Tokyo

Four Nobel prizes and various initiatives to popularize science don't seem to be making much difference: a survey just released by Japan's science ministry says that the public is losing interest in science and technology.

Just 51% of the 2,084 adults polled earlier this year expressed an interest in science — a fall of 9% since the last time the survey was done in 1998.

Credit: JAPANESE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE

Better results might have been expected in a country that nearly doubled its number of Nobel laureates in the sciences, from five to nine, officials at the ministry say. They are especially frustrated as they have tried to popularize science in various ways. ¥3 billion (US$28 million) has been invested in the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo, which opened in July 2001, and science-based television shows have been launched.

But according to the survey, which was released on 10 April, the number of people interested in what scientists have to say has been declining. In 1998, most of those who said they would not attend public lectures on science said it was because they found them difficult to follow. In the latest poll, only one-third objected to the difficulty level — but almost 60% said either that they had no interest or that science did not seem relevant to their lives.

Noyuri Mima, a former cognitive scientist and the director of research and development at the new Tokyo museum, says she finds the results troubling. “Researchers get huge amounts of money but they do not try to explain what they do in a way people understand,” she says.

Nonetheless, Mima is optimistic that innovative efforts such as the museum will pay off in the battle for the hearts and minds of the next generation. “We are trying to show the underlying process of science as it is happening,” she says. “This will attract young people, but it will take time.”