Staying in the loop with Science

Now that I have graduated and lost the free access to journals, reading lists from my lectures, and general academic buzz and osmosis of knowledge that comes with being in a university building, I am finding that its much harder to stay up to date with the going on of the scientific world. Nonetheless, I think it's so so important to stay in the loop. Knowledge is power and just as you're always told to stay up to date with the political or social news of the world, staying up to date with scientific breakthroughs, mishaps, and events around the world is vital in understanding key events in both the world our lives as well as how society is moving forward.

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In the past I've been pretty focused on the science that excites me - mostly geology, space, and things earth science adjacent - but I as find myself no longer bound to the limits of what might come in handy in my degree I've been making an effort to explore other aspects of science like health and medicine (which I have to admit is a bit of steep learning curve).

Figuring out the best way to get my science news took a while, and different methods work for different people so I thought I would share my go to methods. Below are some of the ways I get my daily doses of science which are worth checking out if you too want to stay in the loop!

Podcasts

It took me until last year to really get into podcasts but now they are my go to way of getting my news. A few months ago a uni friend told me she listens to the FT Daily News Briefing as she gets ready for work everyone morning and I (even though I have very little interest in the financial sector) decided to do the same This 10 minutes of my morning now leaves me feeling so good about myself for staying up to date with the financial news and has helped me learn more and be able to hold my own in conversations with friends who work in finance. In the same vein, there are loads of great science podcasts out there that I listen to when doing mundane tasks such as cooking and cleaning or when walking to the shops or on the train to work. Podcasts are great because you can have them on in the background while you do something else and still be absorbing the knowledge. So maybe give one of the these a try next time you want some background noise.

My favourite science podcasts are:

• BBC Inside Science (General Science)

• The World, The Universe, and Us from The New Scientist (General Science)

• The Supermassive Podcast from The Royal Astronomical Society (Space Science)

TikTok

I know - I probably shouldn't be advocating too much for TikTok time (even if I do enjoy some daily scrolling time myself) but following science creators on TikTok is a great way to get science news and learn about random science content without too much of a conscious effort. I've actually learnt a lot of fun facts from some the creators below and I highly recommend giving them a follow.

On the same note, there are lots of great YouTube channels out there explaining science so if you're into longer form videos go look on there!

My favourite TikTok channels for sharing science are:

• Dr Harini Bhat (@tilscience)

• Cleo Abram (@cleoabram)

• Dr Cal Your Science Pal (@dr.cal.ur.science.pal)

• Cate (@groovygeologist)

  
  

Instagram

Sticking with a similar vibe to TikTok - following science pages on instagram can add a bit of brain substance into the mush on your feed and keeps you in the loop with the main goings on. My favourite accounts at the moment are:

• The New Scientist (@newscientist)

• BBC Science Focus (@bbcsciencefocus)

• Quanta Magazine (@quantamag)

Webpages

I haven't really been on the ball with this recently but having a scroll through science websites is always a sure fire way to get the news, my top picks are:

• The New Scientist

• BBC Science Focus

• Nature

My go to now, after hearing about this from a PhD student back in Oxford, is a website called EurekAlert!

Basically what this is a compilation of all of papers (and letters and press releases etc) published int he scientific world each day. There is a lot to scroll through but I find it fascinating to have a look on the homepage every evening and see the headlines of what notable papers have been published that day and have found myself reading some random, but fascinating, articles!

Finally a shameless self promo but I do also try and make an effort to share my favourite science topics on this blog in the Science! feed.