The Science Media Centre is not restricted to reacting to the headlines, and has helped scientists to more proactively set the agenda by bringing new science or evidence to journalists. This comes from our regular briefings, which take a variety of forms and cover a wide range of topics. Many are background briefings introducing journalists to the best experts and science on controversial issues like nuclear waste, nanotechnology, emerging diseases, or animal research, for example. They may also be news briefings where the SMC works with scientists to give the national media a new story on developments within science, whether it’s a report on climate change, a paper on stem cells being published in a leading journal, or science funding cuts in the latest budget. In addition, the SMC encourages leading experts to ‘speak out’ to the media about developments they believe may pose a threat to scientific research – not something science has been renowned for.
Problematic Smartphone Use (PSU) describes a set of behaviours such as finding it hard to control smartphone use, feeling uncomfortable … read more
A longitudinal prospective cohort study of 475 participants from the PHOSP-COVID cohort – who had been hospitalised with severe acute … read more
Shingles is a painful and serious condition afflicting many elderly people. It is caused by the Herpes zoster virus that … read more
The State of the UK Climate 2023 report provides the latest comprehensive review of the UK’s changing climate. It examines … read more
‘Accelerating electricity decarbonisation’ is a new report from the National Engineering Policy Centre that aims to provide insight and possible … read more
Stem cell-based embryo models (SCBEMs) are three-dimensional biological structures that mimic aspects of early human embryo development. They can be … read more
A new strain of mpox (formerly known as monkey pox) has been identified in adults and children on the Democratic … read more
As human populations expand, conflicts between humans and wildlife increase. Efforts to resolve such conflicts have focused primarily on culling … read more
The Academy of Medical Sciences’ new President, Professor Andrew Morris CBE FRSE PMedSci, will be joined on the panel by … read more
For some people, when they stop taking antidepressants, they can experience unpleasant symptoms such as dizziness, headache, nausea and insomnia. … read more
Indicators of Global Climate Change 2023 is the second in a series of annual updates on the state of the … read more
A groundbreaking NHS programme to help trial and develop new treatments designed to induce an immune response that aims to … read more
A general election has just been called in the UK, and many other elections are planned around the world in … read more
There has been a lot of recent reporting of people becoming unwell from swimming in open water contaminated by sewage. … read more
John-Arne Røttingen, is the new chief executive of global foundation, Wellcome. As is our way with newly appointed movers and … read more
With increasing prevalence of depression and anxiety in young people, there’s an urgent need to work out how best to … read more
The ubiquity of the internet in our lives is a topic of major debate. There are concerns that it could … read more
Two UK-wide research programmes, PHOSP-COVID and ISARIC-4C, have been following people who were hospitalised with Covid and went on to … read more
The way medical devices and technologies are designed and used has raised concerns about the impact of ethnic background on … read more
Currently, the only way to collect foetal stem cells and grow them in a lab into organoids (for scientific research) … read more
