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Tag archives: science communication
Physics Lives scoops video prize
The IOP’s Phil Diamond and director Kevin Hull with the Learning on Screen Award.
By Hamish Johnston
Congratulations to our colleagues at the Institute of Physics (IOP), who have won a British Universities Film and Video Council Learning on Screen Award for the second year running.
Physics World and friends triumph at Big Science Pub Quiz
Cheers from the winners: (left to right) Neil Alford, Jodie Melbourne, Margaret Harris, Hamish Johnston (holding the Higgs boson), Arash Mostofi, Tushna Commissariat, Karl Sandeman, Matin Durrani and Pakatip Ruenraroengsak.
By Hamish Johnston
Last night a crack team of Physics World journalists plus scientists from Imperial College London cleaned up at the Big Science Pub Quiz. We won by racking up an impressive 31 points in the main competition and also triumphed in the build-it-from-tin-foil round. Team member Margaret Harris also bagged the first shout-out round by identifying the Higgs boson from cryptic clues – her reward was a plush toy Higgs boson.
Institute of Physics launches new blog
Jim Al Khalili joins the ranks of physicsfocus bloggers.
By Hamish Johnston
The Institute of Physics has just launched a new blog called physicsfocus that is described as “an online space for the physics community to read about and comment on issues that concern them”.
Should more leading scientists engage in public service?
By James Dacey
Richard Feynman. (Courtesy: Fermilab)
Richard Feynman – undoubtedly one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century – died 25 years ago this year. To mark the passing of this physics and cultural icon, the BBC and the Open University have teamed up to produce two television programmes about Feynman’s life and work. The first programme aired in the UK on Monday, a docudrama called The Challenger portraying the role Feynman played in the investigation into the causes of the Challenger disaster. Readers in the UK can watch the programme here. Later this year, the BBC will broadcast a documentary about Feynman’s life.
I enjoyed Monday’s drama. I thought William Hurt did an excellent job of playing a smart and humane Richard Feynman, without over-cooking the “eccentric bongo-player” aspects of Feynman’s personality. Hurt certainly earned his wages, as the plot focused almost exclusively on how the Nobel laureate navigated his way through the alien world of high-level US politics, with all its game-playing and vested interests. My only criticism would be that because the film was so intensely focused on Feynman’s moves and responses, we didn’t really get to know any of the supporting characters.
BBC celebrates Richard Feynman
By Hamish Johnston
William Hurt stars as Richard Feynman in the BBC2 drama The Challenger.
The BBC and the Open University have teamed up to produce two television programmes about Richard Feynman – the Nobel-prize-winning scientist who died 25 years ago.
Outside of the physics community, Feynman is probably best known for his diligent and outspoken role in the investigation into the causes of the Challenger disaster.
Like many of my generation, I can remember exactly where I was when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after take-off on 28 January 1986: it was a snowy Tuesday in Guelph, Ontario, and for some reason I was still at home at 11.39 a.m. when the accident occurred.
What’s the most important feature of a successful science blog?
The good ol’ blog, a stalwart of Web 2.0. (iStockphoto/malerapaso)
By James Dacey
The dramatic rise in traffic on social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter in recent years could have left the good “old-fashioned” blog looking a bit like a frumpy relic of the noughties. But I’m convinced that this is not yet the case.
While it is true that we science writers are becoming Face-Twits in our droves, it seems that many of us still see the blogosphere as an important forum for discussion and debate. I view it as a place where you can express yourself candidly in a more freeform style, and do so without stripping away all the complexities of an issue to nothing more than a witty 140-character soundbite #BitterJournoTakesSwipe@Twitter.
