the new website for the Science Media Centre Global Network has launched! Visit it to learn more about the SMC Global Network - an international network ensuring the public have access to the best evidence in the news when science hits the headlines around the world.

August 23, 2023 expert comment on release of waste water from Fukushima into the Pacific It has been announced that the Fukushima nuclear plant will start releasing treated radioactive water into the ocean from the 24th August. These comments accompany an SMC Briefing. Prof Paul Leonard, Fellow of the Society for Radiological Protection and a Chartered Radiation Professional, said: “Nuclear ...

January 10, 2025 expert reaction to 2024 being (a) the warmest year on record globally and (b) the first year to exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial Scientists comment on Copernicus data that says 2024 is the warmest year on record and the first year to exceed 1.5 degrees. … read more

September 18, 2024 expert comment on XEC COVID-19 variant Scientists comment on the new COVID-19 variant, XEC. Prof Francois Balloux, Professor of Computational Systems Biology and Director, UCL Genetics Institute, UCL, said: What is XEC? “XEC is a likely recombinant between the subvariants KP.3.3 and KS.1.1. The latter are just two among the myriad sub-lineages descendant from the BA.2.86 ...

Nov 8, 2024 · Scientists comment on the risks and benefits of tirzepatide (Mounjaro) after a UK death linked to the drug.

November 18, 2024 What if net zero doesn’t mean net zero? In a new study led by the University of Oxford and published in Nature, some of the researchers who developed the science behind net zero emissions have joined forces to show that misusing the definition will not actually stop global warming. The paper demonstrates that using …

May 8, 2024 expert reaction to the latest version of DeepMind’s AlphaFold A study published in Nature looks at the new version of AlphaFold for protein structure predictions. Dr Nicole Wheeler, Birmingham Fellow, Institute of Microbiology and Infection, University of Birmingham, said: “Since the release of AlphaFold in 2020, protein structure prediction has underpinned a wide range of ...

December 3, 2024 expert reaction to social media posts about cattle feed additive Bovaer Scientists comment on social media posts about the cattle feed additive Bovaer. Prof Oliver Jones, Professor of Chemistry, RMIT University, said: “Bovaer is a relatively simple chemical that is broken down in part of cows’ stomachs, where it …

October 21, 2024 expert reaction to study looking at a home-based transcranial direct current stimulation treatment (tDCS) and major depressive disorder A study published in Nature Medicine looks at home-based brain stimulation as a possible treatment for major depressive disorder. Dr Julian Mutz, King’s Prize Research Fellow, King’s College London, said: “Depression is a common mental ...

September 19, 2024 expert reaction to study on genetic tracing at the Huanan Seafood market to investigate possible COVID virus origins A study published in Cell traces market wildlife to investigate COVID-19 origins. Prof James Wood, Infectious Disease Epidemiologist at the University of Cambridge and Co-Director of Cambridge Infectious Diseases, University of Cambridge, said: “The paper by ...