Scientific Illiteracy and the Partisan Takeover of Biology, an article in the latest issue of PLoS Biology, is worth reading:

The era of nonpartisan science is gone, says Miller, who urges scientists and science educators to learn the rules of this new game and get behind moderate Republicans as well as Democrats to protect the practice and teaching of sound science. Given the partisan attack on evolution and stem-cell research, he thinks scientists need to learn more about how
the political process works. They need to be willing to run for the school board, write $500 or even $5,000 checks to support moderate candidates, and defeat Christian right-wing
candidates. “Scientists need to become involved in partisan politics and to oppose candidates who reject evolution or attack scientifi c research,” he says. “It takes time, money, and paying attention to the issues.”

From AlphaGalileo: Food safety experts accuse the media of creating food scares

SAFE FOODS: project and study.

Pollen is a European network project which aims to encourage science at primary school level. The project will focus on the creation of 12 seed cities for science in 12 European countries.

From Wired News on Line:

“De Niro Seeks Science Scripts.” That was the header of a press release sent out by The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation when it launched a screenplay competition in conjunction with Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Film Festival.

Seed Magazine is organizing the 2006 Science Writing Contest.

Robert Whittle web site.

NESTA, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation – UK
check ‘Publications’

The European Union has launched a huge database of prizes for scientific research and science communication.

Training course on Risk Communication: a future challenge in a globalised world, Brussels, July 28 – July 30, 2006.

The seminar is aimed at journalists and other media professionals, government and International organisations officials, decision-makers as well as scholars in media and Communication Studies.

You can now receive Science Communication by e-mail.

Published by Columbia University Press, The Beginner’s Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize by Peter Doherty.

The second Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) will be held in Munich from July 15th to 19th, 2006.

ESOF brings together all groups involved in the scientific endeavour. This includes researchers from different disciplines, policy-makers, representatives of industrial R&D, science journalists and the general public. It fosters debate about science and society, presents science and the humanities at the cutting edge and stimulates scientific awareness.

The Online Journalism Review has an interesting article on science blogs and commentary – Pass the politics, please: Science blogs peppered with commentary.

2nd European Science Day for Youth (ESDY):

An activity will happen simultaneously all over Europe at Noon on the 27th April 2006

Health News Review “is an attempt to help improve the accuracy, balance and completeness of news stories that make claims about new ideas in health care.”

NANODIALOGUE: enhancing dialogue on nanotechnologies and nanosciences in society at the European level
In Portugal, there is currently an exhibition at Pavilhão do Conhecimento.

“American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin (Alfred A. Knopf), a biography of the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, won a Pulitzer Prize.

From the Newsroom to the Lab: A Rookie’s Tale – a week hands-on laboratory experience at the Marine Biological Laboratory.

Here’s a handy list of Courses for Science Communicators in the UK.

Science Communication on the Web.

From the Journal of Health Communication – Defining Moments in Risk Communication Research: 1996–2005.

The nominees for the Webby Awards 2006 in science can be seen here.

An interesting study from Roskilde University: Credibility of Science Communication – An Exploratory Study of Press Releases in Astronomy.

Here is an interesting story about a biologist who became a film director.

WHITE PAPER ON A EUROPEAN COMMUNICATION POLICY
Brussels, 1.2.2006, COM(2006) 35 final

EIROforum has recently published the first issue of Science in School, a journal to promote “inspiring science teaching in Europe”.

The European Initiative for Communicators of Science (EICOS) welcomes applications of professional journalists for the course 2006 until the 10th of April.

EICOS is a programme that wants to improve the communication between journalists and scientists. Within an eight-day hands-on laboratory experience they work side by side at the cutting edge of scientific research.

The Hands-on Laboratory will take place from Saturday, June 10th 2006 to Saturday, June 17th 2006 at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen.

The Wellcome Library collates a monthly round-up of books, reports and articles . Topics covered include:
* Science in society
* Public attitudes and participation
* Science and art
* Science and religion
* Science and the media
* Science communication
* Science education
* Science museums and science centres

Previous months can be browsed or searched in the bibliographic database.

The latest bibliography is now available.