Nova – the new, shiny science site

Nova, the Australian Academy of Science’s outreach site has been re-launched in a shiny new format.

Nova is pitched as science for curious minds: “There’s a lot to be curious about, but sometimes it’s hard to find information that’s both accurate and interesting. Here at Nova our goal is to fill that need by providing jargon-free, accessible information covering the breadth of scientific disciplines.”

The site is very cleanly presented and covers a range of topics in enough detail to be fresh and useful but not so much as to boggling to the non-scientist.

Designed for a general audience but not afraid to explain difficult concepts, the site also includes quizzes, infographics, videos and interactive elements. The ‘ask an expert’ section on each topic connects readers with the best science minds in Australia.

My only criticism is that I’m not clear there is enough in the way of local references to differentiate the Nova offering from the myriad of other sources available on the web. For example, the article on ocean acidification, while excellent, doesn’t appear to reference Australian reefs or research. But then some other less obvious areas of research do manage to work in the Australian angle.

Overall the Nova website is now very impressive. And in keeping with going all modern they want to keep in touch on social media too: Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Take a look at Nova, it’s really worth exploring.