Online Public Relations Thoughts

The discovery of a large marine reptile skull has illuminated the speed of evolution.   Instead of 100 million years for a new species to emerge, the animal appeared in just three million years. Conditions were just right for the transition.  It is a reminder that in science, facts emerge constantly to change views of nature, and one should not become fixed in communicating them.  Instead, one should refer to what we know now with a nod to what will emerge later.  Truth is not a rigid set of principles and insights in science, and that can be frustrating to those who want immutable answers.  We know more about the world now than ever in in the history of humans, but we still don't know enough.  There is an infinite amount more to learn such that no individual can grasp it all.  We are fated to be ignorant of entire branches of research no matter how hard we try.  As communicators we scratch the surface of understanding and that is the best we can do.