Short Summaries of Articles about Mathematics in the Popular
Press "Science media center launches," by Helen Pearson. Nature
Science Update, 15 November 2001. The Science Media Centre
opened in London on November 15, 2001. The goal is to improve
science news coverage, but skeptics are concerned that the
institution might benefit scientists and the press more than it
benefits the general public. Susan Greenfield is the director of
the Royal Institution that launched the US$175,000 centre, which
hopes to become the "portal" for science communications. The
existing British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA)
and the American Association for the Advancement of Science
(AAAS) each have their own databases of available experts on
their online press sites, AlphaGalileo and EurekAlert!: the
Science Media Centre hopes to become the central source of
science news for the scientifically literate, and also become
the place where non-specialist media and others can find an
explanation of science jargon and met