[ecrea] Journal of Science & Popular Culture 1.1 – First issue free download

Intellect is delighted to announce that the inaugural issue of the 
Journal of Science & Popular Culture 
<https://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Journal,id=250/view,page=0/>is 
now available.


Science permeates contemporary culture at multiple levels, from the 
technology in our daily lives to our dreams of other worlds in fiction. 
The Journal of Science & Popular Cultureis a peer-reviewed academic 
publication that seeks to explore the complex and evolving connections 
between science and global society.


To celebrate its release JSPC 1.1 has been made available free to 
download. Please click here to access this issue 
<http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/jspc/2018/00000001/00000001>. 



Articles within this issue include (partial list):


Reality bytes: American and global culture in the era of infoglut 
<https://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Article,id=24717/>

Authors: Peter Swirski

Page Start: 13


In the age of environmental catastrophes, political upheavals and 
economic meltdowns a mere informational crisis may not sound too 
worrisome. But even as we try not to lose too much sleep over it, our 
behaviour is best modelled by the proverbial ostrich burying its head in 
the sand. My contention is that we better start losing sleep over it. 
Informationally we live in the era of Cliffpocalypsemageddonacaust, with 
the toxic consequences it has on the entire system of generating and 
disseminating knowledge, no matter which side of the Two Cultures divide 
you hail from. My goal is to spell out some of these consequences, 
although with little expectation of kindling a retrenchment, let alone 
reform. This is because, if anything I say below is true, in all 
likelihood it is too late for that.


It’s alive in the laboratory of the mind: Frankenstein, thought 
experiment and facing the future of science 
<https://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Article,id=24718/>

Authors: Steven Gil

Page Start: 27


Science fiction splices actuality, eventuality and imagination into 
creations that provide novel and sometimes highly influential 
perspectives on science and society. One of the greatest examples of 
this is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – the infamous tale of a man who 
literally splices dead flesh into a new form and bestows this creation 
with life. By examining Frankenstein as a thought experiment, this 
article demonstrates how science fiction can become a commentary on 
scientific activity, give insight about where science might lead, and 
provide a resource for discussing and framing new science.


Pathogens, vermin and strigoi: Contagion science and vampire myth in 
Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain 
<https://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Article,id=24720/>

Authors: Julia Echeverría

Page Start: 43


The first season of Guillermo del Toro’s television series, The 
Strain(2014–present) ingeniously merges the classical Bram Stoker 
vampire legend with the virus outbreak narrative by means of familiar 
contagion imagery and clichés that include the premise of an infected 
airplane and the running-against-the-clock efforts of the CDC 
protagonist, Dr Goodweather. The series offers three complementary 
perspectives that broaden the scope of vampirism: the medical vision of 
the protagonist, who insists on treating the outbreak as if it were an 
infectious disease; the pest exterminator Vasily who refers to these 
beings as vermin and rat-people; and the mythical vampire approach of a 
Jewish Holocaust survivor who brands them strigoi. This article argues 
that the epidemiological perspective introduced by del Toro provides 
verisimilitude to the vampire myth while at the same time introducing 
contemporary discourses of virality and adding dichotomies of purity and 
corruption. By exploring the use of the genre’s conventions in del 
Toro’s imaginative universe, it intends to prove how a television series 
can be the ideal medium for unfolding epidemic narratives.

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