Sergey Paltsev, deputy director of MIT’s Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, speaks with Climate Now hosts James Lawler and Katherine Gorman about climate projections and the tools he and his colleagues use to communicate projected climate outcomes to policymakers and the public.
Writing for Science, Deborah Blum, director of the Knight Science Journalism Program, explores the growth of science journalism. Blum notes that in her view the most important contribution for science reporters is “to portray research accurately in both its rights and its wrongs and stand unflinchingly for the integrity of the story.”
"You remember when we go to election polls, the voting booth, during elections, we get a little sticker that says 'I Voted'" says Prof. Sinan Aral of a new study that finds hearing about people who have received the Covid-19 vaccine can increase vaccine acceptance rates. "You should think of this as a very similar type of strategy. The reason we get that sticker that says 'I Voted' is that social proof motivates people to join in. And so if we got a sticker or put out a video or put out a message that said, 'I got vaccinated,' it would have the same effect for the same reasons."
Graduate student Crystal Lee speaks with Slate reporter Rebecca Onion about a new study that illustrates how social media users have used data visualizations to argue against public health measures during the Covid-19 pandemic. “The biggest point of diversion is the focus on different metrics—on deaths, rather than cases,” says Lee. “They focus on a very small slice of the data. And even then, they contest metrics in ways I think are fundamentally misleading.”
Emily Calandrelli SM ’13 speaks with STAT reporter Pratibha Gopalakrishna about her work aimed at getting children interested in science, the importance of representation in the STEM fields, and her new Netflix show. “I don’t shy away from the science because I think kids are very clever and know way more than a lot of people give them credit for,” says Calandrelli.
MIT Press and the University of California at Berkeley are launching a journal that will offer peer reviews of Covid-19 research, reports Paul Baskin for Times Higher Education. “We want to align with what the research community is doing and what it wants,” says Amy Brand, director of MIT Press. “But we also want to build in more quality control and more accountability.”
Inside Higher Ed reporter Lindsay McKenzie writes that a new AI system developed by MIT researchers to summarize the findings of technical scientific papers could “be used in the near future to tackle a long-standing problem for scientists -- how to keep up with the latest research.”
Inside Science reporter Yuen Yiu writes that MIT researchers have developed a new AI system that can summarize scientific research papers filled with technical terms. Yiu writes that the system “is a dramatic improvement from current programs, and could help scientists or science writers sift through large numbers of papers for the ones that catch their interest.”
National Geographic reporter Catherine Zuckerman spotlights the work of research scientist Felice Frankel, a photographer who captures images that are intended to captivate and inform viewers about complex scientific advances. Frankel explains that the goal of her new book is to help scientists “understand that beautiful images can engage the public.”
Writing for Inside Higher Ed, research scientist Felice Frankel explains the importance of scientists learning how to communicate their work. “I am convinced that learning how to make technically accurate, interesting and honest images and graphics of science should be part of every scientist’s education,” writes Frankel.
Deborah Blum, director of the Knight Science Journalism Program, writes for The Boston Globe about a new book that spotlights the work of women code breakers during World War II. Blum writes that a number of recent books, “remind us that women have been vitally important to the success of both science and technology — if only we will give them that credit.”
Writing for Photo District News, Conor Risch spotlights the work of science photographer and research scientist Felice Frankel, who works with scientists to capture photographs that translate their research to the general public. “Frankel has made improving the visual literacy of the science community a major part of her work,” Risch explains.
Chronicle visits Felice Frankel, a research scientist at MIT and photographer, to learn more about her work capturing visually captivating images of scientific advances. “I want people to love science the way I love science and, in my opinion, the way to get that to happen is to engage them in the visual of the beauty of science,” explains Frankel.
Nidhi Subbaraman writes for BetaBoston about research scientist Felice Frankel, who is credited with making scientific research more accessible through her photos. Prof. John Rogers of the University of Illinois says that Frankel, who is teaching an edX course this summer, has “played a significant role” in advancing science photography.
Tom Zeller reports for Forbes on the Climate Feedback project developed by post-doctoral researcher Emmanuel W. Vincent that allows users to select and critique portions of articles on climate change. “If a newspaper claims that something is based on science,” Vincent said, “we want to examine whether they are making their case on solid scientific ground.”