Thank you. For being the strong leader Singapore needed, back in those tumultuous days, unimaginable to my generation, when everything was uncertain. Thank you for your honesty and directness. Thank you for setting a standard for future generations to follow. You were strict and firm but ultimately benevolent, and that was exactly what this country needed.
Today, the skies cried over your coffin. The nation grieves together. Tomorrow, we carry on. We will do our best to build something you would have been proud of.
This is kind of brilliant. It's a video summarising an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, about distractions which affect novice and experienced drivers.
The animators obviously had fun (love the brick joke with the ninjas), but what's more pertinent is that the study was presented in a manner which could be easily understood by anyone. I think it's important for journals to reach out to common man, because their staff actually understand the subject matter and know how to discuss it in an accurate manner (Dr Jeffrey Drazen, who narrated the above video, is actually the Editor-in-Chief of NEJM). Media such as reputable newspapers and news programs are better sources of scientific information that, say, certain celebrities who are not qualified to discuss vaccination, but may still unintentionally misrepresent facts or make exaggerated claims. While we're discussing it, science textbooks aren't perfect sources of information either. Especially the ones which present tongue maps as being accurate.
I'd like it if journals articles became more accessible to the public. Open access is a step in the right direction, and easy-to-understand summaries are helpful when the original article is too technical for a lay audience. Perhaps this is a maverick proposal, but I'd like secondary school students to have some experience reading real journal articles. I think it's important to expose students to the terse, specific style of scientific writing as early as possible, get them used to the idea of reading primary sources and not the rehashes presented in textbooks and newspapers, get them used to writing in a succinct yet informative manner. Maybe I'm overestimating the attention span of the typical student, but I only learned - properly learned - to write scientifically when I was doing my Honours degree, thanks to my supervisor's patient tutelage. What would have happened if my supervisor was less than ideal?
I guess I'm just sad that there's a substantial proportion of the population who lack the capability to keep up with the very cutting edge of science. Knowledge should be for everyone.
