Once upon a time… the power of storytelling in citizen science

In a world….. where we are all exposed to so many facts and figures, it is easy for us to get “lost in the woods”, and become resistant to new information. But a shining beacon to guide people and entice them to take the call to action is storytelling. Although the art of storytelling is […]

Wisdom vs Knowledge – The Untapped Potential of Non-Academic Experts in Research

What makes an expert? Science is traditionally built on “specialism”; from an early age we are all forced to make decisions about what we want to dedicate our limited brain power to, from GCSEs, and A-levels (or the equivalent) in schools, to perhaps undergraduate degrees, training and vocational courses later in life. For researchers, this […]

The demise of over-technical language – The Death of Jargon

The utilisation of overly technical terminology when communicating scientific hypotheses and theories to the general populace can actually hinder a person’s comprehension of the subject and is more of a deterrent than an advantage when it comes to public engagement and scientific literacy. Translation…. When communicating science, the use of overly complicated words can actually […]

Learning from your mistakes

Science is all about mistakes, trial and error are key aspects of the scientific method and discovery. However, no one really cares to admit this, and it’s understandable, there is a significant stigma associated with making a mistake. No one wants to admit that they were wrong, or that they wasted time and effort on […]

The Rise of STEAM

Why you should consider adding art to your next public engagement event Over the past few years, there has been an increasing interest in exploring the relationship between Science and the Arts, especially when it comes to public engagement and science communication. Science has gone through a number of “rebrands” over the past few decades; […]

High Score Education — Using video games to teach bioscience

Dr Melanie Stegman is a biochemist who teaches in the interactive media program at Harrisburg University and runs her own independent video game studio on the side. Entering graduate school, Melanie felt her calling was to educate as well as to discover and during her post-doc studying DNA repair in Tuberculosis bacterium, Melanie made the […]

Nobody’s perfect

Proteostasis- Understanding protein recycling, and how we can maintain the balance Ageing is inevitable; it seems obvious that as you age, you reach your peak and then decline into old age; exactly why this happens remains a mystery. During ageing, the cells in your body multiply, either replacing defective cells or helping you grow and […]

Would you like to see our guilt-free menu?

People love meat: OK not a universal truth in our modern society, but for the longest time it is hard to deny that that has been the general consensus for most of human history. We learned to hunt for our food, and then later, after we became a little smarter and lazier, we domesticated the […]

A little too much- The perils of some information

It’s never been easier to know a little about a lot. We live in an age of information overload, bombarded by 24-hour news cycles and endless refreshments of news cut down to 280 characters. Learning enough that we probably all think that our own opinions are valid, even if we do not have all the […]

Booze on the Brain- Does drinking alcohol kill brain cells?

Myth Debunked- For us of drinking age, partial to the occasional beverage; sometimes, after a few too many, we experience brain fog, decreased inhibitions, and unsteadiness. But has our night-on-the-tiles killed some healthy brain cells? Thankfully, no, unless you fell and knocked your head while drunk, or suffer from a particular genetic disorder, while our […]