Getting your hands around science
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Mark Sappenfield Editor
We鈥檝e been talking a lot about the new 海角大神 Science Monitor Daily for good reason: There鈥檚 been a lot to share. But this week, I鈥檇 like to turn the spotlight on the publication most of you are holding in your hand.
As we鈥檝e launched the Daily, the Weekly has naturally taken a bit of a back seat. Going forward, our goal is to develop both into one seamless experience 鈥� the Daily and the Weekly 鈥� complementing each other (and CSMonitor.com) in ways that make them feel like parts of one Monitor whole.
Some of that is already in place. The longer-form stories, the cover story and Focus, have a weekend-read feel, as does the news digest in One Week, and features such as our movie reviews and crossword.
But there will be changes and additions, too, as we continue to develop the Weekly as the 鈥渨eekend edition鈥� of the Daily. This week鈥檚 magazine will give you a taste of where we鈥檙e headed.
In this week's issue, you鈥檒l see a new feature built specifically for the Weekly called Science & Nature. It鈥檚 the product of our asking, 鈥淗ow can we make the Weekly even better and richer?鈥� In the process of answering that question, there were more than a dozen ideas, from a food page to a kids鈥� page.聽
What took hold first, though, was a vision for a weekly science page that seeks to sweep away the line between science and the average reader.
鈥淚t seems like there鈥檚 a perception that science belongs in labs and that you need a degree to understand it,鈥� says Monitor science editor Noelle Swan. 鈥淚n reality, everyday people have always contributed, and science is for everyone.鈥�
The package will generally include one article, plus one of a number of different short features that will cycle in and out from week to week. This week鈥檚 main article is on citizen scientists like the Australian car mechanic who helped astronomers identify a new star system from Hubble Space Telescope photos. This week鈥檚 feature is a brief roundup of the most interesting science stories from the week. 聽 聽
In the future, features will include:
鈥cience at home: Think of it as 鈥渟tuff you can do with your kids that won鈥檛 cost any money,鈥� as Monitor science writer Eoin O鈥機arroll puts it. Ever wanted to supercool a liquid so that it freezes as you pour it? Stay tuned.
鈥raphics that bring light to complicated issues.
鈥lossaries of scientific terms that you might be too embarrassed to admit you don鈥檛 know. Prepare to be able to use 鈥渃oronal mass ejection鈥� at dinner parties.
鈥-and-As with scientists.
鈥olumns that debunk scientific misperceptions.
The new Science & Nature page is just the start of our efforts. To share your thoughts on the new page, please email sci@csmonitor.com. Or, if you have ideas for other new pages or features, just drop me a line.
