All scientists will remind you that science evolves as we know more and as our ecosystems develop. Science is less about fixed facts and more about a process of understanding and naming the world: it’s okay for Pluto to shift between planet and satellite and dwarf planet as our conceptions sharpen (it doesn’t mean science ‘got it wrong’).

At the same time, sharing science partially can achieve the opposite effect The Microclimate Project seeks to have: we can leave our science-curious readers dismayed if they feel they’re constantly being given conflicting information (eat mangos! don’t eat mangos!). Scientists use a ‘peer review’ process to help limit this: making sure to get input from others, and ideally from others who might see a situation differently. 

Before you start translating your science information into a creative piece, ask yourself some important scientific literacy questions to help make sure you understand the science and that the science has wider support: 

• Can you find a second source, not connected to the first, that goes along with the idea you’re interested in (or that questions it, so that you can critically think through the idea)?
• Can you check who is behind this scientific information? The funders of science researchers can have a (significant) vested interest in selecting and sharing certain projects; government organizations increasingly curate and mandate scientific process, rather than leaving it to scientists; all scientists and science labs operate with (unconscious) bias, as do all humans.
• Can you ask someone with knowledge of the subject to give you their thoughts (and how might you thank them for their time and input with a reciprocal favor)?How can we verify them?
  • Who can we ask (equitably)? What can we double check?

Remember: science changes. The neuroscientist Stuart Firestein, inspired by the poet-doctor John Keats, argues that ‘not knowing’ – what Keats called “negative capability” – is crucial to scientific process. Try to make sure the science is sound, but know that it’s not on you alone: science, like creative writing, involves groups and collaborations.