profpr: (Default)
profpr ([personal profile] profpr) wrote2011-11-08 06:06 pm

Communicating the science of climate change

I've seen the following table in a friend's page a week or so ago. The full story  in Physics Today is equally interesting.
Terms that have different meanings for scientists and the public
Scientific termPublic meaningBetter choice
enhanceimproveintensify, increase
aerosolspray cantiny atmospheric particle
positive trendgood trendupward trend
positive feedbackgood response, praisevicious cycle, self-reinforcing cycle
theoryhunch, speculationscientific understanding
uncertaintyignorancerange
errormistake, wrong, incorrectdifference from exact true number
biasdistortion, political motiveoffset from an observation
signindication, astrological signplus or minus sign
valuesethics, monetary valuenumbers, quantity
manipulationillicit tamperingscientific data processing
schemedevious plotsystematic plan
anomalyabnormal occurrencechange from long-term average

[identity profile] mashats.livejournal.com 2011-11-09 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
wow!
thanks for sharing
didn't realize how scientifically biased I am ;)))

[identity profile] profpr.livejournal.com 2011-11-09 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
У меня вошло в привычку всегда проговаривать сомнительные случаи словами даже когда я студентам лекцмю читаю. Вообще ЖЖ меня очень многому научил. Мыже все время в очень узком слое общаемся.