About Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. The earliest roots of science can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in around 3500 to 3000 BCE.
Thousands of men miss out on life-extending prostate cancer drug
... No-one seems to be disputing the Science - it seems that it s just a bureaucratic process which is kind of unbelievable...
Google DeepMind AI speeds up search for disease genes
...By Pallab GhoshScience correspondentGoogle s AI firm DeepMind has used artificial intelligence to identify changes in human DNA that might cause diseases...
UK's first school set up in partnership with orchestra opens
... " We have French, Art, Maths, Science - all the things you d expect, but we have this really special partnership with the CBSO, which is giving these students a level of musical opportunity they just wouldn t get elsewhere"...
British sign language gets climate change update
...By Victoria GillScience correspondent, BBC NewsDeaf scientists and sign language experts have created hundreds of new signs for British Sign Language (BSL)...
What is the UN High Seas Treaty and why is it needed?
...By Esme StallardClimate and Science Reporter, BBC NewsAfter more than a decade of negotiations, the countries of the United Nations have agreed the first ever treaty to protect the world s oceans that lie outside national boundaries...
TikTok: Welsh speakers use social media to teach others
... So everything we were taught - history, maths, Science - it was all done in Welsh, " she said...
Scientists find secret to how glass frogs turn transparent
...By Georgina RannardBBC News Climate & ScienceA frog that turns itself mostly transparent while sleeping may hold clues for understanding blood clotting in humans...
New ground as tech aims to help boost soil health
... Prof Montgomery says that for too long " the whole world that is below ground was kind of invisible to Science"...
British sign language gets climate change update
By Victoria GillScience correspondent, Bbc News
Deaf scientists and Sign Language experts have created hundreds of new signs for British Sign Language (BSL).
Expanded BSL vocabulary now includes climate-related terms Like " greenhouse gas" and " carbon footprint" for which there were no official signs.
That meant children, teachers and scientists would often have to finger-spell long, complex, scientific terms.
" We're trying to create the perfect signs that visualise scientific concepts, " explains Dr Audrey Cameron .
Dr Cameron, who is profoundly deaf, leads at Edinburgh University, which has just added 200 new Environmental Science terms to the BSL dictionary.
She described how, in her own scientific career, a lack of vocabulary meant she was excluded from important meetings and conversations.
" I was involved in research for 11 years and went to numerous meetings but was never was truly involved because I couldn't understand what people were saying, " she told Bbc News . " I wanted to talk with people about chemistry and I just wasn't able to. "
Glasgow-based biology teacher Liam McMulkin has also been involved in The Sign -creation workshops, hosted by the. " The Beauty of Sign Language - particularly for Science - is that it's a visual Language , " he explained.
" Some of the concepts are abstract, but Sign Language can really help children to understand them. "
Mr McMulkin used The Sign for " photosynthesis" as an example, which uses one flat hand-shape to represent a leaf, while projecting the Fingers - Like The Sun 's Rays - from other hand.
" When I do this [move The Sun hand towards The Leaf hand], you can see that the energy is being absorbed by The Leaf , " he explained.
The Science glossary project, funded in part by, has been running since 2007 and has added about 7,000 new signs to BSL.
Describing The Process by which signs are developed, Dr Cameron explained: " We take a list of terms from The School curriculum And Then work together to come up with something accurate but also visual of the meaning. "
The newest signs are themed around biodiversity, ecosystems, the physical environment and pollution. There is an demonstrating the terms.
Missing wordsThe glossary is designed to support deaf children in schools. And as 13-year-old Melissa, a deaf student at a mainstream school in Glasgow explained: " they really help you understand what's happening. "
Melissa showed me the difference between laboriously finger-spelling greenhouse gases (G-R-E-E-N-H-O-U-S-E G-A-S-E-S), and using the new sign that includes moving her closed fists around Like gas molecules in the air.
" With The Sign I can see something is happening with the gas, " She Said .
Mr McMulkin, who is Melissa's Science teacher and is also profoundly deaf, added that hearing people were " constantly learning and acquiring knowledge" wherever they go, " but deaf people miss out on so much information".
" That's why it's so important to use Sign Language in Science lessons in schools, " He Said . " It allows deaf children to learn in their natural Language . "
Dr Cameron also highlighted the value in education of depicting intricate scientific concepts in hand Movements - for both hearing and deaf children.
Dr Cameron recalled observing a class in which five-year-olds were learning about how things float or sink. " They were learning about how things that are less dense will float, which is quite complex, " she explained. " And The Teacher was using The Sign for 'density'. "
The Sign explains that concept by using one closed fist and wrapping The Other hand around it - squeezing and releasing to represent different densities.
" I Thought - these five-year-olds are not going to get this. But some time after The End of The Lesson , they were asked A Question about why things float or sink and they all used The Sign for density, " Dr Cameron said.
" So I've seen how much of an impact this can have. And My Passion has just grown as the glossary has grown. "
Prof Jeremy Sanders , chair of the Royal Society diversity and inclusion committee, said: " We hope these new signs will inspire and empower the Next Generation of BSL-using students and allow practising scientists to share their vital work with The World . "
Additional reporting by Kate Stephens and Maddie Molloy
Hear more about The Mission to create this visual vocabulary on Radio 4 's
Related TopicsSource of news: bbc.com