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.
A new systematic review of the evidence on the health risks of nicotine vaping has been produced by scientists at … read more
Around 5,000 people in the UK have motor neurone disease (MND) – also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Two … read more
University of Oxford researchers have been running trials of their R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine candidate in children in Burkina Faso, Africa. … read more
Does hydrogen really have a critical role to play in achieving net zero? And can the UK embrace the engineering … read more
Cardiovascular disease is the world’s largest killer, responsible for around 18 million deaths each year. High levels of LDL (‘bad’) … read more
Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz is a pioneering researcher who has established the very first system to culture human embryos through the implantation … read more
Since May this year we have seen numerous outbreaks of monkeypox outside the countries where it has been endemic. This … read more
Researchers have studied medical records from over 1.25 million people in the US to assess the risk of developing neurological … read more
The SMC has had several media enquiries on the current dry weather situation and whether we are in a drought … read more
The government has stated its ambition to make the UK a “science and tech superpower”. But what does that actually … read more
The winners of the BHF’s £30m Big Beat Challenge will be announced on Friday. The £30m award is one of … read more
The State of the UK Climate 2021 report examines the UK’s climate in 2021 and how it compares to previous … read more
Humans started domesticating animals and using their milk around 10,000 years ago, but at that time all humans lacked a … read more
Over the last few months a number of young children have developed acute severe hepatitis of unknown origin. The WHO … read more
At time of writing, temperatures are forecast to hit 40C in parts of the UK on 18/19 July. This briefing … read more
Between 12-20% of the population suffers from insomnia. It can have a profound impact on health, wellbeing and productivity, so … read more
With as many as one in five teenagers experiencing mental health problems, there is an urgent need to develop evidence-based … read more
The University of Oxford’s Pandemic Sciences Institute (PSI) will formally launch this week. It will draw together academics and experts … read more
For a long time, climate scientists have struggled to link extreme weather events to climate change. This has changed. The … read more
The Vaccine Response On Off Methotrexate (VROOM) trial investigated immune responses to COVID-19 vaccines in adults with autoimmune inflammatory conditions … read more
