Science literacy has a new look

As TEDMED 2012 is about to start on Tuesday with several enlightened speakers who have had a large impact on biology, including

• the National Institute of Health Director Francis Collins
• microbe and genome expert Jonathan Eisen
• leading ecologist in the world, E.O. Wilson, and 
• entomologist extraordinaire Andy Read

...I am reminded how far science has come in connecting the public to research. In an age where scientists increasingly push for open access (free) publications against the will of the journal giants that require users like you to pay to read articles funded by your tax dollars, it is all for naught unless that science is turned into something that the public can make sense of, something they can digest. Indeed, this is one of the very reasons I started my blog. Publications just do not cut it. We cant spread our science by linking to our publications. We need to write press releases essentially for every article we put out.

In that light, science owes a debt of gratitude to TED talks for their long-lasting commitment to science literacy. In conclusion, I end with some of my favorite youtube videos by the likes of the Sagan Series and others who have combined digital media to make mind blowing clips of science for the public. Well done to all.

I especially like this next one below, entitled Life looks for Life, which embodies the search for extraterrestrial life. But it also embodies in a smaller way the very theme of this blog and one of the great rules of Life - Out of Many, One. Life is always looking to form symbioses with other beings, even on our own planet.