Scientia Pro Publica Needs YOU!

Last year, the well-respected Pew Research Center took a poll of scientists and of the general public. Here are a few of their findings:

84% of scientists say human activity is causing global warming. Only 49% of the general public agrees with this view.

87% of scientists say living things have evolved over time due to natural processes. Only 32% of the public agrees.

Only 10% of the general public could correctly answer all 12 of the questions on a basic science quiz.

If you think there is something wrong with this, Scientia Pro Publica needs YOU!

"Scientia Pro Publica" means "Science for the People". Scientia Pro Publica is a blog carnival with the mission of communicating science to the general public. Considering that many of the most important issues of our time require an understanding of basic science, this mission is critical. We need to understand science in order to elect leaders who will make informed decisions on behalf of us, our society and our planet.

That's where YOU come in! Please submit your blog posts on science, medicine and the environment to Scientia Pro Publica. Submit them by clicking on this link. Submissions for the next edition of Scientia Pro Publica are due by this Friday, 2/12/10. Scientia is published every other Monday, with submissions due the preceding Friday. By the way, if you come across a blog post written by someone else that you feel deserves some publicity, submit that as well.

As if that weren't a good enough way to save the world, here's something even better - you can HOST Scientia Pro Publica! This means that you take all of the submissions, write some introductory text to whet the reader's appetite, and post the whole thing on your blog. Then, hundreds of people come stampeding to your blog to read your summary and follow the links to the submitted posts. To volunteer as a host, send an email to Grrl Scientist at ScientiaBlogCarnival@gmail.com.

So, if you want to help improve scientific literacy, introduce new readers to your blog, or just have some fun, submit your posts now!

Scientia Pro Publica needs you. THE PEOPLE need you!

PS - To take the 12 question science quiz and read more about Pew's research on science literacy, click here. For links to previous editions of Scientia Pro Publica, click here.