Writers in Residence Blog

ISSP Writer in Residence, Author and Performer

As a science writer, my work is grounded in not just facts, but the idea of truth. I used to believe wholly in something called the truth. Now, I'm struggling to understand what this means, and what believing in truth says about a person.

ISSP Writer in Residence, Author and Historian

Until recently, Chinese science fiction was an empty concept for most Western readers.

Though it is rooted in China's discovery of Jules Verne's nineteenth-century works, Chinese science fiction began to make its mark on the international scene much more recently.  The first major science fiction gathering officially endorsed by the Communist Party took place as recently as 2007.  And it was only in 2015 that the first volume of Liu Cixin's best-selling "Remembrance of Earth's Past" trilogy, The Three-Body Problem, won a Hugo Award, one of the most prestigious awards in English for science fiction, in what was the first win ever by a Chinese work.

ISSP Writer in Residence, Author and Performer

When it's part of a dedicated process of discovery, it turns out there's great wisdom in the words: I don't know. In disciplines, from medicine to the military, and government policy-making to academia and science writing, sitting with not knowing is essential to success.

ISSP Writer in Residence, Author and Historian

There is a car in space, as in an old science fiction movie on its way to beyond Mars orbit, its dashboard emblazoned with the injunction "Don't panic" from a classic science fiction saga by Douglas Adams.  Elon Musk's publicity stunt is therefore a meeting of real technology (the new Falcon Heavy rocket), science fiction (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), and space fantasy (Tesla roadsters are not made to fly through vacuum).  Musk himself avers that science fiction stories were among his earliest inspirations.

Writer in Residence, ISSP
Author, Science Writer and Performer

Whether it's at the annual AAAS conference or a small scientific symposium, there's a long tradition of including a (sometimes token) panel discussion or presentation about science and the media. For many attendees, this is a good time to get a coffee and check e-mails. This reach for the caffeine isn't because attendees aren't interested in the topic, but often because they've heard it all before. The mantra goes: Scientists' are poor communicators; journalists' sensationalize and get facts wrong. The solutions: We need to train scientists to better communicate, and increase journalists' science literacy.