Just a quick brief note to announce that the results of the NextGen Voices 4 organized by Science, which I had mentioned a while back, are now declared. In a survey, Science asked young scientists to answer this question:

What one big idea in your field do you wish that every non-scientist understood? Why?

I had put my answer down in my blog-post also, in which I emphasized the importance of teaching of the Scientific Method to the general populace.

The online supplementary material section of today’s Science issue [Science 5 October 2012, 338(6103): 40-43; DOI: 10.1126/science.338.6103.40] contains full versions of 17 essays (in the order in which they appeared in the print journal issue), as well as the best (in alphabetical order) of the other submissions they received.

Do read the entries. They represent thoughts and ideas from young, enthusiastic, and enterprising scientists from various corners of the world.

And while you’re at it, do check out the NextGen Voices 5 survey, which asks:

You’ve just been elected to your nation’s highest office! In your inaugural address, announce the biggest challenge facing your country today and how you will use science to address it.

In 250 words or less, you can elucidate your ideas of governance, to be submitted by 16 November 2012. Science will publish, as usual, a selection of the best responses in the 4 January 2013 issue. Have at it!