as seen from spacImage: NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODLand Rapid Response Team



The inaugural Imperial College festival was held on 11th and 12th May 2012, featuring zany inve

a 19th century quack and a silent disco. Helen Wilkeschats to Harriet Martinfrom Imperials munications and Development department on why the festival was created, what its aims wer

what it means for Imperial Colleges science outr

What was the motivation behind the

Imperial Festival?

Te idea was born out of a desire to en-gage people, institutions and organisationsoutside of College with the myriad accom-plishments and activities of staff and stu-dents at Imperial. It grew out of a reviewinto the membership and purpose of theCollege Court a selected group of Impe-rial stakeholders and evolved into a muchbigger event to celebrate and showcase ourwork, with elements dedicated to the Courtand the Alumni Reunion, as well as generalpublic audiences.

Te Festival soon took on a life of itsown creating an opportunity to estab-lish a positive relationship with the outsideworld, develop and enable good practice inpublic engagement and attract broad anddiverse adult and family public audiences.Tis was our chance to show the worldwhat we could do, and increase our vis-ibility and engagement through innovativeand engaging activities from our studentsand researchers.

Do you think the festival was a

success? What were the outcomes you

wanted to achieve?

Yes wherever you looked during theevent, people of all generations were en-

joying themselves . Reactions on the dayand an external evaluation both providedfurther glowing feedback, which we were

very pleased with.

When we began planning it, we identi-fied four key aims for the Festival: 1) Show-case the work of Imperial and celebrate itsachievements. 2) Further public engage-

ment across all departments and levels.3) Empower key stakeholders, includingCouncil, Court, alumni, local communitiesand both adult and family public audiences4). Generate a sense of pride from staff,students and the broader College commu-nity.

We feel these were achieved across theboard, with some other exciting outcomesas well.

In the marquee, several researchers wereable to make connections with other de-partments and foster new collaborations

across the College. From a researchran a stand in the Research Zone: met a few researchers from differpartments and shared some ideas,

rations can be established. Te Festbeen a very fruitful occasion for ning.

How many people attended was

more or less than you had hoped

sort of people came to the Festiv

Tis is never an exact sciencewerent using counters, and thermany drop-in visitors whose dwewas hard to calculate. However, look at remaining programme nuand head counts in talks, the marq

Imperial Festiva



throughout the day weve estimated thatapproximately 7,000 visitors came to theFestival over the two days.

It was also very difficult to know whatto expect as this was the first ever public

event of this scale at the College, and wehave very little information regarding thetype of visitors that might be attracted tothe event. Given that this was, in manyways, a stab in the dark, we were verypleased with this number, and especiallyby the wide range of students, staff, alumniand members of the public that made upthe audience.

We were hoping to attract an adult au-dience on the Friday, modelling the eventafter the highly successful Science MuseumLates events and other adult programmes

from cultural institutions. On Saturday,the programme was geared more towardsalumni and families, and we were thrilledthat each group attended and found dif-ferent aspects of the Festival to suit theirtastes.

What was the purpose of the festival

in terms of Imperials outreach

activities?

Te outreach objectives of the Festivalreally focused on making Imperial an ac-cessible and interesting destination for lo-cal residents, businesses, visitors, currentand returning staff and students, so prettymuch everyone! We wanted to strengthenthe relationships that Imperial has with allstakeholders and create a wider awarenesstowards the research we do, as well as someof our extra-curricular activities such asdancing and music.

Over 200 researchers took part in theResearch Zone in the marquee over theweekend, many of them talking to the pub-lic for the first time. Te Festival provideda great opportunity for our researchers andstudents to get some hands-on experiencein engaging with the public somethingwe hope they will take with them to futureevents both here and elsewhere.

Finally, the Festival gave us another wayof putting Imperial on the map and real-ly celebrating what makes the College so

unique. With all the local museums andattractions around us in SW7, its easy forthe public to forget that there is a pow-erhouse of fascinating research and tal-ent nestled behind our doors. Tis is ourchance to invite people in to see for them-selves what goes on, and for our staff andstudents to show their family, friends andthe wider public what makes them tick.

What were the standout moments of thefestival?

Its so hard to pick one or two bests asto me what made the Festival a successwas the range of activities and perform-ers, dance and discussion, talks, demos andmusic, all sitting side by side. Ive pulled outa few quotes:

Its happy and young and cheerful andlivelyits very chilled and I like that thereis no gate and you can just walk in, partici-pate and wander around. (Member of theFestival public)

Te highlights were that this festivalwas designed to attract the general pub-lic. I think its a great idea that we have anevent that encourages the public to meetthe researchers who are carrying out workwhich will be of great benefit to them andindustry. (Member of Imperial staff )

For us the highlights were the tive, hands-on things because the

you how science works and you cpart in it. (Mother visiting in familywith two primary school age childr

What happens now will there b

another Imperial festival? What

you learnt from this festival?

Absolutely! Te Festival will con2013 (Friday 10th and Saturday 11and our aim is to make it even bigbetter.

In addition, we have launchedstream of public events, the IFringe, which will be evening evprovide unexpected insights into search we do here at Imperial. Ttake place on the last Tursday month during term-time and kick a Halloween spectacular from 6-9Tursday 25th October in the Main Entrance. Tere will be zombbreaks, a sleeping patient, brains,and more

For more information about the and Fringe check out the website wwrial.ac.uk/festival or email festivalrial.ac.uk


10/329 www.isciencemag.c

S

ALetter from the Rectorcience communication in the

modern age comes in manyforms, and we have travelleda long way from the dayswhen the only reliable source

of science information was omorrowsWorld on the BBC. oday, we as sciencecommunicators have a plethora of chan-nels with which to engage audiences andhighlight our work. From witter, Face-book and Youube to podcasts, blogs, liveevents, V and radio, never have we hadso many ways to talk about what we do.Yet it is the printed form which allows fora longer dissection and discussion of a sub-

ject , allowing the reader to get beneath thesurface of a topic in a way that would be

Science communication is not just a segregated department in a university. Neither is public

engagement a completely separate unit. All these activities need to work together to best benefit a

university community. Although Imperial College has the Science Communication Group, we feel

that this has a valuable place in the wider university and local community something that is the

overarching theme of this Science Communication issue. With this in mind, we asked Imperials

Rector, Sir Keith ONions, to say a few words about what science communication

means to him, and what it means for Imperial College as a whole. Nicola & DouglasEditors of I, Science

the wider world.How else will those

discoveries advance the frontiersof science and technology across

the globe, helping to tackle the manygreat challenges which we, as a society,face? As academics and researchers, wehave a duty to communicate the ben-efits of our knowledge and findings to awider audience. We have a pivotal roleto play in policy formation, support-ing decision-makers in areas such asclimate change, energy security and

global health, and who will makechoices which will affect us all.

impossible in 140 characters.

So it is a particular pleasure to writein support of this special sciencecommunication issue, which is grate-fully funded by the Wellcome rust,and which is published to coincidewith the 21st birthday of the Imperi-al College Science CommunicationGroup in September 2012.

Te many great discoverieswhich are happening every daywithin the labs, wards andworkshops of ImperialCollege will be of littlebenefit if they arenot communi-cated to

Tis is the reasonwhy publications such as I, Scieimportant. I commend all thohave contributed to the magazto the Science Communicationfor their excellent work in amthe Colleges mission to commthe impact of our education, rand translation activities.

Keith President

Tanks also to Bethafor her assistance with th


11/32



I

Stephen Webster, senior lecturer and head of Imperial Colleges Science Communication Group,reflects on the past 21 years of Imperial Colleges MSc in Science Communication

n October 2012 the latestcohort of students arrives tostudy on Imperials MSc inScience Communication.Tere will be around 50 of

them, and because they are the 21st cohort,I cant help thinking that weve come of age.We have 600 alumni by now, and youll findthem pretty much everywhere you look: inthe media, in science publishing, in muse-ums and in charities.

A 21st anniversary deserves a celebration.But beyond giving ourselves a big pat on theback, this is a good moment to think backover the years. I have two questions to pon-der. First, what are the values of the coursethat we might want to protect as the foun-dation for our next period of office? Second,

just as broadly, how has science communi-cation been affected by the cultural changesof the last two decades?

Lets be clear about the values of thecourse. We want our students to have tech-nical skills that will be of immediate utilityon leaving Imperial. We group our practicalteaching into five categories: V and film,radio and audio, writing, exhibition devel-opment, and web design. When our stu-dents have finished their practical projects(and sometimes before), they have a set of

tested skills that will impress an employer.As with science itself, there is more to thegood science communication student thantechnical skill. You need to be able to thinkcritically too. Te MSc programme is filledwith study therefore. Once levered openby the enquiring mind, science fizzes withphilosophical and cultural concerns. Andin trying to understand relations betweenscience and society, our students encoun-ter many disciplines. o make progress,they dont simply increase their reading(although we do have long reading lists).Tey begin to debate.

When the students arrive in Oc-tober they start talking as thoughtheyve never talked before. Itwould be crazy to have a sci-ence communication coursethat wasnt dominated by,well, communication. We be-lieve that the successful sci-ence communication student issomeone who combines serioustechnical skills with a lively andcritical interest in the intellectualagenda.

I can sum all this up by suggesting thatthe university course that has longevity isthe one where there is a clear philosophy. In

our case too we have been consistenported by friends within Imperial Cand outside. I can single out the Wrust, who support us with bursarhave funded our anniversary conAnd there are many industry profe often they are alumni who comgive seminars, help with teaching, alife sweet.

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Tere is a wider reason for our longevity:the sustained need for our graduates. Tefactors at play when science becomes publicseem more complex than 20 years ago. Wecan see this by looking at the classic land-

marks of the science communicationlandscape. A turning point

was the Royal Societyreport of 1985

that asked

scientists to be more active in explainingtheir work to the public. What has followedin the years since is a long series of upheav-als showing that explanation is not enough.Cultural understanding is needed too. TeChernobyl nuclear explosion of 1986; publicresistance to GM technologies; confusionover the lethality to humans of mad cow dis-ease (BSE); upsets with the MMR vaccine;the Fukushima incident: these case studiesshow the difficulty of planning the socialtrajectory of hoped-for scientific advances.Te successful passage of the issues andEmbryos bill of 2009, and the Human Fer-

tilisation and Embryo Authoritys 2012announcement of public consultationson mitochondrial transfer, are typicalof a new approach. Tese enquiries,taking place before a technique simplylands on our lap, elaborate public am-bivalence about technology, and findcommon ground. Our alumni arecontributing to this work.

Ill end by sounding my own noteof ambivalence. I worry that science

communication is helping turn scienceinside out. We should consider care-fully before we let the public face of sci-

ence take priority over its private face.Physicists demonstrated in May 2012 out-

side Downing Street with a coffin among

their concerns was that the impact of the funding councils, with its rcall for research to show economhits against pure science. For thestists, the coffin was a symbol of thof a kind of science, but I think we cit too as a symbol of the death of scprivacy, of a particular ideal wherework for a long time on an idea in and in freedom.

Science communication is imhere. As an activity it feeds a vast amedia culture, and benefits too frinsecurity of modern institutionsgrow ever more interested in transand public engagement. Yet sciencmunication is far from being onlyof publicity; it is also a space for reflto be occupied by scientists, arts anprofessionals, academic analysts, anmembers of the public. Helping scieits balance between the quiet and t

may be science communications mportant role.

Stephen Webster is head of Imperleges Science Communication Grwhich he is a senior lecturer. Imperleges Science Communication Groholding a celebration for their 21st bon 13th September.

AGEATIMPERIALCOLLEGE

ce find its

n the quiet

y be science

ons most role



ANicola GuttridgeandDouglas Heavenchat to public

engagement staff from Imperial

College London, University

College London and QueenMary, University of London

to see if they approach their

activities in different ways

and what they hope to achieve.

nyone reading this with a sci-entific background probablydoesnt need to be convincedof sciences worth. But whenuniversities need to spread

the word about their research, they mustengage a non-scientific public, as well aspartners and funders, to convince them tooof its benefits. Some universities tackle thisby setting up specialised offices to handlepublic engagement (PE) on behalf of theirscientists. Imperial College does not yet haveits own unit, but employs staff dedicated tothese challenges. University College London(UCL) and Queen Mary (QMUL) have setup PE centres.

When I started I was the only person ata London university dedicated to support-ing this kind of work, says Steve Cross, headof the public engagement unit at UCL. Butnow nearly all of the major London Univer-sities Imperial as well have staff just likeme. Cross has worked in public engagementfor four years. He aims to support activitiesthat encourage a culture of two-way con-

versations between university staff and stu-dents, and people outside the university.

Tis is the essence of PE, so it is unsur-prising that Imperial, UCL and QMUL allhave a similar philosophy. What is some-what unexpected is the speed with whichmore dedicated public engagement units

are springing up. We recently crnew academic centre for public ment, says Peter McOwan, headactivities at QMUL. We want ttogether the various projects alrexistence, help spread the practice bternally and externally, and to suppmentor the next generation.

McOwan and QMUL have a stronof social responsibility, and take grein the universitys beginnings and coactivities in the local community their Mile End campus in East LQueen Mary began life as the Peopace, a philanthropic centre bringincation and culture to people livingimpoverished, often ignored, East Eplains McOwan. 125 years on, althoarea still faces significant social chait is transformed and in this Olymthe focus of the worlds spotlight.

Imperial also aims to engage icommunity in what they do. Givencation in the heart of South Kenscultural institutions, we are keen to more collaboration with our neighsays Natasha Martineau, Head of RCommunications at Imperial Collehighlights the recent Imperial FestHelen Wilkes interview on page 7) asexample: We were pleased to get a cotion from every department and insthe inaugural Festival in May 2012, sTis suggests that our community istake up these opportunities!

NOONES

IZEFITSALL

INTERMS

OFHOWA



Martineau finds herself adapting her ap-proach to PE at Imperial depending on thedepartment and institute. It is clear that noone size fits all in terms of how a universitycan best support its community in engag-ing with the public, she says. Te path formedics may be very different than that forphysicists.

However, in some ways, there is a limitedamount that PE units can do. Motivated andpublic-aware scientists ultimately controlthe amount of coverage their departmentand research can get Cross mentions, forexample, how his unit spends approximatelytwice the amount of time on engagement forSEM as for humanities and social sciences.Why does he think this is?

We work with Scandinavian Studies a lot,German less so, Neuroscience all the time,Genetics quite rarely, for example, he says.Under-representation for us tends to be aproduct of individual personalities withindepartments and their desire to engage withpublics, rather than the subjects themselves.

UCL deals with a wide range of social sci-ences, arts, humanities, law and SEM sub-

jects, so it makes sense that some subjectsmay lend themselves more readily to PE. AtImperial, a notoriously science-dominatedinstitution, Martineau finds that it is thisnarrow range of subjects that helps to givefocus to the universitys PE activities. Iveonly ever worked in science-based institu-tions, so I may not be in the best place to

make a proper comparison, says Martineau.But the more we develop our support inthis area, the more I am aware of how publicengagement can make tangible differencesto the paths of research. So in that sense,I would say that the [science] focus is veryhelpful.

Like UCL, QMUL also has a mix of hu-manities, social sciences and SEM sub-

jects across its courses. But their approachis slightly different to UCLs, in that they mixtogether the various PE topics to strengthen

their effect. At QMUL we have a balance of [humanities and scienceMcOwan. What we are interested iis looking for ways that these two bcan usefully work together to create new ways to engage the public in an iciplinary format.

So, whats changed in the sector sofficers have been working within been working in this style of public ment, as opposed to more traditioence communication, for four yearCross. Te big changes have come ffunders of research. Both MartineMcOwan agree with Cross on thimentioning how PE has gained intance and profile over the years. Tnote how the impact of their activitieconsidered in research proposals. Rcouncils expect more from researcthese areas now, says McOwan.

All the universities hope the field wtinue to evolve and improve. For Ithings have so far focused quite stroembedding PE within the life of a resesays Martineau. Id like to develop amomentum for supporting it in our tand with our students.

At UCL, Cross feels exactly the saPublic engagement with research isestablished field, he says. But its clear what this engagement will look becomes part of teaching, learning anuniversity functions.

public

engagementcan make

tangible

differences to

the paths of

research

ERSITYCANB

ESTSUP

PORT

ITSCOMMUNITY



Although seemingly beautiful and serene,this fiery image shows the hundreds of mil-lions of stars at the turbulent heart of theMilky Way, all cocooned in cosmic gas anddust. Te life of such a star is visible in itsentirety, from the dusty regions of star birth,populations of young stars, ageing stars, oldstars, and dead stars, to their remnants. Allof this chaos is permeated with a hazy blue

SCIENCEBEHIND

THEPHOTO

light, the product of X-ray outflowblack holes and massive stars.

Released back in 2009, the panorcomposite of images from the Hubbelescope, the Spitzer Space elescothe Chandra X-ray Observatory. It ppart in the International Year of Ast(IYA), a global celebration of astronoits contributions to our society and



Image: NASA, ESA, SSC, CXC, a

words: Nicola G

Te IYA was held in 2009, 400 years afterGalileo first blinked up at the skies througha telescope a moment often lauded asthe birth of modern astronomy. Copies ofthis image were printed and unveiled byNASA across more than 150 sites includ-ing planetariums, museums, and libraries across the US, showing how involved theorganisation is in public engagement and

communication. Hubbles ability to go be-yond gathering data for scientists to studyhas proved to be a real bonus for ignitingthe publics interest in astronomy.

Astronomy is a highly collaborative field partially by necessity. Sharing time on theworlds largest telescopes requires high lev-els of co-operation, as does observing thesame phenomena from various parts of the

globe. It also has the ability to brintries together although the recent of the Mars Science Laboratory owas a NASA effort, underneath it the uniting achievement that Earth hcessfully sent a probe to another pla


18/32



I

Gareth Mitchell discusses how the relationships between science, society, geekculture and the intimate medium of radio have changed over the last two decades.

still have a copy of my MScin Science Communicationradio coursework. It is nota file on my computer, buta spool of magnetic tape.

We students in 1994 recorded locationinterviews on a SONY Walkman and ed-ited tape with a razorblade and sticky tape.Feedback with our tutor was in class oncea week. oday, my students record straightonto a flashcard and edit on powerful audiosoftware. Supervision and feedback are aseasy as exchanging files through email andDropbox.

How things have changed. But more sur-prising is what has not changed. In my day,we were rewarded for vivid storytelling andpenalised for sloppy editing. As our tutordid in the class of 93/94, I too give extramarks for good writing and dock marksfor poor sound quality. Te componentsof short radio features have remained thesame: interviews, narration, and maybesome sound effects or music.

wo decades ago, BBC Radio 4 had aweekly topical magazine programme calledScience Now. In 2012, Radio 4 has a weeklytopical magazine programme called Mate-rial World.

Tough of course, there are differencesbetween the two eras. A radio programme

likeInfinite Monkey Cagewould never havebeen commissioned when the MSc in Sci-ence Communication began in 1991. Backthen, few would have imagined Radio 4broadcasting an audience-based hybrid ofscience, comedy and satire co-hosted by acomedian and a rock star celebrity physi-cist.

ButMonkey Cageis not about how radiohas changed. It reflects more about how sci-ence, scientists and science communicationhave shifted. Like todays MSc students, Iwas taught that science is not separate fromculture, it is culture. Intellectually it seemedlike a plausible position, but I am not surethat I fully believed it at the time.

But even outside our bubble, who wouldargue against that notion today? Tere arefestivals devoted to science, its as often thesubject of feature articles or panel discus-sions as history or art, comedians do rou-tines about it and celebrities tweet about it.

A separate but related phenomethese last decades has been the riseculture. Te G word was not generakindly in 1991 but today, geeks emultibillion-dollar social media ethey discover the Higgs boson andprobes that tweet high-resolution pback from Mars. When it comes to the coders I meet at tech conferencindistinguishable from the trendihang out in Hoxton.

In the 1990s, very few scientists ped television or radio shows about Now, it is a prerequisite. It brings usInfinite Monkey Cage and its nerdypresenters accompanied by a willinof scientific guests. Te show sellsfestivals and has a thriving wittering.

Im surprised at the similarities inbetween todays science radio andthe nineties. Monkey Cage seems exception, but really it is just a rethat what has changed is nothing to digital editing or cheap solid-state acorders. Instead, it tells a wider storhow societys attitude to science is different to that of 1991.

Gareth Mitchell is a lecturer in BrCommunication (Radio) in the Scienmunication Group at Imperial College

separatefrom

culture,itiscultur

I

wastaughtthatscienceisn



Journalist and lecturer

Wendy Barnabyspeaks

toJuan Casasbuenas

about the changing world

of journalism, and how

she prepares students for

it through her lecturing.

How did you become a science journal-

ist, and later a lecturer?

o be totally honest I just fell into jour-nalism. Tis was in the 70s I was livingin Stockholm looking for something to doand an opportunity arose for me to write,but I didnt have any training. I started towork in journalism in an irregular way, andI became really interested in it. Fast for-ward to around 2005 or 2006, and ImperialCollege asked me whether I want to teachon the print module. I thought it was an in-credibly interesting thing to do, so took the

job. Ive been freelance all my journalisticlife, so it wasnt as if I had to leave a job totake this one. When you are freelance youcan just pick up jobs on the way so it wasan easy decision.

Outside of journalism, are you

interested in science communication in

general?

My interest in science communicationdid not just arise from the print module,which is actually all about teaching peopleto write. It isnt strictly science communi-cation except that it is, of course, in that

you are teaching people to write, to com-municate. I edit a magazine called Peopleand Science that is published by the Brit-ish Science Association, and that takes

me more towards the academic science communication; it is veryabout public engagement. We lookdifferent approaches people are takthings they are doing and the sort oations they are trying to carry out.

As the field of science communic

evolves, are you finding that the

module has had to change in resp

Writing is writing. Okay, you write differently for the web or page, but the basics of writing to people in a subject that they donmuch about are exactly the samepeople about things, and translatinsomething that will interest peopis basically what we do. It is simping place in a different environmebecause of electronic media whhad such a huge impact on journaa whole. Tis has had a huge impnewspapers, their economic situatcoming quite dire and people wowhether they will survive.

Has the experience of being a jou

ist changed a lot in your experie

When I began as a journalist theno computers thinking back, I how we managed to do anything

An

interviewwith...


21/32www.isciencemag.co.uk

course it was so much more relaxed; youdring people, see them, talk to them face toface. It was great fun and enormously valu-able. As a journalist you got a much deeperunderstanding of what your subjects weredoing, more than you tend to these daysbecause the whole thing is quicker andmore superficial. Te essence of journal-ism is the same, but the way you do it andthe context in which you do it has changed.

How do you prepare students for the

world of journalism?

I think we need to give them a goodoverview of what sorts of things peoplewill need to be able to do when they goout into the workplace. Its not the topicswe need to cover, its more the culture that

you have to try and impart : how busy itis, the pressure of it, the way you simplywont be forgiven if you dont meet a dead-line. Journalism is very unforgiving in thatsense and we have to forget sometimesthat we are sitting in a university seminarroom and put ourselves in the mind-set ofthe industry.

Could you give me a specific example?

We give them a press conference everyyear, and bring in a real life researcher forthem to interview. Tis is after they have

had some experience with a spoof pressconference, and have practiced interview-ing, giving them a taster. Ten we bring ina proper researcher and expose them to areal press conference. Te students thenwrite for four different outlets this couldbe for Te imes, or the Daily Mail. Wemake it so that it is absolutely like whathappens in real journalistic life.

What are the key lessons that students

take away from these experiences?

You learn how to ask questions, learnwhat area of a body of knowledge that isbeing presented to you will be interestingfor the audience you are writing for. Andthat is something that is quite hard to learnas a journalist, especially if you come froman academic background. It is easy to treata body of knowledge as interesting for itsown sake. Whereas when you are a jour-nalist you are almost always writing for thepeople who are going to read it, and youhave to put yourself in their shoes all thetime. Tat is something we definitely tryand make really realistic on the course.

Wendy Barnaby is a freelance journalistand former chair of the Association of Brit-ish Science Writers. She has written for nu-merous publications including Nature andNew Scientist; she also teaches print jour-nalism on the MSc in Science Communica-tion at Imperial College London.



Iconic science

Biology:

Dolly

1996 saw the birth of Dolly, the first mam-mal to be cloned from an adult cell, and the worlds

most famous sheep. By transferring the nucleus of anudder cell into an unfertilised egg cell, Ian Wilmut and his

team from the Roslin Institute were able to show how a dif-ferentiated adult cell could be persuaded to revert back toan all-purpose, omnipotent cell. Since Dolly, many otherlarge mammals have been cloned, but according to Wil-

mut, the technique may never be viable in humans,much to the relief of anti-cloning groups. It has,

however, been used to bring a Pyrenean ibex,a form of wild mountain goat, back

from extinction for sevenminutes.

Chemistry:Nanotechnology

If good things come in small packages, thenits no wonder nanotechnology is garnering so

much excitement. Already on the market in the formof silver-infused plasters and anti-odour socks, poten-tial applications include drug delivery, touchscreens andeven elevators to the moon. Te power of graphene andcarbon nanotubes lies in their thickness of a single atom.Earlier this year, IBM managed to shrink down a hard-drive to only 12 atoms in size, enough to store one

data bit. However, there are also the requisite

science fiction fears involving microscopicrobots self-replicating and consum-

ing everything on Earth.

Physics:

Higgs boson

Te world watched as Petwept and Stephen Hawking smiledscribed the discovery of his particula

in July as the final piece of the puzzderstanding of the universe, supportfield theory which explains how mat10 years and billions of pounds in

the Large Hadron Collider is an Big Science in all meanings of th

showing just what internacollaboration can achiev

Image:ToniBarros

SiobhanChantakes alook back at six

of the most iconictopics in

science fromthe last two

decades.



Technology:

world wide webTis is for everyone. im Berners-Lees ap-pearance at the London 2012 Opening Ceremony

reminded us all how much we owe to the generosity ofone man. Te web, designed while Berners-Lee and col-

leagues were at CERN, was arguably invented to ease thesharing of scientific information. Te public have had accessto the web since the mid-1990s, and science communica-tion has thrived, with blogs and the rise of open accessjournals. Citizen science projects like Foldit and Gal-

axy Zoo have redefined the idea of public engage-ment, giving non-scientists the chance to make

sense of data to help understand proteinsand distant galaxies.

Environment:

Ozone layerIn 1984, British Antarctic Survey scientists

discovered that the ozone layer above the Antarc-

tic was beginning to thin. wo years later, and the holewas the size of the continental US. Scientists were quick

to link this to CFCs and within 10 years, we had phasedout the chemical in the UK and Europe which had beenextensively used in aerosols, refrigerants and packaging.Scientists work had a measurable impact on indus-

try and policy, and alternatives to this widely usedchemical were found, making this one of the big

science communication success stories. Teozone hole is expected to disappear

by 2050.

Medicine:

VaccinesTe first human papilloma virus (HPV)

vaccine was approved for use in 2006 and since2008, the UK has rolled out nationwide vaccina-

tion of 12 and 13 year old girls. HPV is responsiblefor cervical cancer, genital warts and anal cancer, andthere have been calls for boys to be vaccinated. Tis is insharp contrast to the MMR vaccine scare of only a dec-ade before, which saw public trust in clinicians fail

and led to incidences of measles skyrocketing inthe UK. While the search for an effective HIV

vaccine is ongoing, the FDA approved apill to prevent HIV infection.

Image:

Rock1997

Imag

e:Steve

n

Depolo



Meet theAlumniFrom electrocutin

Henson to public engageKenya,Joel Winstondiscov

there is no such thing as aScience Communication gr

While training in biomedical researchin Melbourne, Australia, Juliette Mutheubegan her venture into science communi-cation as executive producer for a studentradio show on topical health issues.

After her studies, she moved back toKenya to conduct research into the epide-miology of malaria in children, and becameinvolved in setting up Kenyan Science Cafsto engage the public in scientific research.

I had only recently moved from a sci-entific research career to science commu-nication, says Juliette. I had the passionand enthusiasm for communicating sciencebut no actual training. So Juliette came toLondon to study Science Communication,and developed the skills that she was look-ing for.

But her travels werent finished there.Juliette secured an internship at the Ok-

inawa Institute of Science and echin Japan, where she got involved inwriting, podcasting, photography cial media.

Now working at the KEMRI-Wrust Research Programme in KiNairobi, Kenya, Juliette assists resein engaging key stakeholders throudia briefings, social media, the wpublic events. She is currently workicolleagues to develop a structured pto enable effective and timely scienmunication.

Te beauty of science communicthat theres a range of things a perdo to engage the public in science aperson cant do it all. But if you havwork of different people with differeand you bring them all together, the impact you can have.

If anyone can prove that Science MediaProduction graduates dont always take thepredictable route into broadcast, then itsMorgaine Matthews, who instead optedfor a career in advertising.

When she started her Masters in 2008,Morgaine wanted to learn more about sci-ence communication and the media, whilealso developing her creative skills. But by

the end of the course, her aims were quitedifferent to most of her course mates. Af-ter graduation I was far less concernedwith the science communication side ofthings and completely focused on findinga creative career, says Morgaine.

Since graduating, Morgaine has workedat an advertising agency as a creative copy-

writer and junior art director, choosing thecareer because of the challenges involved.

You work within a creative team whichis great fun, but the best part is the variety.One day you could be developing a com-puter game, then the next day youre writ-ing a script.

But Morgaine has no regrets about the

route she took into her career, and saysthat although she could have ended upthere without the course, it would havetaken longer. Having the Masters meantI could jump straight into a creative en-

vironment and feel comfortable from dayone.

Science Communication, 2010/11

Science Communication

Specialist in Kenya

Science Media Production, 2008/

Creative Copywriter

Morgaine Matthews

Juliette Mutheu



After four years as a junior doctor to be-come a GP in 1994, Graham Easton washappy to take a breather from medicineand focus on writing and communication.But he certainly didnt expect things to turnout the way they did.

Straight after a work placement at theBBC, Graham was lucky enough to land asenior producer role in the World ServiceScience Unit. I felt hugely under-qualifiedand unsure about turning my back on med-icine, says Graham. But it was too good achance to pass up.

Over the next nine years, Grahamworked as a health reporter, producer, dutyscience news editor, and for five years pre-sented Case Notes, a medical magazineprogramme on Radio 4.

But being a restless soul, Graham wasready for a change. o get experience inprint journalism, he spent four years as as-

sistant editor at the British Medical Jour-nal before moving back to a mix of clinicalmedicine and teaching. Tis meant somere-training and sitting professional medicalexams aged 40 with a young family, whichwas tough!

Alongside fitting in three GP surgeries

a week, Graham is now Deputy Directorof Primary Care Education at Imperial,teaching communication skills to medicalstudents, and running courses for doctorsin China. He is also on the editorial boardsof two medical journals, presents podcastsfor doctors, and is currently studying for a

doctorate in education, focusing on the useof narrative in teaching medicine.

Although it sometimes feels as though I

have lurched from one job to the next with-out much planning, with hindsight I cansee a definite career pattern. Everything Ihave done in the past is at the heart of whatI am doing now, and it feels right.

Having already tried his hand at studentradio and making science videos duringuniversity, Greg Foot was determined to

escape the lab and explore the world ofscience communication.

Id been making showreels and sendingthem to producers, keen to move into sci-ence presenting, says Greg. I also lovedfilming and editing. So my plan was to gobrush up on all those skills and see wherethey could take me.

After honing his production skills atImperial and sending out even moreshowreels to everybody and anybody,Greg worked his way up the V pro-duction ladder, moving from Runnerto Researcher to Assistant Producer toProducer, working on a range of scienceshows.

I also built up my presenting experi-ence from a CBBC science series on

BBC One, to electrocuting Gavin for Bravo, to my most recent seBBC hree he Secrets of Ever

where I was buried alive, frozen, shburnt in the name of science.

Greg has also set up Science Jucompany that takes science showschools and science festivals.

As a freelancer, Greg is familiar wfeeling of not knowing where the nwill come from, and the need to nand chase opportunities. Its beeand has felt like a massive game ofand Ladders, but its been worth it

He has also noticed that more eers are now looking for people range of skills. So dont just be researcher. Learn to film, edit andwrite too. Plus, knowledge of sociaand using it to your marketing adis a cracking skill to have.

Science Media Production, 2005/2006

BBC Science Presenter

& Science Junkie

Science Communication, 1994/95

Deputy Director of Primary

Care Education, Imperial College

Graham Easton

greg foot



Everything

(and nothing)has changed

In 1992, a Conservative governmin office. Public spending was being Politicians were beginning to feel thepublic anger over genetic engineerithe shadow of a fatal nuclear accidcast doubts about the future of the industry.

wo decades later, it appears t

much has changed in terms of priorscience in policy. Tis may be becathree main political parties are nowthan ever; successive governmensought to stand on the shoulders of thdecessors science policies, rather thmantle what came before and start a

1992 20

Bye byenuclear?

We

dont

eat

genes

NGOs such as Greenpeace andFriends of the Earth were begin-ning to organise what became oneof the most successful global cam-paigns in their history: to preventthe commercialization of geneti-cally modified (GM) technologyin food. In the UK, their cause washelped by Labours long-servingenvironment minister MichaelMeacher, who effectively servedas their champion in governmentand fought hard to block the influ-ence of big business (via the De-partment of rade).

In 1992 the world was still reelingfrom the Chernobyl nuclear accidentin 1986 and the UK all but abandonedplans to renew its fleet of ageing Mag-nox nuclear power plants. Instead,government and business were pre-paring to build an underground labo-ratory close to Sellafield near the LakeDistrict to study whether the area wassuitable for deep disposal of existingnuclear waste.

oday, Europe is a desert whecomes to commercial gene techogy in food for human consution. Authorisation for field-tesGM products is difficult too. Paas a result, plant science in UK

versities has become weaker, whthe government has only now ognized. Te Bill and Melinda GFoundation is beginning to profunding. At the same time govment and business have learlessons and are treading more tiously with plans to commercisynthetic biology.

In 1997, Conservative enviment minister John Gummer koff any plans to bury nuclear wnear the Lake District, weeks bea general election would sweepories from office. Renewable enfor a while dominated energy pobut any hopes that nuclear woulan increasing part of the energy were dashed with the Fukushtragedy in Japan in 2011.

Ehsan Masood

Ehsan Masood is the editor of RFortnight and Research Europe, andinternational science policy on Imperleges Science Communication MSc.



1992 20

Science

mustpay

its way

Who

needs

evidence?

Innovation

and the

rise of

patenting

culture

Keith Joseph, mentor to Mar-garet Tatcher and Conservativesecretary of state for education, feltthat scientists needed to be more

accountable for receiving publicfunds. Out of this came the Re-search Assessment Exercise (RAE),a system of distributing researchfunds based on a grading of quality.Paradoxically, even such an ideo-logically-Conservative governmenthad no plans of charging students togo to university.

wo landmark pieces of legis-lation from America (both from1980) were being applied in theUK and soon across Europe. heBayh-Dole Act allowed universi-ties to patent products and pro-cesses created from governmentfunding and Diamond v Chakra-barty was a US Supreme Courtruling that allowed the patentingof genetically modified organisms.his was part of a wider agendaand in the UK it included the gov-ernment selling off many publicly-owned research labs such as theNational Physical Laboratory andthe Laboratory of the GovernmentChemist.

Back in 1992, the UK govern-ment had a mere handful of sci-entific advisers. But they were of-ten men and women of immenseinfluence, such as Crispin ickellwho persuaded Margaret hatch-er of the risks from environmen-tal threats, or John Ashton, whopersuaded the Foreign Office thatit needed to expand its scientificdiplomacy.

Te RAE continues to thrivefuture it will be called the ReseaExcellence Framework). It helped UK scientists to be am

the most published (and most ciin the world, but has probablytroduced more short-termism other unintended effects. Te Ris good for narrow specialists bad for polymaths and big-picthinkers. It has been much studby other countries (notably the Uand Australia), but never copied

Making money from knowle(now known in policy circles as novation) is now all the rage there is barely a university wout an associated commerciation arm. However, 20 yearsconstantly pushing universitiethink commercially has now ated something of a reaction amacademics. Helped by the succesthe Open Source and Open Acmovements, some universities beginning to dabble with what ising called Open Innovation. Wout as a wounded Big Pharma coknocking on the doors of univeties as it seeks to find cheaper wof making blockbuster drugs.

oday, most UK governmentpartments have a chief scientific

viser and there is increasing intefrom all parties of finding waytest the evidence behind propopolicies. At the same time tare few research-trained/reseaaware MPs and if the House of Lobecomes mostly elected, we are lito lose many scientists who have they will not stand for election.



Engagement

with Objects

I

Rachel Souhami charts the brief history of museum interactives

from quick political fix to a promise of engagement

ts strange to think that ifyoud walked into a sciencemuseum thirty years ago, youwould have been hard pushedto find any interactive exhib-

its. Such exhibits didnt become a staple ofscience exhibitions until the mid-1980s,

and though it would be tempting to saythat this was connected to trends in sciencecommunication, its got just as much, if notmore, to do with offering a solution to po-litical contexts. However, the key issues formuseums have changed, and interactivesmay no longer offer the quick fix for sciencemuseums that they once did.

When the Royal Society published Wal-ter Bodmers report Public Understandingof Science in 1985, it was against a back-ground of changes to the funding and man-agement of public museums introduced bythe Conservative government. Tese meantthat museums had to justify their incomefrom the state, compete for visitors, andfind private sources of funding.

Bodmers report enabled science muse-ums to make a case for funding. In addition,science museums imported the concept ofinteractivity from the US to make their ex-hibitions fun and educational, which was asmuch about creating a USP to attract visi-tors as it was about a new means of commu-nicating science. It was a successful solutionin that the exhibits were popular, and so in-teractives became commonplace.

Te deficit model advocated by Bod-mer, where scientists educate the public,has long been discredited, but interactiveshave hung around for two quite differentreasons. One of these concerns town plan-ning: twin agendas of informal science edu-cation and urban regeneration, combinedwith government funding, led to a number

of councils developing science centres asflagship projects for regeneration schemes.Te other reason was the advent of engage-ment as a concept both in science com-munication and as part of broader culturalpolitics this time with policies introducedby New Labour, which again had an impact

on funding.Engagement is problematic when ap-

plied to exhibitions: what does it mean?One might argue that simply coming to anexhibition was a form of engagement. Andhow does one have dialogue with inanimateobjects? Here interactives came to the res-cue again, providing a means for visitors torecord their thoughts on a subject, usuallyat a computer terminal. What happened tothose comments, and whether such inter-actions can be considered meaningful dia-logue, is another question.

Engagement and dialogue are still hottopics for museums, but not in relation toscience communication. Instead the broad-er museological question of interpretationof collections has become increasinglyprominent: who is able to give the mean-ing and history of an object? Whose voiceshould be heard in an exhibition?

Tese questions relate to the long-termdocumentation of collections, engagingcommunities in interpreting objects, andthe editorial policies of museums. Tese areissues that require far more complex solu-tions than an interactive exhibit, ones thatgo to the root of how museums operate andhow exhibitions are made. Tat is not to saythat interactives are on their way out, butperhaps their days as a panacea are over.

Rachel Souhami is a lecturer in ScienceCommunication (Museums) in the ScienceCommunication Group at Imperial College.

Objects but

not objective?What is it we see when we g

a museum? Te objects themselor the stories and information museums choose to tell us abthem? ake a polystyrene cup. interpretation of this object coinclude its functional use, histmanufacture, symbolic meanin

value to society but rarely aonce.

Its interpretation is subjecshaped by factors including pracal constraints like the word coof its label, the topic of its exhtion, and the museums identity intellectual remit. Cultural andcial aspects come into play too.

Objects in museums tell uhow the world might be. Te of our plastic cup might be toas a symbol of our reliance on rochemicals, our drinking haor contemporary design solut any number of things. But things for sure, it wont be althem. While museums mightways aim to tell the truth, its nethe whole truth.

Vanna Bar



For a visua

anthropolog

of scienc

In a sense, all films are eth-nographic films, either inform, content, or both, be-cause they reveal culturalpatterning. Film as a cultural

product is not unique in this regard, butthe mechanical nature of photography hasgiven it special status. For anthropologists,the documentary camera appears to offerthe possibility of fixing something of thedetails of lived experience free from thesubjectivity of field notes. It was this pos-sibility that prompted Grierson to coin theterm documentary, writing of FlahertysMoana that it had documentary value.Te camera could capture, automatically,something of the essence of a culture andits people.

Te movie camera was invented to cap-ture motion. It was put to use as early as1874 by the French astronomer Pierre-Ju-les-Csar Janssen, who that year recordedthe transit of Venus from his hut in Yokoha-ma. In the 1880s, Eadweard Muybridge andtienne-Jules Marey advanced the technol-ogy with devices they invented for studyinganimal locomotion. Of necessity, they builtthese machines themselves, but in 1895, forthe first time, the Lumire brothers madean all-purpose camera available to anyonewho could afford it.

Initially it was trained on people doingordinary thingsrowing a boat, havingbreakfast, playing cards or descending from

a steam trainbut soon it was made to re-cord the fantastical journeys of Mlis andthe no less hazardous trips of European ex-plorers. Tus the ethnographic film beganalmost immediately as a phenomenon ofcolonialism. In the far-off lands of Empire,Europeans encountered peoples whosecultures, even then, were threatened withextinction and with their cameras they at-

tempted to rescue what was disappBut today, although we have lonturned the cameras back on ourselworld of science, where film was bmains largely unexplored by the vithropologist.

Tere is a price to that isolation. any unknown tribe, rumours cabout customs and practices. In ththe sociologist Robert Merton spnumber of such stories about the ness of scientists and the openness institutions. Although this pictureence has been challenged over the la

years, so noble was Mertons charation that it continues to be embraclittle demur today, reinforced by nutelevision documentaries.

Te trouble with films is that tha tendency to lie, and the audiencedency to believe. Te science docummade in retrospect and constrainedneed to explain, necessarily prevabout how science is done. For thea clear narrative it usually ignores certainty of experimental results andmention the blind alleys of researcrarely, if ever, does a programme dothe non-Mertonian culture of secreis common in science, or give any hininter-personal competition that bliglives of so many researchers. Becaufilms appear plausible, they diminimportance of what they leave out

quite naturally take the science dotary that explains for an image of scit is practised. In this way we miscthe nature of science and of scientimistake Hungarians for Indians.

Bob Sternberg is the Leader of the Mence Media Production course, and aer in Broadcast Communication (V

Bob Ste

Whenshooting

westerns

use real

Indians if

possible; but

if Indians

are not

available,

use

Hungarians.

from a classicAmerican texton lighting



Betweencontrol

and creativity

A

friend once told me about ameeting he attended in themid-1990s where, apparently,a group planned to take overUK science communication.

Imagine the power! o control which sci-entific ideas, voices, and bits of informationare placed into the public realm. Controlwhat is seen as a rational decision abouthealth, energy, agriculture, and more. Con-trol the collective ideas of the future. Imag-ine the influence! Imagine the money!

Tis story is hearsay and not from themost reliable source, so I wont reveal whowas meant to be at the heart of such adastardly plot. I share it because it almostdoesnt matter who it was, or if it is true atall. Te basic warning still stands: controlpublic debates about science and technol-ogy, and you get to control many threads ofhow we spin our idea of progress.

For that reason, I think it befits everyoneworking in science communication bethis journalism, PR, engagement, educa-tion, or showbiz to recognise the politicsof their work and keep an eye out for ide-ologies, interests and limitations they dontpersonally subscribe to. We dont need toagree on which politics is correct, just ac-

knowledge that its there.

I got into science communication be-cause, as an ever-so-earnest teenager, Ithought it could save the world. A few yearsin the kids galleries at the Science Museumand an SS degree or three shocked somecynicism into me, but the basic hope is stillthere. If anything, such cynicism has simply

made me more aware of how easy ifor science communicators to oil theof some not especially nice or clevetions for the planet.

We need to check that our creanot exploited. We need to ask ecopolitical, and cultural questions asscientific ones. We need to ask thestions of ourselves, our friends, afunders as well as others. We neewilling to feel a bit uncomfortable. Wto be able to disagree.

What we do has the power to chaworld. It really does only ever iincremental ways, and never, ever eCompromises will always be necessBut each action adds up. If science c

nication really has come of age with birthday of Imperial Colleges MSc, to recognise its power as well as itstions and stand up for itself.

Alice Bell is Senior eaching Fellowperial, directing the new Global Chcourse. She completed a PhD in theCommunication Group in 2008.

We need towilling to fee

bit uncomforta

Alice Bell discusses

a more mindful

phase for science

communication, in

which we mustnt

be afraid to

disagree


31/32I, Science

Perhaps one function of much

science journalism is aesthetic Felicity Mellor

GregFoot

Iwas

buried

alive,

frozen,

shotand

burntin

thenameof

science

Onceleveredopenbythe

enquiringmind,science

fizzeswithphilosophical

andculturalconcernsStephenWebster

I got into scien

communication

because I

thought it coulsave the world

Alice Be


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i science september 2012 web

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