ANU Centre for the Public Awareness of Science CPAS

An ordinary man’s obsession becomes humanity’s first conversation with the cosmos.
Directed by Steven Spielberg at the height of the New Hollywood era, the visionary science-fiction classic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" stars Richard Dreyfuss as a suburban father drawn toward an inexplicable encounter. Blending awe, suspense and groundbreaking visual effects, this film redefines cinematic depictions of extraterrestrial life, favouring wonder over fear.

Both intimate and spectacular, Close Encounters of the Third Kind remains a landmark of 1970s American cinema and a touchstone for generations of filmmakers.

‘A movie that dares to be awesome in the true sense of the word’. — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

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Science. Art. Film.: Close Encounters of the Third Kind An ordinary man’s obsession becomes humanity’s first conversation with the cosmos.  

What shapes science more than we like to admit?
From 🦖 Jurassic Park to 🤖 visions of AI doom, pop culture doesn’t just reflect science - it helps shape it. The stories we tell influence how we imagine scientific and technological futures, what we fear, and even what we choose to research. We often assume a one-way relationship (science → culture). But it’s more of a feedback loop: culture feeds back into science, shaping public debates, policy conversations, and scientific agendas.

CPAS has a new piece out in The Conversation Australia + NZ! Co‑authored by Dr Anna-Sophie Jürgens and Shao-Jie Jhou, the article dives into this fascinating dynamic - and why it matters more than you might think. Check it out! 🤓

From Jurassic Park to dreams of AI doom, pop culture shapes science more than we like to admit

Making complex and often abstract ideas like energy transitions tangible, relevant and engaging can be a challenge for science communicators and school teachers. CPAS's Dr Graham Walker has been sharing hands-on approaches to address such challenges with teachers in Canberra, Malaysia and most recently South Africa - read more below.

The activities are available open access at http://hdl.handle.net/1885/289738 and you can read more about the research underpinning them in Hands-on climate engagement: principles for effective hands-on activities and demonstrations https://jcom.sissa.it/article/pubid/JCOM_2303_2024_N03/ (open access)

The first semester is in full swing now! In the meantime, have some research highlights from Team CPAS, across our different research themes:

🤡 Intermedia ... https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-62312-7_14

📺 The where and why ... https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17579759251334391

⚙️ Considering geographies ... https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23299460.2025.2479322

🏭 Various visions ... https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10308-025-00727-2

🧬 Tragic flaws ... https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09636625251333316🧬

Another round of CPAS research highlights (one for each of our themes), as we welcome new students and congratulate graduating ones!

🦸 SuperScientists ... https://researchportalplus.anu.edu.au/en/publications/superscientists-celebrating-science-through-the-power-of-superher/

💽 Unblackboxing ... https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/08944393251365275

⚖️ Clashing epistemologies ... https://jcom.sissa.it/article/pubid/JCOM_2304_2024_Y01/

🗺️ Proposed Framework ... https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10755470251344471

🧫 Integrating bioethics ... https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15265161.2025.2497987

"There’s way more freedom than you think – just jump into any class. Every starting point in CPAS is a different but equally good starting point."

🎉👏🎊 The 2025 Honours Cohort of CPAS are graduating, and we couldn't be prouder! Take a peek at the link to see what led biology and astrophysics students to take majors, minors and then honours in sci comm, and what awaits them next.

"The best part of your day is going to a sci comm course" - congrats to our CPAS Honours Students of 2025! "The best part of your day is going to a ci comm course." As we bid our 2025 Honours Students congratulations and farewell, they recount what led them to CPAS, sci comm, and "one of the best years" of their lives.