Tell it like it is: When politically incorrect language promotes authenticity.

Marine sediments tell it like it was.

W e live in a constantly changing environment. Although some changes are natural and therefore beyond our control, there is no question that many anthropogenic activities have dramatically altered our planet. The ‘‘human footprint’’ is now discernable around the globe, so much so that Crutzen (1) proposed a new geological epoch (the Anthropocene) to delineate the recent human-dominated era of E...

Language Use: What can it tell us?

Telling it like it is

Following a year of public engagement activities associated with the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, Alison Woollard explains why scientists need to communicate with the public.

Telling it like it is

With the amazing successes that have been reported over the past 10 years, it is easy for researchers in therapeutic ultrasound to be seduced by the appeal of biological and clinical studies but understanding the biology alone is insufficient. All good science requires repeatability, and developing a successful therapy is no different. It is imperative from both a scientific and a commercial pe...

Microbial diversity: let's tell it how it is

An impressive number of bacteria—about 30,000 species—are represented in GenBank. However, our view of the microbial world is both scant and skewed. A recent estimate suggests that the sea may support as many as 2 million different bacteria, and a ton of soil might contain 4 million (1). Less than half of the bacteria represented in GenBank—about 13,000—have been formally described, and almost ...