Climate scientists are trusted globally, just not as much as other scientists – here’s why

I. Noyan Yilmaz, Shutterstock Omid Ghasemi, UNSW Sydney and Ben Newell, UNSW SydneySocieties increasingly rely on scientists to guide decisions in times of uncertainty, from pandemic outbreaks to the rise of artificial intelligence. Addressing climate change is no different. For governments wanting to introduce ambitious climate policies, public trust in climate scientists is pivotal, because it can determine whether voters support or resist those efforts. So do people trust climate scientists, and what affects levels of trust? Our new study shows climate scientists are less trusted than other types of scientists globally. But there are profound variations in this trust gap between countries, and within them. Finding ways to increase trust in climate scientists is crucial if the world is to implement effective policies to avert dangerous global warming. Low trust in climate scientists may hinder effective climate science communication and reduce public engagement with climate solutions. Mozgova, Shutterstock.Examining trust in science We collaborated with an international team of researchers to analyse data from one of the largest cross-national surveys of public attitudes toward science. The dataset includes responses from nearly 70,000 people across 68 countries. It offers a rare global snapshot of how people perceive...

Read More........→May 28, 2025

Australian researchers use a quantum computer to simulate how real molecules behave

University of Sydney Nano Institute Ivan Kassal, University of Sydney and Tingrei Tan, University of SydneyWhen a molecule absorbs light, it undergoes a whirlwind of quantum-mechanical transformations. Electrons jump between energy levels, atoms vibrate, and chemical bonds shift — all within millionths of a billionth of a second. These processes underpin everything from photosynthesis in plants and DNA damage from sunlight, to the operation of solar cells and light-powered cancer therapies. Yet despite their importance, chemical processes driven by light are difficult to simulate accurately. Traditional computers struggle, because it takes vast computational power to simulate this quantum behaviour. Quantum computers, by contrast, are themselves quantum systems — so quantum behaviour comes naturally. This makes quantum computers natural candidates for simulating chemistry. Until now, quantum devices have only been able to calculate unchanging things, such as the energies of molecules. Our study, published this week in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, demonstrates we can also model how those molecules change over time. We experimentally simulated how specific real molecules behave after absorbing light. Simulating reality with a single ion We used what is called a trapped-ion quantum computer. This works...

Read More........→May 24, 2025