By Rikke Reinholdt Petersen

This December, the Danish television station TV2 broadcast the Christmas calendar Kometernes jul (The Comets’ Christmas) which is largely about science. That is no coincidence, but rather connected to the recently launched “Year of Science 2022” initiative – a yearlong dissemination project aimed at bringing science to the public through a series of activities with science at a suitable level.

The best of several scientific realms

The 8 short films are the Royal Academy’s first contribution to the dissemination activities connected with the Year of Science 2022. The films address the science topics that are touched upon in various episodes of the TV2 Christmas calendar, Kometernes jul.

But unlike the televised Christmas calendar, which mainly looks at topics about space and the universe through the eyes of the natural sciences, the Royal Academy’s 8 videos take a different path – actually, two paths. The Royal Academy has in fact taken the best from all branches of science – the humanities, the natural sciences and the social sciences – asking members with widely different professional backgrounds to contribute.

The result is an interdisciplinary coverage of the topics in the videos, where everything from anthropology and brain surgery to art history and quantum physics is at play. In this way, each scientific field enriches and illuminates the explanations of the others. One example is a video in which literary scientist Lene Østermark-Johansen and brain researcher Gitte Moos Knudsen together give the viewer an insight into literary and cultural history’s portrayal of the phenomenon of infatuation – as well as the neurological explanation underlying the emotion.

From the abstract to something tangible

Quantum physicist Peter Lodahl, who also participated in the video series, says that he was very intent on ensuring that his contribution should go beyond the abstraction level of his research field:

– “Understanding quantum physics requires a certain amount of abstraction to get used to the strange properties exhibited by microscopic objects such as atoms and photons,” he says and continues:

– “In communicating, it is important to be aware that a lot of that abstraction is something you take for granted after many years of working in this field. Instead, one should try to illustrate the concepts using concrete pictures,” he explains.

Lene Østermark-Johansen shares Lodahl’s point of view and sees it as a good exercise in science communication in general:

– “I thought it was fun to be a part of this project, and even though my words have been cut thoroughly, the finished product is neat and appealing as popular communication. My original thoughts about the act of falling in love, running from Plato over Dante and Petrarca to Shakespeare were, of course, boiled down to an absolute minimum; I think I probably need to get used to such a reduced version of myself, but it is a healthy exercise,” remarks Østermark-Johansen.

Science meets the general public

That wish to communicate clearly and effectively, displayed by the participating members, hits the core intention of the Academy’s video series right on the nose. Optimally, science dissemination should be conducted in a way where no one feels they need a doctorate to understand it – or to feel entertained.

This is in line with the Year of Science 2022 initiative with its aim of reaching other places than those where science is conducted on a daily basis. Science is after all important for all our everyday lives and the world. Therefore, communicating that knowledge so that we may all understand it – and understand the importance of it – is absolutely crucial.

Peter Lodahl agrees: “I am ‘all in’ on the importance of disseminating our research, and that is why I greatly value this kind of initiative [the video project, ed.]. I hope it may play a part in bringing it to public attention,” he concludes.

Click here to see all the Royal Academy videos in the series The Science in Kometernes jul. The videos are in Danish.

Throughout the Year of Science 2022 the Royal Academy will contribute with a number of different projects, which will be announced on the Academy website.