Official Google Blog

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Making sense of science: introducing the Google Science Communication Fellows Posted: 15 Feb 2011 08:22 AM PST (Cross-posted on the Google.org Blog) In an effort to foster a more open, transparent and accessible scientific dialogue, we've started a new effort aimed at inspiring pioneering use of technology, new media and computational thinking in the communication of science to diverse audiences. Initially, we'll focus on communicating the science on climate change. We're kicking off this effort by naming 21 Google Science Communication Fellows. These fellows were elected from a pool of applicants of early to mid-career Ph.D. scientists nominated by leaders in climate change research and science-based institutions across the U.S. It was hard to choose just 21 fellows from such an impressive pool of scientists; ultimately, we chose scientists who had the strongest potential to become excellent communicators. That meant previous training in science communication; research in topics related to understanding or managing climate change; and experience experimenting with innovative approaches or technology tools for science communication. This year's fellows are an impressive bunch: Brendan Bohannan, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology, University of Oregon Edward Brook, Professor, Department of Geosciences, Oregon State University Julia Cole, Professor, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona Eugene Cordero, Associate Professor, Meteorology and Climate Science, San Jose University Frank Davis, Professor, Landscape Ecology & Conservation Planning, University of California-Santa Barbara Andrew Dessler, Professor, Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University Noah Diffenbaugh, Assistant Professor, Environmental Earth System Science, Stanford University Simon Donner, Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia Nicole Heller, Research Scientist, Climate Central Brian Helmuth, Professor, Biological Sciences, University South Carolina Paul Higgins, Associate Director, Policy Program, American Meteorological Society Jonathan Koomey, Consulting Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University David Lea, Professor, Earth Science, University of California-Santa Barbara Kelly Levin, Senior Research Associate, World Resources Institute David Lobel, Assistant Professor, Environmental Earth System Science, Stanford University Edwin Mauer, Associate Professor, Civil Engineering, Santa Clara University Susanne Moser, Research Associate, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California-Santa Cruz Matthew Nisbet, Associate Professor, School of Communication, American University Rebecca Shaw, Director of Conservation, The Nature Conservancy, CA Chapter Whendee Silver, Professor, Ecosystem Ecology and Biogeochemistry, University of California-Berkeley Alan Townsend, Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado At our Mountain View, Calif. headquarters in June, the fellows will participate in a workshop, which will integrate hands-on training and facilitated brainstorming on topics of technology and science communication. Following the workshop, fellows will be given the opportunity to apply for grants to put their ideas into practice. Those with the most impactful projects will be given the opportunity to join a Lindblad Expeditions & National Geographic trip to the Arctic, the Galapagos or Antarctica as a science communicator. Congratulations to all of the fellows! And we'll keep you posted on more ideas and tools emerging for science communication. Posted by Dr. Amy Luers, Google.org and Tina Ornduff, Google Education

New Chrome extension: block sites from Google’s web search results Posted: 14 Feb 2011 12:06 PM PST (Cross-posted on the Google Chrome Blog) We've been exploring different algorithms to detect content farms, which are sites with shallow or low-quality content. One of the signals we're exploring is explicit feedback from users. To that end, today we're launching an early, experimental Chrome extension so people can block sites from their web search results. If installed, the extension also sends blocked site information to Google, and we will study the resulting feedback and explore using it as a potential ranking signal for our search results. You can download the extension and start blocking sites now. It looks like this: When you block a site with the extension, you won't see results from that domain again in your Google search results. You can always revoke a blocked site at the bottom of the search results, so it's easy to undo blocks: You can also edit your list of blocked sites by clicking on the extension's icon in the top right of the Chrome window. This is an early test, but the extension is available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish. We hope this extension improves your search experience, and thanks in advance for participating in this experiment. If you're a tech-savvy Chrome user, please download and try the Personal Blocklist extension today. Posted by Matt Cutts, Principal Engineer

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