Making science fresh

On a brisk August morning in southern Australia, 16 recent PhD graduates and postdocs from around the country are sitting in a windowless room, fretting about the way science is portrayed in the media. They're attending a weeklong media-training boot camp, and the fraying of their nerves is palpable as they talk about what worries them most: the superficial way their research might be handled, overhyping, and how to handle difficult questions. "What's the point of science communication anyway?" asks Kate Jeffrey, an immunologist from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research. "Shouldn't it be about educating the public?"