Down to Earth: a framework for empathizing with scientific data and invisible threats

Scientific research is the biggest contributor of knowledge and its engagement with the public is critical, not only for the purpose of democracy, but also for funding purposes. Space research is a domain of scientific research that has the additional challenge of working beyond the publicly visible sphere; although there are open and publicly available data about asteroids, terminology, scale and effects are incomprehensible to the public at large. To tackle this issue, the authors developed “Down to Earth”, a digital platform that examines two possible approaches that could educate and familiarize citizens with space research. The first one is built on semantic theory to create meaningful representations of asteroid data tailored to the individual. The second part employs risk psychology theory to empathize users with asteroid hazards by providing a platform to create fictional scenarios of catastrophe on demand. The project started with the goal to deal practically with the aforementioned issues and then ask questions about the social implications involved; this project also intends to question the means employed for engagement purposes, especially when the discussion comes to invisible threats and potential disasters. We stress the difficulty to make people (aka the taxpayers) empathize avoiding methods that cause terror.