The workshop “Decide your Print” engages high school students outside of classroom settings, with sustainability challenges, focusing on fast fashion’s socio-technical systems. Using collaborative decision-making and systemic analysis, the activity fosters understanding of sustainability’s interrelated dimensions — socio-ecological, technological, political, economic. Combining dialogue, evidence-based education and participatory approaches, it promotes critical thinking and actionable solutions. Conducted at the 2023 Genoa Science Festival in Italy, the workshop aimed to empower participants to propose multi-level strategies, showcasing the potential of informal education to address sustainability through interdisciplinary learning and systemic reasoning.

 

The mitigation of the climate crisis demands effective communication strategies. Transforming food systems plays a key role in climate protection, not only by changing eating habits, but also by preventing food waste. While workplaces are commonly used for health promotion activities, they are a rare setting for science communication. This practice insight targets individual food waste reduction through a workshop at the workplace, including a lunch from rescued food, documentary screening, discussion, and expert presentation. It aimed to enhance participants’ self-efficacy and intention to reduce food waste. The effectiveness of the screening was tested experimentally by evaluating the effects of positive and negative framing. Exposure to negative framing was associated with higher intensity in negative affect, whereas positive framing appeared to be associated with higher self-efficacy. Furthermore, this practice insight provides strategies to foster science communication in workplaces.

Signs used for science interpretation within national parks have been little studied. We analyzed the textual content of 129 signs in 11 US national parks. Science content was high, but readability was low overall and inversely related to the amount of science content. The amount of science varied by subject area and national park, as did the depth of information and its relevance to humans. Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes National Park, however, had signs containing high amounts of science with the highest readability scores, emphasizing the potential benefits for science communication that can come from understanding the science of signs.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fundamentally transforming science communication. This editorial for the JCOM Special Issue “Science Communication in the Age of AI” explores the implications of AI, especially generative AI, for science communication, its promises and challenges. The articles in this Special Issue can be categorized into four key areas: (1) communication about AI, (2) communication with AI, (3) the impact of AI on science communication ecosystems, and (4) AI’s influence on science, theoretical and methodological approaches. This collection of articles advances empirical and theoretical insight into AI’s evolving role in science communication, emphasizing interdisciplinary and comparative perspectives.

This study explores the role of ChatGPT in science-related information retrieval, building on research conducted in 2023. Drawing on online survey data from seven countries—Australia, Denmark, Germany, Israel, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States—and two data collection points (2023 and 2024), the study highlights ChatGPT’s growing role as an information intermediary, reflecting the rapid diffusion of generative AI (GenAI) in general. While GenAI adoption is a global phenomenon, distinct regional variations emerge in the use of ChatGPT for science-related searches. Additionally, the study finds that a specific subset of the population is more likely to use ChatGPT for science-related information retrieval. Across all countries surveyed, science-information seekers report higher levels of trust in GenAI compared to non-users. They also exhibit a stronger understanding of how (Gen)AI works and, with some notable exceptions, show greater awareness of its epistemic limitations.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is profoundly reshaping the field of science communication research. We conducted a literature review of 35 articles published between 2002 and 2024, which reveals that research on AI in science communication is still in its infancy but growing, predominantly concentrated in Western contexts, and methodologically inclined toward quantitative approaches. The field largely focuses on communication about AI and public perceptions of AI rather than analyzing actual engagement with generative AI or its systemic impact on science communication ecosystems. To address these gaps, we propose a research agenda centered on four key areas: (1) communication about AI, (2) communication with AI, (3) the impact of AI on science communication ecosystems, and (4) AI’s influence on science, theoretical and methodological approaches.

`AI and Common Sense: Ambitions and Frictions' critically examines the claim of AI with common sense, a notion often assumed in human intelligence but highly debated in machine learning. The book offers a multifaceted exploration, questioning whether common sense is essential for AI and its broader implications for society and the future of technology. Spanning technical, philosophical, and social perspectives, it invites readers to rethink common sense and its role in shaping future AI conversations in society.

The evolving landscape of science communication highlights a shift from traditional dissemination to participatory engagement. This study explores Dutch citizens' perspectives on science communication, focusing on science capital, public engagement, and communication goals. Using a mixed-methods approach, it combines survey data (“n”=376) with focus group (“n”=66) insights. Findings show increasing public interest in participating in science, though barriers like knowledge gaps persist. Trust-building, engaging adolescents, and integrating science into society were identified as key goals. These insights support the development of the Netherlands' National Centre of Expertise on Science and Society and provide guidance for inclusive, effective science communication practices.

We conducted an experiment examining public response to scientists' use of different types of humor (satire, anthropomorphism, and a combination of the two) to communicate about AI on Twitter/X. We found that humor led to increased perceptions of humor, measured as increased mirth. Specifically, we found that combining anthropomorphism and satire elicited the highest levels of mirth. Further, reported mirth was positively associated with the perceived likability of the scientist who posted the content. Our findings indicate that mirth mediated the effects of the humor types on publics' perceptions that the scientist on social media was communicating information in an appropriate and legitimate way. Overall, this suggests that scientists can elicit mirth by using combining satire and anthropomorphic humor, which can enhance publics' perceptions of scientists. Importantly, publics' responses to harsh satire were not examined. Caution should be exercised when using satire due to potential backfire effects.

The Science Media Interface explores how scientists and their institutions orient their research and publication criteria and processes towards those of journalists and media organizations as a way to gain public attention. The editors present an impressive range of methods, from bibliometrics, an adaptation of the Delphi method, ethnography, mixed-methods analysis, and the path analysis method.