the media on UEA: guilty as charged?
At the press briefing in the SMC for the third and final inquiry into the UEA emails, Sir Muir Russell, Chair of the review, dared to hope that a line may now be drawn under this particular row, if not...
View Articlesharing the love of science: thoughts on Beddington
There was much chatter on the blogs last week about John Beddington’s apparently unscripted outburst at the end of a speech to science and engineering civil servants reported by Research Fortnight....
View Articlejust back from the World Conference of Science Journalists
I have just returned from the World Conference of Science Journalists in Doha. Sadly the conference had to be moved from Cairo earlier this year because the revolution was literally exploding on the...
View Articlethe perils of turning Greenland green
On 16 September we were alerted to a flurry of activity on the CRYOLIST discussion group. Glaciologists around the world, it seemed, were getting steamed up about the Times Atlas “turning Greenland...
View ArticleBMJ, UCL & MMR: OTT?
Am I the only one who thinks the British Medical Journal’s call for an independent inquiry into University College London’s role in the Andrew Wakefield MMR saga is a bit OTT? Perhaps I am and you will...
View Articlespeaking out on animal research
A few weeks ago I was heavily involved in the story about the transport of animals for research. The story, broken exclusively by the Today programme and The Times, revealed that over the past 7 years...
View Articleaustralia
The Australian Science Media Centre is an independent, not-for-profit service for the news media in Australia. The national Centre was set up in Adelaide, South Australia, and is based on the UK...
View Articlenew zealand
The Science Media Centre New Zealand was established in 2008, the third SMC to open its doors and the first to be fully public-funded. The SMC NZ works with national and regional reporters across all...
View Articlecanada
The Science Media Centre of Canada is a non-profit charitable organization that helps Canadian journalists report on science stories. The SMCC is supported by over 130 Charter Members from the public,...
View Article10 year anniversary
this new website helps us mark a successful decade of helping the scientific and engineering communities to engage with the news media when it really matters and we’ve put together some special...
View Articlehorsemeat scandal
since horsemeat was first detected in beef products in Ireland, the SMC has been working on the scientific issues surrounding the scandal, including food safety, traceability, toxicology and DNA...
View Articleneonicotinoids
Populations of bees have steadily declined in recent decades. The European Commission has proposed a ban on three neonicotinoid pesticides, which some blame for falling numbers. Studies have shown the...
View Articleexpert reaction to new research into anaesthesia and consciousness
Researchers publishing in Science Translational Medicine showed that measuring slow-wave activity in an individual’s brain while they are under anaesthetic offers the clearest picture yet of degrees of...
View Articleexpert reaction to new research into painkillers and risk of irregular...
A large observational study in the journal BMJ Open found current and recent use of painkillers may be linked to a heightened risk of an irregular heartbeat among older adults. Professor Colin...
View Articleexpert reaction to divorce and childhood obesity
Research published in the journal BMJ Open reported a correlation between divorce and a higher risk of overweight and obesity among children affected by the marital split, in particular for boys, in a...
View Articlethe SMC experience
If you have read or heard anything about the Science Media Centre, then you will know that it is not a “normal” place to get an internship for a month – and this should not be surprising, because the...
View Articleexpert reaction to study investigating two repurposed drugs and...
A study published in Brain discusses the identification of two drugs (trazodone hydrochloride, a licensed antidepressant; and dibenzoylmethane) which reportedly block the brain cell death pathway and...
View Articleexpert reaction to study identifying mutations in the H7N9 avian flu virus...
Publishing in PLOS Pathogens scientists report that they have identified several genetic mutations that could allow the avian influenza strain H7N9 attach to human cells, although this is unlikely to...
View Articleexpert reaction to the Mexico earthquake
An earthquake that measured 8.2 struck in the Pacific, about 87km (54 miles) south-west of Pijijiapan. Dr Carmen Solana, Senior Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth, said: “Offshore the west...
View Articleexpert reaction to glyphosate and cancer
In a large prospective cohort study, researchers examine the association between Glyphosate use and cancer incidence, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Prof Sir David...
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