Fun science? Naturally!
Dear supporters,
As part of Apadrina la Ciencia’s educational program to promote scientific knowledge, we are really glad to share with you the edition of Estrellas científicas (Star Women in Science), a solidarity book intended to offer role models to 3-7-year-old children, particularly girls.
In order to disseminate science among children, we have chosen a children’s book format with illustrations and rhymed texts. We have even created a rap song and a video clip (Estrellas científicas) with the participation of a group of children, to whom we are really grateful. We must also thank the enthusiastic contribution of the volunteer team that has made it possible.
The book contains a short preface and six chapters where the reader can learn about six top Spanish female scientists. Each of them is interviewed about her hometown, her childhood aspirations and dreams, the area of science she investigates on, and the impact her research has on our lives. The interviews –included in a friendly video format- are the starting point for the rhymed text, which is presented with clear, straightforward language so that children can understand it. In addition to this, each chapter ends with an inspiring phrase and a short scientific pill to make the concept easier for the young –and not so young- reader.
The interviewed scientists –who turn into the main characters of the book- are known for their contribution to advanced knowledge and science dissemination. All of them have had –and still have- an outstanding impact on society by improving our lives. Margarita Salas is responsible for promoting research in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Spain. Elena García Armada has developed the first exoskeleton for children with neuromuscular pathologies and brain paralysis. Carmen Caffarel focuses on the Spanish language and audiovisual communication. María Mittelbrunn does research on the contribution of immune cells to age-related diseases. Laura Lechuga is a specialist in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.
The last chapter of Estrellas científicas is centered on Susanna Manrubia, a biophysicist who leads the group of Evolutionary Systems at the Spanish National Centre for Biotechnology. Susanna is the perfect example on how to beat COVID-19 through evidence-based science. She and her research team and collaborators have developed mathematical models to help us understand the pandemic evolution. Moreover, she has led a dissemination project which “highlights the importance of making science research visible to increase people’s confidence in science, since society must feel part of the process and the advances for the common benefit”. At the present time, society is also part of the solution, but only if progress and unanswered questions are truly known, will it be possible to assess our own attitude and the value of responsible habits.
From Apadrina la Ciencia, we are pleased to tell you about this new project since we are convinced that the book will contribute to science dissemination among children. We also intend to arouse their curiosity, as well as inspire and encourage them to make the world a better place by pursuing scientific careers. But, above all, we expect them to enjoy it!!
Thank you so much for being there and supporting us with your donations.
Dear supporters,
We are really happy to share our amazing experience in Juvenalia 2022, the children and youth leisure fair held in Ifema, Madrid (Spain), every December. Once again, Apadrina la Ciencia (Sponsor Science ) has had the opportunity to participate and offer a wide range of experiments carried out with the invaluable help of our volunteers. Thanks to their participation and your economic support, this kind of activity has been possible.
On this occasion, we have counted on the enthusiasm and motivation of more than 40 young researchers to show our children and teenagers how scientists work. The volunteers have become teachers for one day and managed to raise young people’s awareness by involving them in different experiments in a ludic and amusing way.
When the kids put on the lab robes, which they love, they feel like real scientists and show authentic curiosity and interest in everything. They enjoy watching, listening, touching… They pay attention to details, and ask lots of interesting –sometimes unexpected- questions. This time they have learnt first-hand concepts such as density and mass in the gradient sweet rainbow experiment or the chromatography technique. They have been especially interested in understanding how viruses behave, although, surprisingly, they are better informed about COVID-19 than we expected. So, while having fun and using their creativity (e.g. making their own virus), they have learnt about science.
From Apadrina la Ciencia (Sponsor Science), we are convinced thta this kind of activity contributes to making scientific work more accessible to children, teenagers, and even their families. It is also an excellent way to have well-informed, critical children, who can identify problems and find solutions, who are able to make good decisions, and who can help others.
Thank you so much for being there and supporting us with your donations, without which this would not have been possible!!
Dear supporters,
We are really happy to share with you a fascinating tool to support accessible scientific knowledge for everybody. Apadrina la Ciencia is supported by researchers who contribute to science communication for non-specialized public. Researchers generate scientific data. And data combat fake news and pseudotherapies.
In this particular occasion, we thank the work of eleven researchers from National Center for Biotechnology (Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, CNB) in Madrid (Spain), who have joint their efforts to offer society useful elements to determine if flat-earthers, anti-vaxxers, creationists, astrologers, mentalists, numerologists and homeopaths, among others, show any scientific foundation. CNB researchers have written a book entitled 'Science or pseudoscience? Tools to orient oneself in a sea of information' of Editorial Plataforma, to teach us how to differentiate science from what pretends to be science. "Today we can verify that the Earth is not flat but spherical, we can also compare the effectiveness of homeopathy or aspirin with that of a placebo, or the predictions of astrology or meteorology with what happens in reality." That has been one of the purposes in writing this book, to give the reader the tools so that they can do those checks for themselves.
In the first part of the book, "Appearances", the authors explain that the so-called alternative therapies, such as homeopathy, produce no better results than the placebo effect and identify the aspects that differentiate therapies from pseudotherapies. Therapies are based on known mechanism of action in all its steps, usually in great detail. In the case of the pseudotherapies, either no mechanism of action is described or the one described is vague, undetailed, based on undefined concepts, and frequently defies the laws of physics. The authors have chosen the recent theme of vaccines, recalling that "the best proof of the power of vaccines in controlling infectious diseases is that, as soon as vaccination coverage declines, non-eradicated diseases resurface, as has happened with measles in Europe in recent years due, at least in part, to the proliferating anti-vaccine movements.”
The authors discuss another of the pseudoscience mantras: the natural versus the artificial, recalling " Natural is not synonymous with good; a substance is not bad or good by itself, but produces different effects depending on the quantity administered" .
Another goal of the book is to provide explanations on how we are so easily deceived. How is that many people do not accept the many studies showing that laying on of hands do not work better than a placebo? The last part includes fifty questions that the reader should ask when trying to decide if what they are being told is science or pseudoscience, to determine if a claim has an unreliable basis, to recognize when the evidence for comparisons between treatments is reliable and when it is not. Relevant aspects relate to the origin of the information, media credibility, how the brain deceives us and is used by fortune tellers, the possible economic interest, involvement of mind and emotions, among others. With these tips, readers will be able to make well-informed decisions about their everyday activities. Doctor Isabel Sola, co-director of the coronavirus laboratory of the CNB, comments: science provides powerful weapons, such as vaccines, to defeat diseases. Understanding how they work is essential to lose the fear of the unknown and trust in their potential. This book provides tools for the critical analysis of scientific information, to discriminate between scientific evidence and misinformation. It also has the merit of doing it in an entertaining and attractive way.
Hope you enjoy this book idea as much as the writers enjoyed doing it!
Would you like to help us to get the English version?
Best regards,
Apadrina la Ciencia
Links:
Dear supporters,
We are really happy to contact you to celebrate our amazing volunteer team which complements your beneficent help.
We want to dedicate this fifth report to share with you the fantastic job of Apadrina la Ciencia volunteers. Their generous participation in many outreach activities that have been organized with your economic support make this project possible. We want to express our gratitude to you all for your donations, and to our scientific supporters for their time and motivation. Your complementary efforts are greatly appreciated!
Since September 2020, the scientists and volunteers from our non-profit association Sponsor Science (Apadrina la Ciencia; www.apadrinalaciencia.org) have worked very hard to share with the society their research and knowledge about COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes it. For quite some time, pandemics halted our participation in experimental outreach activities aimed to increase public knowledge about virus characteristics and facts, as well as about effective, and not fake, measures to prevent virus dissemination. Fortunately, we are back on track! We have counted on the kindness and communication abilities of expert and experienced virologists like Patricia, Cristian or Puri, who updated kids interest on the latest news about SARS-CoV-2. We have also counted on the enthusiastic participation of numerous younger researchers who connected very well with kids´ interests and curiosity. Younger researchers benefited from this wonderful outreach opportunity as it completed their scientific training with essential complementary abilities, like communication techniques for the non-specialized public.
Widening kids and teens interest on science and proved facts will undoubtedly lead, in the future, to more informed citizens who will be more protected from dangerous fake news and manipulation and who will be able to take informed and therefore better decisions.
Thank you for your great support to our cause! We’ll keep you posted!
Have a great summer!!!
Dear supporters,
I hope you all had a good and healthy start to the year.
Once again with this report we wish to express our gratitude to you all for your donations in these difficult times, your efforts are greatly appreciated!
Since the beginning of our creation as an association, a significant part of Apadrina la Ciencia's efforts has been aimed at explaining and disseminating quality scientific information to avoid misinformation and false beliefs. During these two years of pandemic this mission is more necessary than ever. The stress and suffering that this pandemic has caused in society around the world has also brought us the so-called infodemic, as stated by the WHO, “an overabundance of information – some accurate and some not – that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it”.
(https://iris.paho.org/bitstream/handle/10665.2/52052/Factsheet-infodemic_eng.pdf)
In order to ensure that truthful and relevant scientific information reaches a wide range of audiences, the vice-president of Apadrina la Ciencia, Inés M. Antón recently gave a keynote speech at the Ateneo de Madrid, a very important cultural institution located in the capital of Spain. The Ateneo was created in 1835 as a Scientific and Literary Athenaeum and has hosted six presidents and almost all of Spain's Nobel Prize winners, as well as many politicians (https://www.ateneodemadrid.com/). We encourage you to listen to this interesting conference, wich includes SARS-CoV-2-related information, entitled “Metástasis, la invasion de las células mutantes inmortales” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLJdXoEk3Xc).
Christmas in Spain is also intimately linked to sharing national lottery tickets with family and friends. Apadrina la Ciencia always takes the opportunity of this special time of the year to offer solidary lottery tickets to all the volunteers, members, supporters and collaborators. This time we did not win any money either, but we shared the illusion and spread the importance of science for better lives.
Finally, we also want to share with you the Christmas GIF we prepared to be spred through our social networks. We make a wish for Christmas and for Science. A great communication idea from Apadrina la Ciencia staff, do you like it? Please, retweet it!! (https://twitter.com/ApadrinaCiencia/status/1474684090850820096?s=20)
Thank you for your great support to our cause! We’ll keep you posted!
Have a nice beginning of 2022, and stay healthy! :)
Apadrina la Ciencia Team
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