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A New Generation of Scientists Must Learn to Tell the Story
Scientific discovery does not end when an experiment produces a result. In many cases, the real challenge begins afterward: explaining why that result matters.
NASA is increasingly emphasizing the importance of connecting authentic science with students, educators, researchers, and the wider public. Its Science Mission Directorate Community of Practice for Education, known as NASA SCoPE, was created to strengthen that connection by helping scientists and engineers communicate their work more effectively. NASA describes SCoPE as a community linking science and engineering experts, early-career scientists, and the NASA Science Activation effort.
That mission took a practical form during the summer of 2026, when NASA SCoPE partnered with Arizona State University’s Facility for Open Research in a Compressed Environment, or FORCE, as part of a summer-school experience for undergraduate research interns.
The partnership brought together two worlds that are often treated separately: extreme planetary science and science communication.
The result was more than a series of presentation workshops. It was an experiment in teaching young researchers how to turn complicated scientific questions into stories that ordinary people can understand, remember, and become curious about.
Inside FORCE: Recreating the Extreme Conditions of Planetary Interiors
FORCE gives researchers an extraordinary opportunity to study materials under conditions that are difficult, if not impossible, to reproduce naturally at the Earth’s surface.
The facility focuses on high-pressure experimentation, allowing researchers to investigate environments associated with the deep interiors of Earth and other planetary bodies. ASU has described FORCE as an open research facility designed to provide access to extreme-pressure and temperature experimentation while giving students and scientists hands-on research and training opportunities.
This matters because planets are shaped by forces that remain largely invisible to us.
Deep beneath
Scientists cannot simply travel thousands of kilometers underground to observe these environments.
Instead, they recreate aspects of those conditions inside sophisticated laboratory equipment.
Seven Undergraduate Researchers Entered the Program
During the 2026 summer program, seven undergraduate interns were given an additional challenge alongside their scientific research.
They had to learn how to explain it.
That distinction is important.
A researcher can understand every technical detail of an experiment and still struggle to explain its significance to someone outside the field.
NASA
Rather than asking the students to abandon scientific precision, the training focused on helping them preserve the important science while removing unnecessary barriers that can make research difficult for non-specialists to understand.
June 25 and 26 Became a Communication Laboratory
NASA SCoPE facilitated two hands-on workshops on June 25 and 26, followed by office hours the following week.
The workshops focused on several practical questions.
What is the central idea behind the research?
What should a visitor remember after five minutes?
How can a complicated experiment become a compelling story?
How should a researcher respond when a member of the public asks a question that has no simple answer?
And perhaps most importantly, how can scientists communicate without making audiences feel as though they need an advanced degree before they are allowed to participate?
These are not minor presentation skills.
They are increasingly important professional skills for scientists working in an era when public understanding can directly influence support for research, education, exploration, and technological development.
Turning Research Into a Story
One of the central lessons of science communication is that information alone does not automatically create understanding.
A visitor may forget a technical term within minutes.
But they may remember a question.
They may remember an unusual piece of equipment.
They may remember the idea that scientists can recreate conditions similar to those found deep inside a planet.
And they may remember the researcher who made that concept understandable.
SCoPE’s training therefore encouraged the interns to identify the central themes of their work and develop messages that could be communicated clearly to different audiences.
The goal was not to make science simplistic.
The goal was to make science accessible without stripping away its meaning.
From Posters to Public Engagement Stations
The interns were also trained to think beyond conventional research presentations.
They prepared research posters while simultaneously developing individual outreach stations.
That required a different mindset.
A poster session usually involves an audience that has voluntarily entered a scientific environment and expects to encounter technical information.
A public open house is different.
Visitors arrive with dramatically different levels of knowledge.
Some may already love planetary science.
Others may know almost nothing about it.
A successful outreach station has to work for both groups.
The FORCE Open House Brought the Science Outside the Laboratory
The training eventually culminated in the FORCE Open House.
According to the original program description, approximately 50 members of the general public attended.
The event offered visitors an opportunity to see the laboratory, meet researchers, examine specialized equipment, and learn how scientists investigate conditions associated with planetary interiors.
ASU separately listed a FORCE Open House for July 11, 2026, describing it as a public event featuring facility tours, equipment demonstrations, and opportunities to meet the research team.
For the interns, this transformed communication theory into a real-world test.
They were no longer practicing in front of classmates.
They were speaking directly with members of the public.
Why Face-to-Face Questions Matter
Public engagement creates a feedback loop that a traditional paper cannot easily provide.
A visitor might ask a question the scientist never anticipated.
Someone might misunderstand an important concept.
Another person might make a connection that the researcher had never considered.
These moments are valuable.
They show scientists exactly where communication succeeds and where it breaks down.
They also remind researchers that curiosity does not always follow academic boundaries.
A child, an engineer, a teacher, a retiree, and a planetary scientist may all approach the same experiment from completely different perspectives.
The Research Poster Session Added a Second Challenge
The second major outreach experience was a poster session for ASU faculty, staff, and students.
This audience represented a different communication environment.
Unlike the public open house, a university audience is more likely to understand scientific terminology and research methodology.
But even among academics, effective communication remains essential.
Researchers need to explain their findings to colleagues from different disciplines, potential collaborators, students, administrators, funding organizations, and researchers who may eventually build upon their work.
The poster session therefore gave the interns another opportunity to test their ability to communicate their research clearly.
Scientific Communication Is Becoming a Core Research Skill
For decades, scientific success was often associated primarily with research quality, publication records, technical expertise, and experimental achievement.
Those remain essential.
But the modern scientific environment increasingly rewards researchers who can also communicate.
A brilliant discovery that nobody outside a narrow specialty can understand may have a limited immediate public impact.
A carefully communicated discovery can travel much farther.
It can enter classrooms.
It can inspire students.
It can attract collaborators.
It can help communities understand why research deserves support.
And it can encourage the next generation to imagine themselves as scientists.
NASA
The FORCE collaboration fits into a larger SCoPE strategy.
NASA SCoPE is designed to connect scientists and engineers with NASA’s Science Activation effort while strengthening communication and engagement capabilities. Its stated mission includes lowering barriers for NASA science and engineering experts to participate in outreach and providing training opportunities for communication skill development.
The
SCoPE reports having engaged more than 1,000 NASA subject-matter experts and awarded more than 100 grants, while presenting its work as a model for connecting scientists, educators, and communities.
That makes the FORCE project more than an isolated summer activity.
It represents a broader effort to make communication part of the scientific ecosystem.
The Hidden Lesson: Scientists Are Also Translators
A planetary scientist does more than study rocks, pressure, minerals, atmospheres, or planetary evolution.
When that scientist steps in front of a public audience, another responsibility emerges.
Translation.
Not translation between languages, but translation between levels of knowledge.
The scientist understands the technical language.
The visitor may understand everyday language.
The
That bridge can determine whether a complicated idea feels intimidating or fascinating.
Deep Analysis: The Technology Behind Extreme-Environment Science
The scientific work associated with FORCE illustrates how laboratory technology allows researchers to investigate environments that cannot be directly accessed.
High-pressure experiments can use specialized apparatus to compress samples to pressures far beyond ordinary surface conditions.
Depending on the experiment, researchers may investigate how minerals change structure, how materials behave under compression, and how physical properties evolve under extreme conditions.
These experiments can help scientists connect laboratory measurements with planetary models.
The broader principle is straightforward:
If we cannot physically travel to an environment, we can sometimes recreate its relevant physical conditions in the laboratory.
That approach is fundamental to experimental planetary science.
Deep Analysis: A Simple Computational Model
Researchers and students can also use computational tools to visualize pressure relationships.
For example, a simplified pressure calculation can be represented conceptually with Python:
Simplified pressure relationship
P = F / A
force = 1_000_000 newtons area = 0.01 square meters
pressure = force / area
print(f"Pressure: {pressure:,} Pa")
The calculation demonstrates an important physical principle: pressure increases when the same force is applied over a smaller area.
Real high-pressure planetary experiments are considerably more sophisticated, involving specialized equipment, calibration, sample behavior, temperature effects, and advanced measurement techniques.
The simple model nevertheless provides an accessible starting point for explaining why pressure becomes such a powerful tool in planetary research.
Deep Analysis: Why Visualization Matters
Scientific communication can also benefit from turning abstract measurements into visual representations.
A researcher might explain pressure using numbers, but a visitor may understand the concept faster through a comparison.
Instead of saying that a material is subjected to an enormous pressure, the communicator can explain what happens to the material as its environment changes.
The objective is not to replace quantitative science.
It is to give the audience a mental model before introducing the technical details.
Deep Analysis: Communication Is Part of the Experiment
There is an even deeper lesson here.
Communication should not necessarily be treated as something that happens after research.
It can influence how researchers think about their own work.
When an intern is forced to identify the single most important question behind an experiment, they may gain a clearer understanding of the experiment themselves.
When they explain a complex process to a visitor, they may discover assumptions they had never questioned.
When someone asks an unexpected question, they may identify a new avenue for explanation or investigation.
In that sense, public engagement can become intellectually useful for the scientist as well as educational for the audience.
The Difference Between Information and Understanding
A long explanation can contain hundreds of facts and still fail.
A strong explanation can contain only a few facts and create genuine understanding.
That difference is at the heart of effective science communication.
The FORCE interns were therefore not simply being taught how to make attractive posters.
They were being taught how to decide what deserves attention.
That is a much more difficult skill.
Why the Public Open House Matters
Events like the FORCE Open House create a rare opportunity for the public to see science before it becomes a polished headline.
Visitors can encounter the machines.
They can see the researchers.
They can ask questions.
They can discover that planetary science is not simply about distant spacecraft and spectacular images.
It is also about pressure chambers, measurements, materials, equations, experimental design, uncertainty, failed experiments, unexpected results, and years of careful investigation.
That humanizes science.
Building Confidence in Young Researchers
For undergraduate interns, these experiences can also influence professional development.
A student who has successfully explained a complicated experiment to dozens of visitors may feel more comfortable giving a conference presentation.
A student who has answered unexpected questions from the public may become more confident in conversations with senior researchers.
A student who learns to tell the story behind a project may become better at interviews, grant presentations, classroom teaching, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Communication confidence can therefore become a multiplier for scientific expertise.
Why This Matters for
NASA’s future depends on more than rockets and spacecraft.
It depends on people.
Scientists need to explain why missions matter.
Engineers need to communicate technical decisions.
Researchers need to collaborate across disciplines.
Educators need to turn discoveries into learning experiences.
And the public needs opportunities to understand the science being conducted in its name.
NASA’s broader Science Activation effort is explicitly designed to connect learners with authentic NASA science through partnerships with educators and community organizations.
SCoPE fits naturally into that ecosystem.
The Bigger Planetary Science Picture
Planetary science is entering an especially interesting period.
Researchers are studying planets, moons, asteroids, exoplanets, planetary atmospheres, extreme materials, and the conditions under which worlds form and evolve.
ASU itself has a substantial role in planetary research and NASA missions, including the Psyche mission and other space-science projects.
As discoveries accelerate, the need to communicate those discoveries will grow alongside them.
Every new mission creates another communication challenge.
What did we discover?
Why does it matter?
How does it change what we thought we knew?
And where do we go next?
Science Needs Stories Without Losing Scientific Integrity
There is an important balance here.
Scientists should not turn research into entertainment at the expense of accuracy.
The solution is not sensationalism.
The solution is storytelling built on evidence.
A compelling scientific story can still acknowledge uncertainty.
It can still explain limitations.
It can still distinguish established facts from hypotheses.
In fact, communicating uncertainty honestly can make science more credible.
A Model That Could Be Repeated Elsewhere
The FORCE experience offers a potentially useful model for other research institutions.
First, scientists receive communication training.
Second, they identify the central message behind their research.
Third, they adapt that message for different audiences.
Fourth, they practice in a controlled environment.
Fifth, they engage with the public.
Finally, they receive feedback.
That cycle could be applied to astronomy, climate science, biology, chemistry, engineering, medicine, geology, and virtually every other scientific discipline.
What Undercode Say:
- Science Cannot Stay Locked Behind Laboratory Doors
The most valuable scientific discovery can lose its impact if people cannot understand it.
2. Communication Is Becoming Scientific Infrastructure
Training researchers to communicate should be viewed as infrastructure, not an optional extracurricular activity.
3. NASA SCoPE Addresses a Real Problem
There is a persistent gap between scientific expertise and public understanding, and SCoPE is designed specifically to reduce that gap.
4. FORCE Provides an Ideal Setting
Extreme-pressure planetary research is naturally fascinating because it allows audiences to imagine environments they could never physically visit.
- Young Scientists Need More Than Technical Training
Undergraduate researchers need laboratory experience, but they also need presentation, collaboration, communication, and public-engagement skills.
- The Open House Adds Something a Poster Cannot
A poster communicates information.
A live demonstration creates an experience.
Experiences are often easier to remember.
7. Public Questions Are Valuable Data
Scientists can learn from what visitors ask.
Unexpected questions often reveal where explanations are confusing or where curiosity is strongest.
8. Communication Can Improve Research Thinking
Explaining an experiment clearly forces researchers to distinguish essential ideas from secondary details.
9. Scientific Jargon Can Become a Barrier
Technical language is useful among specialists but can unintentionally exclude everyone else.
- Simplification Does Not Have to Mean Distortion
Good science communication removes unnecessary complexity while preserving scientific accuracy.
11. The Human Element Matters
People connect with researchers as people, not just with charts and equations.
- Planetary Science Is Especially Well-Suited to Outreach
Questions about other worlds naturally generate curiosity.
13. Extreme Conditions Create Powerful Narratives
The idea of recreating planetary interiors inside a laboratory is immediately understandable as a story.
- The Future Scientist Is Also a Communicator
Researchers increasingly operate across classrooms, conferences, media, public events, and interdisciplinary teams.
15. Public Trust Depends on Understanding
People are more likely to engage meaningfully with science when they understand how discoveries are produced.
16. Outreach Should Start Early
Communication skills are easier to develop when they are introduced during undergraduate research rather than after a scientist has already entered a professional career.
17. Internships Can Become Leadership Training
A student who learns to explain science can eventually become a stronger mentor, researcher, teacher, and project leader.
18. The Model Scales Beyond NASA
Universities and laboratories could adopt similar communication programs for their own researchers.
19. Science Communication Is a Two-Way Process
Scientists teach audiences, but audiences also teach scientists how their work is perceived.
20. The Best Outreach Creates Questions
Success should not be measured only by how much information visitors remember.
It should also be measured by whether visitors leave wanting to know more.
- The Poster Session Serves a Different Audience
Researchers need to communicate differently with academic peers than with members of the general public.
- Learning to Adapt Is the Real Skill
The strongest communicator is not the person who memorizes one presentation.
It is the person who can adapt the explanation to the audience.
23.
Training early-career researchers can produce benefits long after a single summer program ends.
24. Communication Can Increase Collaboration
A clearly explained project is easier for potential collaborators to recognize and understand.
25. Better Communication Can Help Funding
Researchers who clearly explain why their work matters can make stronger cases for continued investment.
26. Students Become Ambassadors for Science
When interns interact with visitors, they become informal representatives of the scientific community.
27. Authentic Science Beats Generic STEM Promotion
Showing real equipment, real researchers, and real experiments makes science more tangible than abstract promotional messaging.
28. Extreme-Environment Research Has Educational Power
It can connect physics, chemistry, geology, planetary science, engineering, and astronomy in a single story.
29. NASA
The program connects scientific expertise with educational engagement rather than treating the two as separate worlds.
- The Public Is Not Simply an Audience
People can become participants in science when researchers invite questions, discussion, and curiosity.
31. Confidence Can Be Trained
Students do not necessarily become strong communicators naturally.
They can practice.
32. Failure Can Improve Communication
When an explanation does not work, researchers receive immediate evidence that something needs to change.
33. Communication Should Respect the Audience
A non-expert audience is not an unintelligent audience.
People simply have different backgrounds.
34. Curiosity Is the Common Language
A visitor does not need to understand every equation to become fascinated by what happens inside a planet.
35. Scientific Literacy Is a Long-Term Investment
Every successful interaction can help create a more scientifically informed community.
36. The Laboratory Can Become a Classroom
FORCE demonstrates how research facilities can function as educational environments rather than closed technical spaces.
37. The Approach Supports
Connecting authentic science with learners and communities strengthens the educational side of exploration.
38. Future Discoveries Will Need Better Storytelling
As planetary missions produce increasingly complex datasets, communicating their significance will become even more important.
39. The Biggest Success May Be Invisible
An intern may forget a particular workshop exercise, but retain the confidence to explain science for decades.
40. The Real Achievement Is Building Bridges
The strongest message from the FORCE collaboration is simple: discovery becomes more powerful when people can understand it, connect with it, and imagine themselves becoming part of it.
✅ NASA SCoPE’s Mission Is Correctly Described
NASA identifies SCoPE as a community connecting NASA science and engineering experts, early-career scientists, and the Science Activation effort, with communication and educational outreach among its goals.
✅ FORCE Is an Extreme-Conditions Research Facility
ASU’s documentation describes FORCE as a facility designed to support research involving extreme pressure and temperature conditions and to provide training and hands-on opportunities for students and scientists.
✅ The Public-Engagement Focus Is Consistent With SCoPE’s Work
SCoPE’s current materials emphasize connecting scientists with educators and communities and strengthening scientists’ ability to communicate and engage with broader audiences.
⚠️ Event Details Require Careful Attribution
The supplied article states that seven interns participated and that approximately 50 members of the public attended the described Open House. Those figures are retained here as reported in the source material rather than presented as independently verified numbers.
⚠️ The July Open House Is Separately Documented by ASU
ASU publicly listed a FORCE Open House on July 11, 2026, with tours, equipment demonstrations, and researcher interaction. Because the supplied text describes the outreach culmination without providing a specific event date, the two event descriptions should not automatically be assumed to refer to precisely the same public session.
Prediction
(+1) Science Communication Will Become a More Important Part of Research Careers
The direction is increasingly clear: scientists will need to communicate not only with specialists but also with students, educators, policymakers, journalists, industry partners, and the public.
Programs like NASA SCoPE are likely to become increasingly valuable because they address this need before students enter the professional workforce.
(+1) Universities Will Expand Researcher Communication Training
More universities are likely to integrate storytelling, public engagement, visualization, presentation design, and audience adaptation into research internships and graduate programs.
(+1) Research Facilities Will Become More Open to Public Engagement
Laboratories that once operated largely behind closed doors may increasingly use open houses, demonstrations, interactive stations, and educational partnerships to make their work visible.
(+1) Planetary Science Will Benefit From Stronger Public Outreach
As missions continue studying asteroids, moons, planets, and extreme environments, researchers will have more opportunities to transform complex discoveries into accessible stories.
(+1) Early-Career Scientists Will Gain a Competitive Advantage
Researchers who can combine technical expertise with strong communication skills are likely to stand out in academia, industry, education, and interdisciplinary scientific collaborations.
The Larger Meaning of the FORCE Experience
The most important outcome of the NASA SCoPE and ASU FORCE collaboration may not be a particular poster, presentation, or public demonstration.
It may be the mindset developed by the seven young researchers.
They learned that scientific expertise carries another responsibility: making knowledge accessible.
That lesson matters far beyond planetary science.
A future filled with advanced telescopes, powerful laboratories, artificial intelligence, robotic missions, and increasingly complex scientific datasets will create an enormous amount of new knowledge.
But knowledge only becomes socially powerful when people can understand why it matters.
The Bridge Between Discovery and Society
NASA
Scientists discover.
Engineers build.
Researchers measure.
But communicators create the bridge that allows those discoveries to travel.
At FORCE, that bridge connected extreme-pressure laboratory research with students, university communities, and members of the public.
And that may ultimately be one of the most important skills the next generation of scientists can learn.
Because the future of science will not be shaped only by what humanity discovers.
It will also be shaped by how effectively we can explain those discoveries to one another.
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References:
Reported By: science.nasa.gov
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