About Science in the News
Science in the News is an evening seminar series aimed at explaining and discussing today’s hottest scientific topics with members of the general public. The series, now in its 8th year, is run entirely by graduate students at Harvard Medical School. The 2007 series featured nine weekly two-hour lectures, each of which contained an introductory science lesson, an explanation of the research or innovation behind the week’s topic, and a discussion of the social, ethical, or epidemiological issues surrounding the topic.
Previous lectures in our series have included fundamental explanations of Cancer, The Human Genome Project, The Aging Brain, Obesity and Diabetes, and Evolution, among others. We assume no prior scientific knowledge at our seminars, and this has allowed us to attract a diverse audience from all walks of life. Due to generous funding from the Harvard COOP, the Public Affairs office of Harvard Medical School, and various other business and individual sponsors, we were able to achieve many exciting accomplishments over the past year. In the last few years, we have registered hundreds of audience participants, were featured on the Harvard@Home website and on New England Cable News, gave talks at the Museum of Science, and were invited to speak at a teachers' conference in Lowell, MA. In addition, we've branched out online and offer our newsletter, SITNFlash, which is explains a different scientifc topic in the news each month, and SITN Q+A, which allows you to submit questions about science and recieve unbiased answers from current researchers in the field.
Our presenters are enthusiastic about bridging the gap of scientific knowledge between scientists and the public, such that everyone involved is better equipped to understand the basic science behind current events without the hype or exaggeration often introduced by media coverage.
