Live Blog from the IAU 260 Symposium, S12 Astronomy, the Media and Society

Carlos Elias, The decline of natural sciences in the mass media

Back into Liveblog mode!

The first session I am attending today is the Astronomy, the media and society session held in room 2 close to the entrance of the UNESCO building. The first speaker is Carlos Elias, with the subject of “The decine of natural sciences in the mass media and culture”.

Topics include; How is science evaluated in the media?, Why is there a decine in mass media and science,Science and Literature war: the two cultures, and the decine in science education across Europe and the US.

A funny aspect, in films, people always fall in love with professors of literature,and never professors of Physics!

Archetype of mad scientists in cinema;

Scientists were often seen as responsible for the sudden appearance of monsters. In the 50s monsters awakened by nuclear tests. In the 90s because of genetic (Jurrasic Park o the Lost World)

Some aliens are friendly, such as ALF and ET.

Archetype of scientists in TV

– Often they are showed to have no emotions

Conclusion – the subject is an important topic to teach, the real life of scientists, and for journalists to cover this and scientists to work together.

How is science evaluated in the media

More reporting on the sessions in the next post!