The public make snap judgements about new technologies When shown an image and a brief description, citizens formed rapid and stable judgements, despite little prior knowledge of the emerging technology presented to them. PhD student Dan Carlisle led the study. An investigation recently published in the Public Understanding of Science journal by researchers from Massey University and the University of Southampton, United Kingdom, shows people stick to fast intuitive judgements about unfamiliar scientific technologies, and that taking more time to form these judgements doesn’t change the outcome. Massey PhD student Dan Carlisle led the study. He says it’s an important result for science communication particularly when engaging with the public over emerging technologies such as climate engineering. “We wanted to know whether you could get quick answers from the public on the acceptability of unfamiliar scientific approaches, and whether encouraging people to think more about these approaches would change their views. What we found is that while some people naturally hold stronger views, giving them more or less time to think about it doesn’t change their evaluation.”