English

2-minute science: A Science Communication Project for Astrophysics

Physics Education 2021-08-09 v1

Abstract

Two-minute science (2-minute science) is a science communication project initiated and supported by early-career Greek astrophysicists. With this endeavor, which started in December 2020, we try to bridge the gap between the scientific community and the public. This project is based on the simple idea of writing short articles with an approximate reading time of two minutes. These articles cover several topics and their difficulty scales to cover a broad audience range, from young students to experienced adults. We support the idea of <<ask an expert>> in Astrophysics in Greece, where any reader can pose a question. We offer the appropriate answer either by writing it ourselves or by contacting the field experts from the Greek astronomical society. Furthermore, our previous science communication experience leads us to design educational activities for students and/or adults based on pedagogical means. A successful one was an <<escape-zoom>> titled <<Escape to Other Worlds>>, a digital version of an escape room. Further activities are Astronomy workshops for teenagers, online talks to schools, and our participation in a scientific podcast to trigger the public interest in Astrophysics. We communicate this work through social media, where several thousands of people already follow our work.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2108.03036,
  title  = {2-minute science: A Science Communication Project for Astrophysics},
  author = {Eirini Batziou and Stella S. Boula and Marios Kalomenopoulos and Dimitris Kantzas and Apostolos Spanakis-Misirlis and Vasileios Spanakis-Misirlis},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2108.03036},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

8 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings of the 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2021), 12-23 July 2021

R2 v1 2026-06-24T04:53:14.629Z