Volume 39, no. 2, February 2026. The SalGA-KRO Project: launch of a participatory epidemiological study with the Crotone Community. Crystals enhance medical imaging: scintillators inspired by the perovskite mineral. Science Detective Game: a board game to debunk hoaxes and train critical thinking. RarISS Insert. Pierre André Latreille: the “Prince of Entomology”

Abstracts:

The SalGA-KRO Project: launch of a participatory epidemiological study with the Crotone Community
The Istituto Superiore di Sanità (National Institue of Health in Italy) presented the SalGA-KRO Project to the Community of Crotone in Sothern Italy. The study aims to analyze the community's health profile to promote environmental justice. This initiative, carried out in collaboration with local bodies, and case study of a pilot activity of the European Joint Action PreventNCD, seeks to describe human pathologies and the factors that influence them, including environmental and social ones. To achieve these goals, the project uses a participatory methodology that actively involves local technicians, associations and students. The intent is to provide useful information and data for defining preventive measures and promoting local sustainability.
 

Crystals enhance medical imaging: scintillators inspired by the perovskite mineral
During the "2025 European Researchers' Night", visitors had the opportunity to observe the varied  responses of crystal samples exposed to a light source, at the basis of scintillators inspired by the perovskite mineral with excellent potential for medical imaging with radiopharmaceuticals. The samples produced experimentally by simple, sustainable, and low-cost methods demonstrated promising properties from initial characterizations and evaluations performed in an ongoing study at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (National Institute of Health in Italy).
 

Science Detective Game: a board game to debunk hoaxes and train critical thinking
The Science Detective Game is a board game presented by the Bioethics Unit of the National Institute of Health in Italy at the "European Researchers' Night 2025". The game playfully translates the dynamics of disinformation and infodemics that have spread widely during COVID-19, with the aim of stimulating participants' critical thinking and awareness of the "weapons of antiscience" that can continue to "strike" today and in the future, albeit in a weakened form. The activity, aimed at girls and boys aged 12 and up, seeks to promote a scientific approach to verifying information and evaluating sources, reviewing dissemination in a participatory and interactive experience.