Publications

Jun 30, 2025 pt Article

Science Disinformation, Pandemics and Social Media in Argentina and Brazil: Building a Transnational Social Problem

by Ana Pamela Pamela Paz-Garcia , Fábio Henrique Pereira , Silvina Chaves

This article discusses the infodemic in Argentina and Brazil. Based on the sociology of social problems approach, it analyses the discourse and practices of 17 interviewees who are involved in raising public awareness and influencing political decision-makers regarding the effects of the infodemic. The results show that they condemn the politicisation of scientific information. In both countries, the interviewees have questioned the effectiveness of state regulation and platform self-regulation, emphasising the need to improve the media's science reporting, invest in science literacy, and develop fact-checking strategies to prevent the spread of scientific misinformation

Volume 8Issue 022025

Jun 16, 2025 pt Article

Accusation and defense in media coverage of Covid-19: the CFM in Folha de S. Paulo and Gazeta do Povo

by Giselle Soares Menezes Silva , Dayane Fumiyo Tokojima Machado , Marina Fontolan

This study analyzes the coverage of Folha de S. Paulo and Gazeta do Povo regarding the actions of the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) during the Covid-19 pandemic. Using content analysis, we examined how the newspapers portrayed the CFM’s stance on treatment and vaccination. “Early treatment” was the most frequent topic (40%), and “politicians” were the most cited actors (28%). While 96% of the texts published by Gazeta defended the CFM, 98% of those published by Folha criticized the institution.

Volume 8Issue 022025

May 28, 2025 es Article

Families in educational escape rooms. Analysis of the conversations and interactions that occur in Escape Mode: Only science can save you from Space Science, Uruguay

by Fiorella Silveira , Martha Cambre , Luisa Massarani

This article shares the results of a visitors study conducted with families at Modo Escape: Solo la ciencia podrá salvarte, the educational escape room located at the Espacio Ciencia hands-on center (Montevideo, Uruguay). To collect data for the research, six families' participation in the escape room was recorded using a GoPro camera placed on the head of one of the participants. The interactions and conversations that occurred among family members were subsequently analyzed. The results show that participants spent a significant amount of time engaged in interactive activities, primarily referring to manipulation of objects. It was observed that conversations about topics related to the activity facilitated various situations of collaborative work among participants and were essential for completing the tasks before the time limit expired. Regarding the conceptual content addressed through the activities, it was evident that participants were able to understand some scientific concepts beyond just playing and having fun. We hope that this study will be of interest to anyone interested in designing and implementing educational escape rooms with scientific content.

Volume 8Issue 012025

May 20, 2025 es Essay

Dimensions of the Future: An Approach to Classifying and Communicating Technological Visions

by Gerardo Sifuentes Marín

In recent decades, technological visions (TVs) have played a crucial role in shaping public expectations about the future. These projections, which seek to combine speculation with scientific rigor, generate narratives that both inform and shape society, while also guiding decision-making processes within transnational companies and governments [Baena, 2016]. In this essay, I propose a classification system to evaluate and analyze these visions, enabling a deeper understanding of their representations and objectives. The approach considers five interrelated qualities: Realization, Discourse, Mediality, Life Cycle, and Imaginary Magnitude.
It is timely to reflect on the relevance of TVs within scientific communication in the Latin American context, where futuristic narratives often adopt an external and biased perspective towards diverse realities, limiting their local resonance. As a tool for disseminating scientific knowledge and technological advances, TVs may be useful for adapting such narratives to the specific needs and challenges of the region.

Volume 8Issue 012025

May 14, 2025 pt Article

Presences of Brazilian science and technology centres and museums in virtual environments: mapping and characterisation

by Antonio Carlos Santos Júnior , Marcelo Valério , Jailson Rodrigo Pacheco

This study maps and characterizes the presence of Brazilian Science and Technology Centers and Museums (CMCT) in the "virtual world", seeking to understand how they fit in and relate to the public in these environments. The websites and social media profiles of 185 CMCTs, selected from the guide published by the Brazilian Association of Science and Technology Museums and Centers, were explored, identifying initiatives for virtualizing collections and practices. The result was that 39% of the institutions are present in virtual environments, but this occurs in an erratic, dispersed and outdated manner, especially with limited interactivity or dialogicity.

Volume 8Issue 012025

Apr 28, 2025 es Article

Communication and the pandemic: a review of open access academic production in Argentina and Mexico

by Bárbara Burton , María Ayelén Milillo , Mariana E. Elsa Langenheim , Cecilia Rosen

In this work we carry out a bibliographic review of open access academic production on communication and the COVID-19 pandemic (from March 2020 to October 2023) in Argentina and Mexico. The corpus (n=101) was compiled from digital libraries, while we used an original self-designed protocol to analyze it considering volume, topics studied and methodological approaches. The most studied topics were media consumption in Argentina and public perception in Mexico, while social media was underrepresented. The results, according to the methodological approach employed, indicate a lack of propositional studies that strengthen the social framework in the face of future health challenges, as well as a scarce use of hybrid methodologies (quali/quanti) and interdisciplinary perspectives to address new complex challenges.

Volume 8Issue 012025

Apr 16, 2025 pt Article

The Nature of Science in texts written by journalists and scientists in a major Brazilian newspaper.

by Andre Perticarrari

The public's understanding of science is fundamental in a world full of uncertainty, negationism and socio-environmental problems. It's not just about understanding concepts, but also the Nature of Science (NoS). Science communication in the media plays a crucial role in this process, but there are few studies on scientific texts that investigate their potential in relation to the NoS and whether there are differences between texts by journalists and scientists. Here, I analyze which aspects of the NoS appear in texts from a widely-circulated Brazilian newspaper and conclude that there are no differences between the two types of text.
Keywords: Science and media, Science journalism, Science and society.

Volume 8Issue 012025

Mar 31, 2025 es Article

Communication and social appropriation of science in the UNESCO Global Geopark “Comarca Minera”, Hidalgo (México)

by Catherine Ramos-García , Carles Canet , Joshua Iván Muñoz Salazar

UNESCO Global Geoparks are geographical areas with sites and landscapes of international geological importance, conceived for the conservation and sustainable use of geological heritage and as settings for sharing Earth Sciences’s knowledge. We chose four geosites of the Comarca Minera geopark in Hidalgo, Mexico, that are managed by the communities, to observe Social Appropriation of Knowledge strategies. We describe different practices and the participation of different actors in them. The more involved the communities and their knowledge are, the greater the social appropriation of knowledge and the possibilities of offering specialized tourism such as geotourism, with a territorial, comprehensive approach. It is observed that current tourism in the geopark is largely focused on the search for extreme and ephemeral experiences, without a deeper connection to the environment. Through co-created strategies for social appropriation of knowledge, this model can be reversed towards a geotourism vocation, more sustainable and consistent with the geopark dessignation.arque.

Volume 8Issue 012025

Mar 17, 2025 es Article

Indicators of scientific literacy process in the field of environmental education: the case of "Viera y Clavijo" Botanical Garden

by Daniel Fernando Bovolenta Ovigli , Ezequiel Guerra de la Torre , Beatriz Andreu-Mediero

This study presented how the exhibitions at Viera y Clavijo Botanical Garden (JBCVC), Gran Canaria, Spain, contribute to the scientific literacy of its visitors from the perspective Non-Formal Education. The presence of scientific literacy indicators at the JBCVC is evaluated using the tool developed by Marandino et al. [2018], which provides four indicators (scientific, social interface, institutional, and interaction). The results reveal that the exhibitions focus on attributes associated with the scientific indicator, with a limited presence of institutional, social, and aesthetic/affective indicators, and some recommendations are made for the environmental education process at the JBCVC.

Volume 8Issue 012025

Mar 06, 2025 pt Article

Does demystifying arthropods on Twitter work? The opinion of the followers of the #TrupeNaturalista.

by Sávio Cavalcante , Vanessa F. Guimarães

The “Trupe Naturalista” is a group of Brazilian science communicators that operates on the social network Twitter, creating content and interacting with the public. The present study aimed to investigate whether interaction with these communicators can alter the perception of followers about arthropods. To this end, followers answered an online questionnaire informing about their profile, interests, motivations, interactions, use of the platform and perceptions about these stigmatized animals. The results indicate that the contact with the science communicators was able to positively change the behavior of the respondents regarding arthropods, reducing their aversion, and increasing their interest in nature.

Volume 8Issue 012025

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