Blogs: Public relations, magic libations, libel frustrations and airport equations
The big debate of the week, kicked off by Richard Grant, surrounded the role of public relations in the sciences. PR is often lambasted for inaccuracies, distortions and even misunderstandings. Some have gone so far as to say science doesn’t need PR at all. Richard begs to differ:
PR is necessary not simply because scientists like to eat, and therefore need to be funded, and therefore need to convince various bodies (and by extension the people who influence those bodies) to give them money (and I want to talk a little about about ‘justification’ of research in another post) but also because there are crucial social and public health aspects of what we do. We don’t just have to convince the wider community that a particular piece of research is ‘correct’, but we need to demonstrate—somehow—that it directly affects their health (or their wallet, or whatever).
Most commenters agreed with the thesis, and one person pithily observed that perhaps PR needs some PR.
Elsewhere on the blogs, Ian Brooks makes fun of a new homeopathic claim that water’s ‘electromagnetic signature’ can be recorded and transmitted over email, and from there impart its mysterious ways onto a new glass of water. Stephen Curry summarises the launch of a new campaign to reform the UK’s bonkers and biased libel laws (can we say that without being sued – Ed?) Finally, Sabbi Lall contemplates the meaning of an equation found upon the frosted glass at LAX airport.
From the Archive: Nature Network, The Greatest Hits
As the end of the decade approaches, we’ll be revisiting some of the best blog posts from the first four years of Nature Network. Have a think about some of your own favourites, and get ready to vote. Watch this space.
Special announcement: Local hubs
Nature Network has three local hub sites in London, Boston and New York. If you live in one of these cities and would be interested in helping shape the community, please do get in touch. If you don’t live in one of those cities and want to suggest a hub elsewhere, then, feel free to leave a comment.
And finally…
The Nature Network annual Christmas carol is becoming something of a tradition. This year’s theme, initiated by Cath Ennis, was the twelve days of Christmas as viewed from the lab bench. After criticisms that the crowd-sourced carol was too focussed on the biosciences, Brian Derby suggested his own physics-inspired version.